DS3 vs P5B-E vs P5N-E SLI - Help Please!

[imported_Pastuch]

I have issues with each of these three motherboards and I would love some suggestions to sway my buying decision.


Processor: My goal is to buy the Core 2 Duo E4300 and overclock it to or near 9x400= 3.6ghz.

HSF: I am planning on using a Scythe Infinity HSF for this overclock. I would use the Tuniq Tower 120 but after the hellish time I had mounting my Thermaltake Big Typhoon I want to avoid HSFs that require removal of the 775 Bracket.

Ram: OCZ Platinum XTC REV.2 PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL4-4-4-15
This ram is only $213.05 in Canada after rebate. Canadian memory choices are not as vast as the USA.

Gigabyte P965-DS3 Rev2.0: I own a Creative X-Fi and I've heard that some of the BIOS revisions (D8) can have issues with this sound card. Do any of you guys know if this has been resolved in D10? Any info on this issue would be appreciated. Has the new revision 2.0 model had any effect on overlocking stability?

Is the Gigabyte DS3 compatable with the Scythe Infinity? I want a relatively easy mount outside my PC case. My Antec P160 has a removable Motherboard tray.

P5B-E: From all the reviews I've read the P5B-E looks like the best overclocker. My only issues with this board is that it's a little more expensive and getting the Revision 1.02 model in Canada is very difficult. Does this board have issues with my Ram of choice or the X-fi?

P5N-E SLI: I just started researching this board today. It looks like it has a good price but is very picky about memory timings and such when overclocking. Is a 3.5ghz + overclock realistic on this board? Will I have issues with the Scythe Infinity on this board?

I've heard that this board has quite a bit of heat generation, this is a definite minus.

I've been a big fan of Nvidia chipsets in the past but hardly any manufacturers adopted 650 SLI. I own an 8800GTX so the 650 would allow to SLI but frankly I think SLI is a bit of a scam.

Thanks in advance, long live AT!

 

[phog]

I own the P5N-E SLI and exactly the same RAM that you intent to buy. No problems at all here, stable as can be. There are others that have less good experience with this board, it seems particularly problematic with some RAMs (which has improved with the newer BIOS versions). My RAM runs happily at DDR2-800 4-4-4-9 1T. The good thing about the Nvidia chipset is that it lets you unlink RAM and FSB, so that you can control both separately for OC. I decided to leave my RAM at 800 with tight timings and that runs very well. I've not been able to OC my 6600 to 3600 ORTHOS proof with vcore < 1.5V at which point I stopped. There are however reports of C2Ds at 3800+ and max FSB reports of around 500 MHz. When you're lucky with your CPU and have good cooling, this board will certainly not hold you back. By the way there is a VERY LONG thread on this board with very useful OC and other info. I have the Scythe Ninja on my CPU (tad less cooling, but very silent :thumbsup: ), which fits perfectly, don't know about the Infinity.

 

[FreedomGUNDAM]

I too was looking for a new motherboard and was looking at the same three. After comparing all three, I ended up ordering the DS3 rev3.3 from clubit.com. My second choice was the P5N-E SLI

 

[imported_Pastuch]

Phog: Thanks very much for all that info. Getting your 6600 to near 3.6ghz is certainly an achievement. My processor choice isn't set in stone, I heard that C2Ds will be getting a price cut soon so we'll see. I may go for the 6600. To me it doesnt make sense to have the 6300 or the 6400. They have very low Multipliers. The 4300 and 4400 have 9x and 10x multipliers.

What is "Orthos Proof"? Is it a stability benchmark like Prime95 or OCCT?

P.S. I work for Dell IT operations.... Hope you like your monitor! I have the 2005FPW, it's been great!

Freedom: I thought there were only 2 major hardware revisions of the Gigabyte 965p-DS3. 1.0 and 2.0. The 2.0 has the new revised heatsink with the gigabyte logo on it.

What is revision 3.3?

