Intel 965 vs Asus P5B vs Gigabyte DS3

[Matts0344]

Not really into overclocking, making a new build.

You think the P5B or DS3 are worth it or should I just go with the Intel?

 

[LW07]

I would just go with the Intel 965 as it's the cheapest of the 3.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813121035
If you're talking about this Intel 965, though. I really recommend this as it's cheaper(~$110 compared to $150-200) than the other boards.

 

[Dulanic]

Id agree if your not OCing, Id go with the intel board, its a better price just lacking features you wont use in the first place.

 

[CrappyLuckMan]

Reading the newegg reviews, both the P5B and Intel boards are stable. Don't be afraid of of throwing a few fsb and multipliers around for a few hundred mhz increase you can get a $210 e6300 to do $350+ performance, or you can save the overclock for when you want to upgrade cause you need more fps in games or w.e, think of it as a free upgrade for the future.....in the yeaaar two thoouuuusaannd.

 

[slpaulson]

If you're not overclocking I'd just get the Intel board. Intel makes solid boards, plus this one has firewire which the others lack. If you plan on using the onboard sound I'd get the p5b.

 

[Amanda85]

The Newegg reviews on the P5B Onboard SPU don't sound too good though..

 

[Matts0344]

I am planning to use the onboard sound. Does the intel onboard sound suck?
I only use a mediocre two speaker setup, usually with headphones. Can I get by using the Intel board?

I guess I can always get a sound card later if I want.

 

[crucibelle]

Just wanted to let everyone know that there is a weekend sale going on for the Intel board on Newegg... its $106.99 + shipping.

 

[CrappyLuckMan]

Nice to see some chickas.

Originally posted by: Amanda85
The Newegg reviews on the P5B Onboard SPU don't sound too good though..

That one guy said he had IRQ probs and he fixed it.
Hmm...but with the available pci slots you can get a sb live 5.1 pretty cheap or transfer your sound card for this board.

 

[ForgetCassettes]

I bought one of the Intel boards and it died on me the first night. There was something wrong with it from the start. When I would restart it would hang sometimes. I got an RMA for the Intel board. I picked up a Gigabyte board from a local vendor and I've not had any issues with it. It's not a very good board for overclocking but other than that it seems fine.

 

[CrappyLuckMan]

I heard it overlocks past 500mhz fsb with new bios. Maybe you have crappy luck man. T hee

 

[ForgetCassettes]

I haven't actually tried overclocking yet. It just seemed like the BIOS was a little lacking. It might very well turn out to be a good overclocker if the fsb can go as high as you say

 

[imported_Husky55]

Actually, the Gigabyte DS3 is the OC board of choice at the moment despite its many quirks!!!

 

[ForgetCassettes]

Yeah ya know, I hit the same 4 Ghz on my Pentium D 920 that I did on my Asus P5WD2-E Premium. It might go further. I haven't tried yet because there was one thing the board was lacking. It doesn't have a fan header near the rear of the board for my rear fan. Before I do any overclcoking, I gotta pick up a 3 pin to 4 pin molex connector. My rear exhaust isn't running at the moment.

 

[gobucks]

i think a lot of the options on the DS3, like memory timings and such, are hidden. i think you have to hit like CTRL + F1 or something to unlock them. i have heard it's a great board for overclocking, although there are some goofy memory issues I'm hoping will be corrected.

More to the point though, if you're SURE you don't want to overclock, then the intel board will do just fine. it is probably stable, it's cheap, and the features are nice, although it seems like such a shame not to overclock those fine 65nm chips..... . also, doesn't intel use a pretty nice audio chipset with their azalia mobos? I though i read that they have stuff like dolby master studio and dolby digital live (something i really wish the DS3 included).

 

[Amanda85]

O.k. here are some of the Newegg reviews on the Intel board:
- When I went to install the drivers off of the included CD, I had to download some random .sys file from the Internet using my other machine to complete the installation. The install program also kept erroring out on me when I tried to install the sound card drivers. I had to go in and manually install them. Some of these issues could have been because SP2 was not installed yet. Also, apparently Intel has not yet updated their desktop hardware monitoring software to run with these boards, as everytime I try an install it errors out after trying unsuccessfully to install the ICH7 SMBus driver (this board uses the new ICH8 South Bridge).
- Impossible to use the full 800MHz of RAM bandwidth. Had to RMA my PQI Turbo RAM (PC6400), because this MB only supports 1.8v non-ecc RAM - NO SUCH THING EXISTS at 800mHz it's all 1.9v or greater! If you buy this MB, be very careful which RAM you pick. Right now, only 667MHz RAM will work.
Reply: Intel fixed the issure where the system freezes if more that 2GB of ram are installed and added a workaround for memory error 46h in BIOS revision 0784. All memory of CAS latency 5 or higher have also been approved for use. However, there is the possability that you could under clock the memory a little bit by increasing the CAS latency. A full list of supported DIMMs can be found here : http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/lt/lt_mem.htm#SDIMMC
- Just like a previous reviewer mentioned, the Intel Utility for the motherboard does not work yet. Also, beware the type of RAM you choose for the board. I'm not sure if it was the Brand of RAM I had, but I started with 2.1V and it had all kinds of problems. I went with 1.8V, and everything is running smooth. I'm not a gamer, so I don't need the high end RAM.

 

[Amanda85]

Does the Intel board work with this 1.9V RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145590
?

EDIT: Probably not: http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/lt/lt_mem.htm

 

[Amanda85]

Is this RAM barrier only with the Intel board or with all 965 chipsets?

 

[phillyman36]

I made a post but i didnt see this one i was looking at the same thing Amanda85. It seems like none of the ddr2 800 can be used from what i have read from the same info you got. What does this mean

Double-sided DIMMs with x16 organization are not supported

 

[Amanda85]

Just found this
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...&STARTPAGE=2&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear

Intel is marketing PC6400 compatibility, but at the same time it restricts vDIMM to 1.8V. No PC6400 RAM I've seen works at <1.9V!

The only question that remains: Is this RAM barrier only with the Intel board or with all 965 chipsets?

 

[phillyman36]

Ill go to Asus site and download the user manual for its P5B 965 mobo it usually has tested/suggested memory ill see what it says then post

 

[phillyman36]

This is what i got from the Asus P5B Deluxe 965 mobo manual as far as ddr2 800 it lists

512MB
CORSAIR Heat-Sink Package CM2X512A-6400

1024MB
CORSAIR
Heat-Sink Package
CM2X1024-6400PRO

1024MB
CORSAIR
Heat-Sink Package
CM2X1024-6400C4
Thats not all that was listed but these range from 1.9 to 2.1 v so i guess its just the Intel 965 as far as i can tell

 

[Amanda85]

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=2797&p=19

This report doesn't have any problems with higher vDIMM, too. Also, I didn't see any complaints in Neweggs reviews of the P5B.

 

[phillyman36]

As far as the DS3 i found this (memory)

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/FileList/Mem...ort/motherboard_memory_ga-965p-ds3.pdf

 

[Amanda85]

Let me summarize typical feedback on the Intel P965 chipset so far:

- Problems with DS RAM
- MDT memory incompatibility
- Ecc. memory chips incompatibility
- Incompatibility with 7950 GX2 cards
- >1.8V vDIMM N/A
- Unusual quantity of BIOS weaknesses
- Premature FSB and Fast Access Memory architecture
- Numerous other bugs (I/O)
- Crashes at ROM-initializing process resp. during on/off-action throgh button or OS
- Almost no performance difference to 975 chipset
- It doesn't end here - just look at customer reviews...