# Whats better P43/P45/X38/X48 ?



## viczulis (Apr 7, 2009)

Hey guys/gals looking for a new motherboard. My main rig has gotten to big / heavy to take on the road with me.  I've been taking my Indians rig, which is a Gigabyte 965P-S3 board with a E6850 CPU. I can not OC this board at all. Any changes in bios (OCing) will not post.  I have an E8400 laying around and I'm looking for a decent motherboard that I can overclock for 100.00 to 150.00. and to abuse the hell out of 

So what would be the best board for price range from  P43-P45- X38 - X48  And why.

Thanks


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## Suijin (Apr 7, 2009)

From memory I don't believe there is much of a difference in those particular chipsets in overclockability/performance.  P35 was pretty good if you got a decent board.  X48 didn't really overclock any better I don't think by reviews I read.  I'm not really familiar with the P43-P45 range other than aren't they lower tier versions of the X48?  I believe you need to go up to the i7 before your performance really gets that much better.

I have an abit P35 pro and it's supposed to be good at overclocking, I haven't gotten around to it.  I keep using it and don't want to take the time out from using it to overclock it properly (money is tight now too, I have a crappy video card and don't see the point in overclocking with that in there).  Other versions of the 35 chipset were also good, I had an MSI crap out on me in about 20 minutes after building system though.  I would have to look up boards to get any other specific board models though.


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## grunt_408 (Apr 7, 2009)

P35 is a good overclocking platform if you dont want to spend much money and dont want to do crossfire. If you want crossfire get x48. I have a GA-P35DS3P rev 1.1 in my old system its a good board but looking back when I got it I should have gone for better chipset cooling that the rev 2.0 had.


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## Sir_Real (Apr 7, 2009)

As for a mobo any of the asus P5Q range are good mobos. Loads of overclocking options in the bios & most the P5Q boards have the powerful P45 chipset. Ideal for a gamming pc !

The Intel X** & P** chipsets are basicly the same. Bout the only differece is the X** range chipsets are designed for SLi boards & the P** range for crossfire. As far as i'm aware thats correct.


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## allen337 (Apr 7, 2009)

that 965p s3 has a new bios you can download to use the 1333 fsb processors with like the e8400


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## LagunaX (Apr 7, 2009)

asus p5q pro - high fsb little vdroop


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## ShadowFold (Apr 7, 2009)

P45, specifically the P5Q-PRO. High FSB, Crossfire, and stable.


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## cdawall (Apr 7, 2009)

Sir_Real said:


> As for a mobo any of the asus P5Q range are good mobos. Loads of overclocking options in the bios & most the P5Q boards have the powerful P45 chipset. Ideal for a gamming pc !
> 
> The Intel X** & P** chipsets are basicly the same. Bout the only differece is the X** range chipsets are designed for SLi boards & the P** range for crossfire. As far as i'm aware thats correct.



no the X series outside of the X58 is crossfire only.


P5Q-Pro is a damn good mobo b/c it can push a high FSB and has good BIOS.


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## technicks (Apr 7, 2009)

Yes the wisest choice would be to pick up a P45 board. And like Shadowfold said the Asus P5Q Pro would be a excellent choice.


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## [I.R.A]_FBi (Apr 8, 2009)

P45


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## mudkip (Apr 8, 2009)

What a bullshit recommendations.

P35 is the older mainstream chipset with ICH9(R)
P45 is the newest mainstream chipset with ICH10(r) also it has PCI-16x 2.0 , the p35 only had pci-e x16  also the P45 has official 1600FSB support.
P43 chipset is supposed to be the same as the P45 but has reduced features. They have a FSB wall and they're not recommended for overclocking .
X38 was the older highend chipset with 2 x full PCI-e 16x 2.0 for crossfire
X48 was actually the same but had official 1600FSB support.

Intel chipsets for S775 don't support SLI only crossfire. 
Only the X58 chipset supports SLI and Crossfire.

If you don't want to run full crossfire you should go for the P45.

