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DFI Motherboard Choices

K

kohlersc

Junior Member
So I am still stuck on my motherboard. I have been told by multiple friends that I should get a DFI LanParty motherboard...however I seem to have four options that I need some help differentiating between. Would love to hear any info as to which might be the best choice, best overclocker, and upsides/downsides to watercooling each.

The four I am considering are:
1. LT X38-T2R
2. DK X38-T2R
3. UT P35-T2R
4. LT P35-T2R

Two each of X38 MBs and P35 MBs...and all four of which seem to be too darn similar.

Here is a link to the four of them on Newegg.

DFI LP Comparison Link to Newegg

Any light you all might be able to shed would be great. Thank you.
 
You may want to decide on X38 or P35 first. And #3 and #4 are identical when it comes to your need (overclocking and water cooling), I think. The LT one just comes with more extra.
 
Originally posted by: kohlersc
So I am still stuck on my motherboard. I have been told by multiple friends that I should get a DFI LanParty motherboard...however I seem to have four options that I need some help differentiating between. Would love to hear any info as to which might be the best choice, best overclocker, and upsides/downsides to watercooling each.

The four I am considering are:
1. LT X38-T2R
2. DK X38-T2R
3. UT P35-T2R
4. LT P35-T2R

Two each of X38 MBs and P35 MBs...and all four of which seem to be too darn similar.

Here is a link to the four of them on Newegg.

DFI LP Comparison Link to Newegg

Any light you all might be able to shed would be great. Thank you.
Click to expand...

What CPU do you have, and how high do you want to OC?

I'd go with the P35, it's cheaper, and X38 doesn't seem to have any real benefit.
 
Originally posted by: lopri
You may want to decide on X38 or P35 first. And #3 and #4 are identical when it comes to your need (overclocking and water cooling), I think. The LT one just comes with more extra.
Click to expand...

LT is the one with the stripped down heatsinks.

Really comes down to whether or not you want crossfire. If no then just stick with a P35 board.

If you do want crossfire, then are you overclocking a quad core? The PWM on the DK (pretty sure its a 4 phase) may hold your overclock back a bit compared to the lan party x38 board.

I've seen some DK boards hit 470+mhz with quad cores but those were at low multipliers like x7 (wonder how they do at x8 or x9). Higher multiplier is more stressful on the board (not just the cpu).
 
Originally posted by: EarthwormJim
Originally posted by: lopri
You may want to decide on X38 or P35 first. And #3 and #4 are identical when it comes to your need (overclocking and water cooling), I think. The LT one just comes with more extra.
Click to expand...

LT is the one with the stripped down heatsinks.

Really comes down to whether or not you want crossfire. If no then just stick with a P35 board.

If you do want crossfire, then are you overclocking a quad core? The PWM on the DK (pretty sure its a 4 phase) may hold your overclock back a bit compared to the lan party x38 board.

I've seen some DK boards hit 470+mhz with quad cores but those were at low multipliers like x7 (wonder how they do at x8 or x9). Higher multiplier is more stressful on the board (not just the cpu).
Click to expand...

I'm at 389FSB with my Q6600, on my LT p35-T2R. I don't think the X38 is really needed for OC'ing.
 
Originally posted by: GarfieldtheCat
Originally posted by: EarthwormJim
Originally posted by: lopri
You may want to decide on X38 or P35 first. And #3 and #4 are identical when it comes to your need (overclocking and water cooling), I think. The LT one just comes with more extra.
Click to expand...

LT is the one with the stripped down heatsinks.

Really comes down to whether or not you want crossfire. If no then just stick with a P35 board.

If you do want crossfire, then are you overclocking a quad core? The PWM on the DK (pretty sure its a 4 phase) may hold your overclock back a bit compared to the lan party x38 board.

I've seen some DK boards hit 470+mhz with quad cores but those were at low multipliers like x7 (wonder how they do at x8 or x9). Higher multiplier is more stressful on the board (not just the cpu).
Click to expand...

I'm at 389FSB with my Q6600, on my LT p35-T2R. I don't think the X38 is really needed for OC'ing.
Click to expand...

The LT p35-T2R has an 8 phase PWM anyways, I was just specifically refering to the DK motherboard the OP had listed.

A Q6600 has a pretty good multiplier anyways, my X3210 only has an 8x multiplier so I'm running it at 470fsb (same board as you).
 
I think I can help break it down...

X38 is for crossfire

The DK line could be considered DFI's 'midrange' (at least for s775) and thus the DK X38 isn't really even in the same league as the other boards and shouldn't even be considered...of which if you still want to consider it then there's also a 5th option of the DK P35...

After that the LT and UT P35 are essentially identical except for the fact that the UT has an overly elaborate heatpipe cooling solution that generally looks better than it performs - you'll most likely be better off going with the LT and going with after market cooling (if you even end up needing to mess with that at all...)

That being said I think the new lineup is more something like this...

1. LT X38-T2R
2. DK X38-T2R
3. LT P35-T2R
4. DK P35-T2RS

If you want crossfire then go with an X38. I not then go with a P35 and save ~$50

If you want to be able to push and tweak your system to the absolute maximum, then go with the LT series. If you would rather have a board that might not be able to clock as high as the LT (although it should still perform admirably) and save ~$50, then go with the DK series.

Edit: Although I just noticed that it looks like the LT P35's price has dropped ~$15 or so, so that might make it hard for me to recommend anything else 😛 unless gaming is an absolute priority and you feel you need crossfire
 
Thanks for the help.

Processor - Currently I am not dead set on the processor. I know it will either be an E8400/E8500 or one of the newer Quad core processors, but I wanted to nail down a motherboard before moving on to that final decision.

I am not planning on doing crossfire...at least not anytime soonish.

So what I think I am hearing is that the LT P35 and the LT X38 are very similar in performance and overclocking ability? I do see a price difference on newegg between them as the P35 board is $185 vs the $270 on the X38 board.

The PCI Express 2.0 - is this worth it or is this one of those crossfire things that there isn't real benefit to unless I utilize crossfire?

I am definitely looking at overclocking the processor, and will have aftermarket water blocks for the NB/SB/Processor, and Mosfets if needed.

Hopefully that will fill in the other blanks I left earlier. Thanks again.
 
Honestly, unless you're running crossfire, I would suggest the DK P35. It's the fifth option you didn't have listed. It is the most plain jane as far as chipset cooling and accessories from the bunch so the price is the lowest, ~$140 last I checked, and if you're going to water cool you are probably considering having the chipset in the loop too so you don't need to spend the extra money on the fancier chipset cooling and the accessories are more or less a joke with enthusiasts. When you want some info on the water options, make a thread in Cases and Cooling, there are a few of us around that have some experience with water cooling or even chilled water cooling.
 
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