Time to upgrade Q6600

[SlitheryDee]

I'm running a DFI DK X38-T2RB and like it just fine. It took my E8400 up to 4ghz with nary a hiccup. My temps were in the 70s so I backed it down to 3.6 ghz, but it didn't crash during the time I was testing it. It actually hasn't crashed or given me the slightest problem since the first touch of the power button.

As for the 2x 16x PCIE slots, all the reviews I've seen lead me to believe that there isn't much practical difference between 16x and 8x CF. Most of them gave a minuscule edge to the 16x boards so that's what I went with. Spending all that money on graphics cards and then having them hampered even a little by the PCIE lanes the board supports didn't sit well with me. Looking at prices it seems you can get any number of excellent P45 boards for much cheaper than this one, but if you are willing to spend the money I'm sure you'd like it.

 

[zenguy]

I was able to find (2) reviwes of the P45 vs X48 for XFire and both used the 4850.
The 1st review showed a minimal difference, but the CPU was less powerful and AA was not even turned on.

The Tweaktown used a more powerful CPU and more aggressive Video Settings in its test.
They found Significant differences on their tests.

http://www.tweaktown.com/artic...performance/index.html

I could only imagine the results with even more powerful GPUs such as the 4870 and an even more powerful CPU.

Anandtech's recent review stated they could not notice a difference in P45 vs X48/X38 in some testing they did and so they went with the P45. While we can assume their results are valid, we can also note that they experienced unexpected performance issues on their P45 board which perhaps leads credence to the Tweaktown review.