GA-P31-DS3L

[TheNiceGuy]

I'm working on an upgrade, and was going to get a P43 board. But then I saw this P31 board that's about $70 cheaper, and appears to have everything I need. MB page here:

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Pro...ew.aspx?ProductID=2615

My build is here:

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...id=27&threadid=2201958

Am I missing something, some kind of bottleneck? The main differences are for people wanting to OC or upgrade pieces in the near future - neither of which apply to me.

I just want to make sure all my hardware is fully utilized. I don't need RAID, or more than 4 SATA ports, etc.
If so, this is the board for me!

 

[TheNiceGuy]

I guess I'm wondering if there is any hardware limitations of this P31 with my new stuff: E8400; 4850; 2x2GB (4GB) RAM.
Any ideas?

 

[Cheex]

The P31 chipset, from what I gather, is a slightly nerfed P35. If this is true, then you should have no limitations regarding the parts you listed.

 

[TheNiceGuy]

I think you're right. I couldn't find much info on Anandtech, but a Google search showed rave reviews on other sites. However, the reviews were from over a year ago, so all the associated hardware is not current - thus my question on here if there is a bottle neck, perhaps in the southbridge which is olde school parts I read, "P31 Northbridge with the previous generation ICH7 Southbridge".
The difference is Dual Channel DDR2 1066 vs DDR2 1200. And FSB 1600MHz vs FSB 1333MHz. But to be honest I don't know what these terma mean, so not sure if it's a problem or not.
Also, the P43/45s have all these "energy" and "gear" features. Are those just gimmicks more or less?
Also, the Gigabyte page has a warning regarding using all 4 RAM slots. However, I think my RAM is just fine for the board, which IIUC maxes at 4GB.
Again, it seems liek the perfect board for me: all the pieces work at top performance with no wasted features.
My A8N-SLI never used anything more than what this P31 appears to offer.

 

[Zap]

From what I have heard, the P31 should be fine for you. Main things versus P35/P43/P45 seems to be features and overclocking.

 

[TheNiceGuy]

Right on, thank you Zap.
I'll get this one, as it's $70 cheaper here than a P43.
Just curious, more than 4 GB RAM is totaly useless with my system specs, and will continue to be so unless I upgrade other hardware, correct? And PCI-E 2.0 is also useless at present, unless I upgrade my other hardware in the future?
If these are the case, then there is no point in getting a P45 board anyway, as I can't utilize it's features. Then I'll be very happy with this board, as I plan to do only total system upgrades from now on, as it's better value for me.

 

[krnmastersgt]

Originally posted by: TheNiceGuy
Right on, thank you Zap.
I'll get this one, as it's $70 cheaper here than a P43.
Just curious, more than 4 GB RAM is totaly useless with my system specs, and will continue to be so unless I upgrade other hardware, correct? And PCI-E 2.0 is also useless at present, unless I upgrade my other hardware in the future?
If these are the case, then there is no point in getting a P45 board anyway, as I can't utilize it's features. Then I'll be very happy with this board, as I plan to do only total system upgrades from now on, as it's better value for me.

If you're talking about single cards then yes, no single video card is able to saturate all the bandwidth from PCI-E 1.1, so 2.0 isn't all that necessary.
As for the ram, 4gb is enough for most anyone, what did you plan on doing that needs more than that?

 

[TheNiceGuy]

thanks krnmaster-
nothing I know of. This is a typical current gamimg system I'm going for. What is more RAM useful for? I was under the impression that the hardware and Vista can't, in reality, use more than 4GB.