Request: Summary of current chipsets

keybaud

keybaud

keybaud

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Can anyone point me to an existing thread/article or write a brief description of the currently available chipsets for the Intel Quad core CPUs.

I'm after building a new PC and I'm a bit out of touch with the latest technology. In fact, the last board I got very serious with was an Abit BP6 (BX Chipset!) where I replaced the capacitors and voltage regulators to improve the board's stability!

I have had a number of other PCs since then, but I've scrounged unwanted ones off friends or even dragged them out of skips at the local tip. I'd like to thank the guy that threw away his PC a few years ago. If only he'd known that the CPU temp sensor was faulty and the reasonn that it kept crashing was because the sensor was insisting that the CPU had gone from -5 degrees to 94 degrees (yes, it was that flakey!). A simple selection in the BIOS (turn the damned thing off) and the machine was sweet as a nut.

Anyway, I digress, pointers to latest chipsets much appreciated...
 
keybaud said:
Can anyone point me to an existing thread/article or write a brief description of the currently available chipsets for the Intel Quad core CPUs.

I'm after building a new PC and I'm a bit out of touch with the latest technology. In fact, the last board I got very serious with was an Abit BP6 (BX Chipset!) where I replaced the capacitors and voltage regulators to improve the board's stability!

I have had a number of other PCs since then, but I've scrounged unwanted ones off friends or even dragged them out of skips at the local tip. I'd like to thank the guy that threw away his PC a few years ago. If only he'd known that the CPU temp sensor was faulty and the reasonn that it kept crashing was because the sensor was insisting that the CPU had gone from -5 degrees to 94 degrees (yes, it was that flakey!). A simple selection in the BIOS (turn the damned thing off) and the machine was sweet as a nut.

Anyway, I digress, pointers to latest chipsets much appreciated...
Click to expand...

Why not google:

Also you can see all the latest chipsets if you look at the mobo section of OCUK's shop.

Here is your spoon:

Motherboards

Intel 775 (P45 Chipset)

Intel 775 (X48 Chipset)

Intel 775 (X38 Chipset)

Intel 775 (P35 Chipset)

Intel 775 (P31 Chipset)

Intel 775 (nForce 7 Chipset)

Intel 775 (nForce 6 Chipset)

Intel 775/771 (Other Chipset)

Intel 775 Micro-ATX

AMD AM2

AMD AM2 SLiReady

AMD AM2 Micro-ATX

AMD AM2 CrossFire Ready

AMD Socket 939
 
For anyone else that is interested, here is what I've dug up so far:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=28&threadid=2157619

P35 and X38 are both 90 nm
P45 and X48 will both be 65 nm (I presume P43 will be too).

http://compare.intel.com/pcc/showch...3,34470,36521,29001&familyID=10&culture=en-US

The only listed difference between the P43 and the P45 is that the P45 supports two X8 slots or one x16, whereas the P43 only supports one x16. i.e. if you don't care about Crossfire or SLI then the P43 is all you need.

X48 is the only chipset that supports two X16.

X48 is the only chipset that officially supports 1600 FSB, but it does not support DDR2 at all, onlyDDR3.

X38, X48 and P35 support up to 8 GB RAM, whereas P43 and P45 support up to 16 GB.

P35 and X38 are the only chipsets that support ECC.

I am also intrigued by the plethora of heat pipe solutions for the new chipsets when they are on a smaller die than the old ones, so they should produce less heat. Is this a new marketing con trick?

Comments on OCing P45:

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/05/12/will-you-overclock-intel-s-p45/1

Comments on chipset Crossfire/SLI capability:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=3033168
 
 
Old = New

Intel 775 (X38 Chipset) = Intel 775 (X48 Chipset) Highend overclockers board

Intel 775 (P35 Chipset) = Intel 775 (P45 Chipset) Normal mainstream board

Intel 775 (P31 Chipset)=

Intel 775 (G35 Chipset) = Intel 775 (G45 Chipset) Micro ATX with onboard GFX (high end)

Intel 775 (G33 Chipset) = Intel 775 (G43 Chipset) Micro ATX with onboard GFX (Mid range)

Intel 775 (G31 Chipset) = Intel 775 (G41 Chipset) Micro ATX with onboard GFX (Low end)
 
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At this point in time, the four main chipsets to consider for a Core 2 Quad are the P35, P45, X38 and X48 (G33 and G35 Micro ATX offerigns as well)

All four chipsets support every LGA775 Core 2 Quad available. At present only X48 and P45 have official 1600FSB support by Intel but most P35 and X38 boards are being advertised as 1600FSB ready anyway, so no problems there. They don't even exist yet anyway.

