f13.net

So, another PC upgrade thread.  I've been proceeding pretty much along the same lines as other upgrades discussed here (ie C2D, GT8800, 2Gb).  What I wanted some input on was mobos, in particular whether I would see any advantages from going to a X38 mobo over a P35 mobo.

Basically, there are two major differences: 1066 memory bus support and PCIe 2.0.  There's also a bunch of other stuff like 45nm CPU support, better cooling, and I/O support, but those are nice to have rather than something I'd spend money on.

Am I going to see a performance pick-up from these?  (I'm planning on going with a GT8800 which supports PCIe 2.0)

Is it worthwhile spending the money on the mobo for "future upgradability"?

Am I crazy to consider a technology that hasn't been out all that long? 

I've got a p35 board (gigabyte p35c-ds3r) which supports 45nm chips, and memory speeds up to 1333 for ddr3 and 1066 for ddr2. I got it fairly cheap and it works fine.
I think PCIe 2.0 is the only real difference, and the x48 chipset should be out in a few weeks.

The X38 is passe already -- the X48 with its 1600 MHz FSB is where it's going to be at. Well okay maybe not for most people. The X38 (and X48) is optimized for DDR3 memory. If you are using DDR2 you may get better performance with the P35 chipset. The X38 can also support two full x16 PCI-e slots, though Crossfire is still the only multi-card solution supported even though in theory NVIDIA could support it so it's kind of pointless ATM unless you are a masochistic.

The P35 supports the 45nm CPUs (BIOS upgrade may be required) so that's not a reason to skip it.

Current video cards have not maxed out the PCIe 1.0/1.1 x16 bandwidth. It's not known yet if the next-gen NVIDIA GPUs which are expected to be announced this quarter might.

Sounds good.  P35 it is.  I'm not a bleeding edge guy so it sounds highly likely that technology is going to move on from the X38 pretty devaluing any upgradability it might appear to have.

Thanks.

Grab that giga board rattan mentioned, the P35c-DS3r. I have it too, and its le awsome.

Yeah, solid caps, heavy duty everything. Marketed as their 'Ultra Durable' line. Reasonable placement of everything too, which is nice after dealing with some earlier gigabyte boards with shit placed so you can't change memory without removing an ide cable etc.

Jesus, do we really need DDR3 now?

No.

If I'm stupid-rich with cash (I'm not) - i.e. cash not to be factored in the purchase decision, do you think DDR3 would make a greater then 5% difference in system performance?  I'm guessing it would, especially with a large amount of system RAM (4GB), but I haven't even bothered to look for any tests yet.

No, it wouldn't.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/display/ddr3-1600.html