 

[FreedomGUNDAM]

rev3.3 is the lastest revison of the DS3. It is add official support for 1333 FSB and additional support for QuadCore processers

 

[GuitarDaddy]

I have the P5B-E rev. 1.02g and I really like it so far (couple of weeks). I have the E6400 overclocked to 3.2ghz(401x8) on the stock Intel HSF. I have gotten it orthos(dual P95) stable at 3.6ghz, but with the stock HSF it gets way too hot, so I backed down until I get better cooling. I also have OCZ ddr-800 ram and am using an X-fi extreme music card, and have an older IDE drive on the jmicron controller and 2x sata raptors. I have had zero problems so far.

The only slight negative I have found is that I can't overclock the ram to DDR1000 while using the 1:1 divider (500fsb). I can hit DDR1000 using the 4:5 divider. This seems to be pretty common when using anything less than the expensive D9 rams. I can hit 450fsb at 1:1 with ram at DDR900. If you want to hit 500fsb or higher like many reviewers have with this board, you need some really good ram.

My ram is the OCZ flex XLC PC2-6400 which uses PROMOS ic's which I beleive are the same ic's used in the ram you listed. Once I get some better cooling I'm pretty sure I can run comfortably at 3.6-3.65 with ram at DDR900 which ain't nothing to complain about

 

[mgutz]

from what i have read the 4300 hits a wall at some FSB point, i don't remember the number exactly. the 6300 does OC a little bit more (not by much).

one thing to keep in mind, the 4300 doesn't have the VT feature of the 6xxxx series which is virtualization technology. Both Parallels and VirtualPC i think make use of the VT feature. VMWare, if i remember correctly, takes advantage of VT when running 64-bit guest but not 32-bit guests.

 

[imported_Pastuch]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
I have the P5B-E rev. 1.02g and I really like it so far (couple of weeks). I have the E6400 overclocked to 3.2ghz(401x8) on the stock Intel HSF. I have gotten it orthos(dual P95) stable at 3.6ghz, but with the stock HSF it gets way too hot, so I backed down until I get better cooling. I also have OCZ ddr-800 ram and am using an X-fi extreme music card, and have an older IDE drive on the jmicron controller and 2x sata raptors. I have had zero problems so far.

The only slight negative I have found is that I can't overclock the ram to DDR1000 while using the 1:1 divider (500fsb). I can hit DDR1000 using the 4:5 divider. This seems to be pretty common when using anything less than the expensive D9 rams. I can hit 450fsb at 1:1 with ram at DDR900. If you want to hit 500fsb or higher like many reviewers have with this board, you need some really good ram.

My ram is the OCZ flex XLC PC2-6400 which uses PROMOS ic's which I beleive are the same ic's used in the ram you listed. Once I get some better cooling I'm pretty sure I can run comfortably at 3.6-3.65 with ram at DDR900 which ain't nothing to complain about

I really like the P5B-E but I can't find the 1.02g anywhere. People here are still getting sent 1.1s. I'm also having a hard time finding the DS3 rev 3.3. I love that it officially supports the 1333fsb because I want to upgrade my cpu to a quad core in a year or two. Thats why I'm satisfied with a 4300 for now. I really like the P5N-E SLI as well but the fact is I think I will need 6 sata ports. I'm buying a SATA DVD burner when I upgrade and I already have a first gen 36gb raptor and two seagate satas.

LOL, this really is a difficult thing to sort out.

 

[FreedomGUNDAM]

you can order the Gigabyte 965P-DS3 revision 3.3 from www.clubit.com for $124 shipped Fedex ground.

I ordered mine yestersday

 

[imported_Pastuch]

The questions is... Does clubit.com ship to Canada

 

[phog]

Originally posted by: Pastuch
Phog: Thanks very much for all that info. Getting your 6600 to near 3.6ghz is certainly an achievement. My processor choice isn't set in stone, I heard that C2Ds will be getting a price cut soon so we'll see. I may go for the 6600. To me it doesnt make sense to have the 6300 or the 6400. They have very low Multipliers. The 4300 and 4400 have 9x and 10x multipliers.

If I would trade noise for coolness I might get it to 3.6 (I think I'm heat limited), haven't tried as I like quick en quiet. I'm settling on a 3.2ghz for now, which I can run stable @ 1.35 Vcore.

