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p35 vs x38

N

number58

Member
I'm choosing between a p35 and x38 board for my next build. As far as I know, the major difference is that the x38 supports pci-express 2.0 and the p35 doesnt. Will not having pci-e 2.0 affect me now or in the future? For example will my hd3870 run slower without 2.0? And what about future video cards?
 
For the moment you're not loosing anything, since the 3870 is not even close of filling the whole bandwidth of a Pci-Express 1.1 slot. In the future, you'll start to loose some performance with more powerful videocards, but I think that we are still far from that "future". Actually, when those videocards will arrive on the market, your system that you're about to build now, will be quite obsolete and you'll have already got a Pci-Express 2.0 motherboard and another cpu.
So, in my opinion, keep your money and get a cheaper P35 motherboard.
 
Are you planning on doing any crossfire or SLI? If not, just get the P35 board as the X38's have 2 PCIE slots and this wouldn't be of any use to you. Besides, P35's are great boards.
 
Originally posted by: error8
For the moment you're not loosing anything, since the 3870 is not even close of filling the whole bandwidth of a Pci-Express 1.1 slot. In the future, you'll start to loose some performance with more powerful videocards, but I think that we are still far from that "future". Actually, when those videocards will arrive on the market, your system that you're about to build now, will be quite obsolete and you'll have already got a Pci-Express 2.0 motherboard and another cpu.
So, in my opinion, keep your money and get a cheaper P35 motherboard.
Click to expand...

Do you have any numbers for bandwidth usage of current/near-future cards?
 
Originally posted by: number58
I'm not interested in crossfire/sli. Thanks for the advice. I think I'm leaning towards this board.
Click to expand...

Just an FYI, that board has 2 PCIE slots, and since you said you are not interested in SLI/Crossfire, then you should consider THIS instead.

 
But the board you suggested doesn't have any firewire ports, and I use firewire for midi audio interfaces. Thanks for the suggestion though.
 
I think PCIe 2.0 might actually matter when RV770 and GT200 arrive. We'll have to wait and see but it doesn't hurt to have it, I think? Plus, X38/X48 boards let you use the 2nd PCIe x16 slot for your video card without any performance loss, even if you're not doing CF. It helps distributing heat around the top-left corner of the board.

The biggest consideration would be the budget. If your budget is towards $100 then P35 is the way to go. If your budget is closer to $200 I would suggest taking a look at X38/X48.
 
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