There are a few differences between P45 , you should look for these things:

-Compatibly with Mem etc. 
-Overclock capabilities , search for reviews!
-Lay out
-Amount of ''phases'' for better overclocking experience 
Well.. things like that.

From my personal experience I'd recommend you a Gigabyte P45 motherboard because they use high quality components and have good support for their BIOS'es. Also they're very good overclockers and they use a nice on-board soundchip Realtek 889a which delivers superb sound quality.


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## dark2099 (Apr 8, 2009)

Just to help a bit on the differences of each chipset that I know.  In terms of overclocking, P45 has done the best, but a few specific models of the other chipsets (P35, X38, X48) are known to OC well.  Now for crossfire, the P35 chipset can support it, generally at 16x,4x with both running at PCI-E 1.x speeds, although a few boards do support 8x,8x.  From there the P45, X38, and X48 chipsets all support full PCI-E 2.0, but the P45 does crossfire at 8x,8x and the X38 and X48 do full 16x,16x.  None of the boards support SLi.  That is about all I can contribute, wouldn't be surprised if there was more than I listed.


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## Error 404 (Apr 8, 2009)

I do appear to have a bit of a FSB wall on my MSI P43 Neo-F, but I think that might be the CPU as well; the E5200 C0 stepping has a low FSB wall as well. This afternoon I'll see if I can push past it though.
P43 is quite good for budget gaming, but P45 or X48 would definitely be much better.


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## CarolinaKSU (Apr 8, 2009)

I've got the P5Q-Deluxe and I absolutely love it. Rock solid and stable, great for overclocking. I have yet to really figure out what the difference is between the P5Q Deluxe and P5Q-Pro, but they are both P45 and you wouldn't be disappointed with either.


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## viczulis (Apr 8, 2009)

Yea looking at the P5Q Pro its looking pretty good  Yea I'm not looking to cross fire new board I'll just take one of my 4870s out of main rig.

@allen 337 yea I know the motherboard will handle 8400 but it wont overclock at all. Tried all updates.


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## viczulis (Apr 8, 2009)

Yea I'm holding off on X58 , waiting for price drops and bugs out. My X48 rampage plays everything out there and OCed to 4.10 Hell the 965P-DS3 is a good board just wont overclock.

I plan on selling that board and the E6850 soon


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## viczulis (Apr 8, 2009)

or trade both for the Pro ...... Any one.......... two for one LOL have to try


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## 4x4n (Apr 8, 2009)

The best board out there for around $100 is the Gigagyte EP45-UD3P. Get one, you wont be disappointed. Newegg link $115 after rebate


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## unclewebb (Apr 8, 2009)

viczulis said:


> Hell the 965P-DS3 is a good board just wont overclock.



That's odd.  I had one of the early DS3 boards and it was one of the simplest boards ever to overclock.  I took an E6300 up to 7.0 x 472 MHz without much effort at all and that was with Micron DDR2-667 RAM.  These boards were a little picky with ram but worked great with Micron D9.  

Give the Northbridge some voltage and put a small fan on that huge cooler if you have to.  There's lots of potential in this board.


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## francis511 (Apr 8, 2009)

unclewebb said:


> That's odd.  I had one of the early DS3 boards and it was one of the simplest boards ever to overclock.  I took an E6300 up to 7.0 x 472 MHz without much effort at all and that was with Micron DDR2-667 RAM.  These boards were a little picky with ram but worked great with Micron D9.
> 
> Give the Northbridge some voltage and put a small fan on that huge cooler if you have to.  There's lots of potential in this board.



I had one of those boards and it oc`ed great (until it blew up !!)


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## ShogoXT (Apr 8, 2009)

I agree, Gigabyte P45 mobo.


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## Hicks (Apr 8, 2009)

4x4n said:


> The best board out there for around $100 is the Gigagyte EP45-UD3P. Get one, you wont be disappointed. Newegg link $115 after rebate



QFT!

Best out there 4 sure in that price range!!  clock quads & dual's like mad.