There are DDR2 and DDR3 options available for all four of these chipsets as well as combo boards, some of which have 4 DDR2 & 2 DDR3 and some with 4 DDR3 & 2 DDR2. Personally I'd opt for DDR2 as fast memory can be had for reasonable prices. DDR3 is falling in price but it's nowhere near as cheap as DDR2.

Other than that, there isn't a lot more to consider when deciding between these chipsets. The X38/X48 are essentially the same 90nm chip, with the same feature sets including 16x/16x crossfire support. P45 supports 8x/8x crossfire and P35 supports 16x/4x crossfire.

Whatever board you buy will depend purely on these factors

- How much you've got to spend
- Do you need ATi Crossfire support? (single nVidia cards function on Crossfire boards too)
- Do you need SLI support? If this is the case you need an nForce 750/780 board.
- What CPU are you initially buying and do you plan on overclocking it?

Assuming you're buying now, below £100 my vote still goes to the Intel P35 boards such as the MSI P35 Neo2-Fr, Asus P5K-E, Abit IP35 Pro and Gigabyte P35 DS3R & DS4. They're very good overclockers and shouldn't have any trouble with overclocking a Core 2 Quad Q6600. While the Intel P45 chipset is appearing, they're still too pricey for what they are and most P45 offerings aren't even in stock yet. A substantial amount of these P45 boards are priced similarly to X38 boards which are inevitably better in terms of features.

Over £100, I'd be looking at X38 based boards such as the DFI LanParty DK X38 T2R, Gigabyte X38 DS4 and Asus P5E.

If your intention is to buy one soon, my advice would be to wait a couple of weeks and see what the new P45 offerings are like and how they may affect the pricing of P35 motherboards.

All in all, you can't go wrong with any of the current Intel chipsets and so long as you stay clear of some of the cheapy boards like the MSI P31 Neo F, you're good to go.

Hope that sends you in the right direction, this being a place for tech advice and all ;)
 
keybaud said:
For anyone else that is interested, here is what I've dug up so far:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=28&threadid=2157619

P35 and X38 are both 90 nm
P45 and X48 will both be 65 nm (I presume P43 will be too).
Click to expand...

As far as I know they will all do 65nm and 45nm. And I don't know where you got 90nm from... :)

keybaud said:
http://compare.intel.com/pcc/showch...3,34470,36521,29001&familyID=10&culture=en-US

The only listed difference between the P43 and the P45 is that the P45 supports two X8 slots or one x16, whereas the P43 only supports one x16. i.e. if you don't care about Crossfire or SLI then the P43 is all you need.

X48 is the only chipset that supports two X16.
Click to expand...

x38 does x16 on BOTH PCI-E slots.
 
whereas P43 and P45 support up to 16 GB.

They do ?

although the motherboard http://asia.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=prodmbspec&prod_no=1482&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=&cat3_no=#menu
same from o/c http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-106-MS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1155&name=MSI%20P45%20Neo-F%20Intel%20P45%20(Socket%20775)%20PCI-Express%20DDR2%20Motherboard
supports 16 gb memory does anyone produce 4 gb modules to allow this motherboard to do 16gb?

just did a google and found;
Kingston 4GB DDR II SDRAM DRAM FB-DIMM 667MHz CL5 ECC Dual rank Fully Buffered 512x72 1.8V Gold.
 
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I quoted from Intel's chipset comparison page, but manufacturers can add extra functionality to a motherboard, so a chipset may do more than it is officially listed as supporting.
 
Cob said:
That's server memory and won't run on P43 or P45.


G.Skill have a desktop 16gb kit.
Click to expand...

yep found it
did a google

also
16GB G.Skill MQ Quad kit PC2-6400 (800MHz)
16GB DDR2 800MHz quad channel memory upgrade kit. First DDR2 16GB quad kit in the world. PC2-6400 speed with timings of 6-6-6-18 at 1.8V. Four matched 4GB DDR2 modules, non-ECC, 240 pins


709 pounds !
 
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