Gigabyte P35 DS3L vs DS3R vs DS3P

[dpk33]

Could someone explain to me the differences between these three? I've been thinking about getting one of these and I've never really known the difference. The main thing i'm concerned about is overclocking though. Does one overclock better than the rest?

 

[coffeejunkee]

So you want to see how high that old C2D can go?

For overclocking you want the DS3P with heatsinks on the cpu vrm area. The DS3L is more of a budget model. The DS3R is the same but with raid capability.

But if you can find the GA-EP45-UD3P it would be even better.

 

[AsusGuy]

I own the Gigabyte P35-DS3R and I know the main difference is the RAID support. The DS3R supports RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10. I think the board also has more power phases than the DS3L. The DS3P has better heatsinks and a heatpipe and supports only RAID 0 and 1. But is a good motherboard for OCing if RAID is not a primary concern. I am very happy with my DS3R and was able to OC my C2D e6750 to 3.6Ghz (possibly higher but RAM speed was holding me back). Here are links to each board on Gigabytes website for more info.

http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2742#sp
http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2629&dl=1#ov
http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2746&dl=1#sp

 

[Smoblikat]

The R is the better choice, but I second that the EP45-UD3P is the best LGA 775 motherboard in existence. Used to have the maximus extreme and would have traded it for a UD3P anyday.

 

[dpk33]

Well I have a choice between 3 boards (all $60):

GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3P
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L

I'm leaning towards the first one, solely because of the ddr3 support. I'm guessing that the other two have better overclocking abilities?

 

[2is]

R has more phases than the L as well as a larger heat sink on the north bridge. At least it did when I looked at these two boards a while back. I ended up going with the R paired with a Q6600 but be aware, it has significant vdroop so extreme overclocking isn't going to happen. It's fine for light to moderate clocks though.

 

[SilentRunning]

R has more phases than the L as well as a larger heat sink on the north bridge. At least it did when I looked at these two boards a while back. I ended up going with the R paired with a Q6600 but be aware, it has significant vdroop so extreme overclocking isn't going to happen. It's fine for light to moderate clocks though.

Did you purchase the P35C version? I have the GA-P35C-DS3R and have been happy with it as a non overclocker (just recently started acting up but a new CMOS battery solved the issues.) However, I seem to recall reports at the time I purchased it that the P35C version didn't overclock as well due to the compromises made to support two types of memory.

 

[dpk33]

I've always wondered. What about the 20 other P35 based boards Gigabyte has to offer? Like the DQ6 and the S3G and such.

 

[2is]

Did you purchase the P35C version? I have the GA-P35C-DS3R and have been happy with it as a non overclocker (just recently started acting up but a new CMOS battery solved the issues.) However, I seem to recall reports at the time I purchased it that the P35C version didn't overclock as well due to the compromises made to support two types of memory.

No, just the P35. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad board at all and not a horrible overclocker either, just not the best overclocking board out there.