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## mrhuggles (Apr 8, 2009)

p35 hands down, why? well, thats easy... memory bandwidth is limited by the FSB, p35 can out clock any of those, by a whole lot too
its crossfire compatible i have a asus p5k, 1 16x port and 1 4x port that is in the shape of a 16x port so you can use a videocard in it. a lot of people are under the impression that the second port being 4x limits performance... you can probably look on the 3dmark06 results and see if thats true or not easily enough.
at any rate, i would be happy to put my rig up against any core2duo [dual core] rig with another chipset, even tho my cpu only has 1mb total cache... it can out clock them by enough to make it work the only down side is my best videocard is a 2900xt which even at 900mhz isn't all that impressive.


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## cdawall (Apr 8, 2009)

mrhuggles said:


> p35 hands down, why? well, thats easy... memory bandwidth is limited by the FSB, p35 can out clock any of those, by a whole lot too
> its crossfire compatible i have a asus p5k, 1 16x port and 1 4x port that is in the shape of a 16x port so you can use a videocard in it. a lot of people are under the impression that the second port being 4x limits performance... you can probably look on the 3dmark06 results and see if thats true or not easily enough.
> at any rate, i would be happy to put my rig up against any core2duo [dual core] rig with another chipset, even tho my cpu only has 1mb total cache... it can out clock them by enough to make it work the only down side is my best videocard is a 2900xt which even at 900mhz isn't all that impressive.



P45 out clocks P35 and has PCI-e 2.0 8x/8x crossfire


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## mrhuggles (Apr 8, 2009)

p45 out clocks p35? really? so it can run DDR2 1200mhz 24/7 at 1:1 ratio?

600mhz fsb

that is very impressive and i am eager to see these p45s in action 

EDIT: http://xtreview.com/addcomment-id-4168-view-MSI-P35-Diamond-700-MHz-fsb.html

i got my eyes on the e8200 [7x multiplier] for great 1:1 ratio`ed memory speed

oops i mean Q8200


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## alexp999 (Apr 8, 2009)

mrhuggles said:


> p45 out clocks p35? really? so it can run DDR2 1200mhz 24/7 at 1:1 ratio?
> 
> 600mhz fsb
> 
> ...





http://xtreview.com/addcomment-id-5647-view-725-FSB-with-p45-chipset.html

The P45 is based off the P35, but it is better, cooler, overclocks better, on less voltage, can OC RAM higher, and its PCI-E 2.0 x8/x8 or x16.


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## cdawall (Apr 8, 2009)

P45 holds 3 of the top 5 spots for intel C2D oc's P35 holds none.


http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=400241

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=399351

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=491209


i ran my 2x2GB kit of crucial 1:1 @630 on a P5Q-PRO


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## newtekie1 (Apr 8, 2009)

In terms of chipsets: P35<P45<X38<=X48

Though, the actual quality of the motherboard plays a big factor.  Personally, I think, as others have said, the P45 based motherboards are the sweet spot for price and features and I must also recommend the P5Q-Pro.

P35: Budget chipset below the X38.  Allowed decent overclocking, and Crossfire.  However, the second PCI-E x16 slot only ran at x4 speeds.  This still allowed Crossfire, and Crossfire still gave a performance boost, however the boost from Crossfire was not as great as the other chipsets.

P45: Budget chipset that came after the X48.  It allowed great overclocking, probably the best out of all the chipsets, and allowed for Crossfire. However, the two PCI-E x16 slots ran at x8 when running two graphics cards.  Again, this hurt performance compared to the x38 and x48 boards, but not nearly as much as the x4 slot on the P35 boards.  And the difference between the P45 and x38/48 in Crossfire performance wasn't noticeable in real-world situations.

X38: High end chipset, allowed for decent overclocking, and two true x16 PCI-E slot for Crossfire.  Overclocking was worse than the P45 and X48.

X48: High end chipset, basically identical to the X38, possible even the same chip IIRC.  However, the X48 was binned better to allow higher FSB speeds.  Basically only adds official 1600FSB support to the x38.  There are even some x38 motherboards that could be flashed with a BIOS from an x48 board, and worked perfectly fine as x48s.  Overclocking still wasn't as good as the P45, but was very respectable and reasonable for anyone on air cooling.