What is "Orthos Proof"? Is it a stability benchmark like Prime95 or OCCT?

It's basically a Prime95 front-end that allows easy testing of dual-core CPU's, but nothing multiple instances of Prime95 can't do either.

P.S. I work for Dell IT operations.... Hope you like your monitor! I have the 2005FPW, it's been great!

Still love it, it's so damn hard to find an LCD with a decent panel inside, colours are so much better than your average TN-based LCD

 

[D3xx]

I'm trying to choose between the same three boards. I'll be running an e6500 and hope for 450 FSB on air. Stability is more important to me than high OC.

 

[imported_Pastuch]

So I made the plunge today. I ordered the Gigabyte DS3 Rev 3.3, the new Western Digital 72gb raptor gen 4, a Core 2 Duo E4300 and the OCZ 2gb ram kit. Also got a SATA DVD burner so I can get rid of those pesky PATA cables.

A big part of the reason I went with the gigabyte is that I knew the board I am getting is Rev 3.3 and it has 6 SATA ports. I have 3 SATA hard drives and 1 Sata DVD burner now. So I can still get another Hard Drive and HD-DVD burner or BD burner down the road.

 

[ahmurat]

I'm looking at P5B Deluxe, DS3, and P5N-E SLI.
the best feature of P5n-E is it has two ide ports. I've got 3 ide hard drives and an ide dvd burner.
I'd have to buy new SATA drive(s) if i go with the others. What is the performance gain if I were to switch to SATA drives?

 

[ahmurat]

Originally posted by: ahmurat
I'm looking at P5B Deluxe, DS3, and P5N-E SLI.
the best feature of P5n-E is it has two ide ports. I've got 3 ide hard drives and an ide dvd burner.
I'd have to buy new SATA drive(s) if i go with the others. What is the performance gain if I were to switch to SATA drives?

answering my question:
i think the only advantage to go with SATA is improved airflow in the case - for now. Just read the hard drive review at Tom's.

 

[gramboh]

Originally posted by: Pastuch
So I made the plunge today. I ordered the Gigabyte DS3 Rev 3.3, the new Western Digital 72gb raptor gen 4, a Core 2 Duo E4300 and the OCZ 2gb ram kit. Also got a SATA DVD burner so I can get rid of those pesky PATA cables.

A big part of the reason I went with the gigabyte is that I knew the board I am getting is Rev 3.3 and it has 6 SATA ports. I have 3 SATA hard drives and 1 Sata DVD burner now. So I can still get another Hard Drive and HD-DVD burner or BD burner down the road.

Hi there, I'm in kind of the same boat as you. I'm about to build a C2D system and am having trouble finding the P5B-E rev1.02g from Canadian retailers. NCIX seems to still be shipping 1.01 as of last week (based on customer reviews). My roommate bought one last week from a local shop (in Calgary) and it was 1.01.

I found a retailer in Edmonton on eBay claiming to have new 1.02g but I'd rather buy new from a retailer for warranty/DOA purposes.

Where did you get that rev3.3 DS3 from? Also, where is that RAM $213CDN? I'm seeing it at $250ish after rebate most places. That is the same RAM I want to get (it's $279 locally, no rebate?).

Thanks

 

[allies]

You want to overclock your E4300 to 3.6 ghz?? I think that's gonna take a lot of voltage. I see you're planning on using the Scythe Infinity? Also there isn't a bracket on the ds3 that you need to remove.

 

[Skajohyros]

Hi,
i'm kind of in the same boat, can't decide between the DS3 and p5n-e sli.would like some advice as this is my first build and would like to try my hand at OC.
so far i've got:
e4300
80gb IDE HD will add seagate 320gb sata2 later
8800gts 320mb
g.skill F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ

which mb will be more compatible and easier to OC with this cheap RAM or is there no difference?

Also, will an OCZ 450w modstream be sufficient for OCing this rig?

thanks for any help and advice.

 

[gramboh]

Is there a bracket to remove on the P5B-E if you are using a cooler like the Ultra 120? I'm confused, what exactly is the bracket? Thanks