Any one of these chipsets will be perfectly fine for anyone looking to overclock on air cooling.  There might be differences in extreme situations, but in standard air cooling situations, any will yield similar overclocking results.


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## [I.R.A]_FBi (Apr 8, 2009)

mrhuggles said:


> p45 out clocks p35? really? so it can run DDR2 1200mhz 24/7 at 1:1 ratio?
> 
> 600mhz fsb
> 
> ...



i think p45 has that covered + 80 more mhz on teh fsb


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## [I.R.A]_FBi (Apr 8, 2009)

newtekie1 said:


> In terms of chipsets: P35<P45<X38<=X48
> 
> Though, the actual quality of the motherboard plays a big factor.  Personally, I think, as others have said, the P45 based motherboards are the sweet spot for price and features and I must also recommend the P5Q-Pro.
> 
> ...



remember reading somewhere that p45 gave up 6% of the performance (video) to a x48 ... if u get a good board (p45) at a good price point, cop it. A friend of mine ahs the gigabyte mentioned previously witha q9450, sweetness ...


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## alexp999 (Apr 8, 2009)

You got that wrong newtekie

Its more like:

P35 < P45 > X38 = X48

The X38 is worse than the P45 for OCing, I can vouch on personal experience from that.


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## mrhuggles (Apr 8, 2009)

that is a really epic overclock on that p45, but how high can it run on air?

p35 is larger... it seems to handle voltage better in my experience.. maybe why i don't see people running 600mhz fsb on a p45 on air?

hmm are there people running 600mhz fsb on air on p45s? I've been told that they handle quad cores and 4 dimms better, but i don't see that happening either :? at least not in my experience, thats why i intend on getting me one of those Q8200s some day


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## newtekie1 (Apr 8, 2009)

alexp999 said:


> You got that wrong newtekie
> 
> Its more like:
> 
> ...



In overclocking, yes, however as a whole chipset I would still put the x38 over the P45.  And as I have added, either will be fine in an air overclocking situation.  The x38 should still be good for at least a 450MHz FSB, which is still 3.6GHz on a processor with an 8x multiplier(Q9400).


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## alexp999 (Apr 8, 2009)

I couldnt get the x38 to get me to 400*9 :shadedshu

But still IMO, the benefits of the P45 out way the PCI-E 2.0 x8. Its more than enough unless you have a 4870X2 or GTX295 or something, in which case you have enough money for an i7


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## mrhuggles (Apr 8, 2009)

i disagree about 450mhz being enough, imho you can never have enough 

personally crossfire and all that fancy stuff doesn't even come into it for me, if i wanted faster I'd get a 280 and if i wanted faster I'd get a 295 etc.

i do see that its a good thing, it just doesn't enter into it for me, i think other people feel the same too why not 600mhz fsb and ddr2 1200mhz with 1:1 ratio? that doesn't sound pleasing? ddr2 on a core2duo that can push towards the kind of performance you'd see on a core i7 with ddr3? well... more like how the corei5 will be with its dual channel


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## cdawall (Apr 8, 2009)

mrhuggles said:


> i disagree about 450mhz being enough, imho you can never have enough
> 
> personally crossfire and all that fancy stuff doesn't even come into it for me, if i wanted faster I'd get a 280 and if i wanted faster I'd get a 295 etc.
> 
> i do see that its a good thing, it just doesn't enter into it for me, i think other people feel the same too why not 600mhz fsb and ddr2 1200mhz with 1:1 ratio? that doesn't sound pleasing? ddr2 on a core2duo that can push towards the kind of performance you'd see on a core i7 with ddr3? well... more like how the corei5 will be with its dual channel



http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=583842


http://forums.vr-zone.com/overclocking-bazaar/343997-600mhz-done-air-dfi-lp-ut-p45-t2rs.html


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## mrhuggles (Apr 8, 2009)

wow thats really awesome... my only concern is how well it would do with a quad core cpu and 4 dimms


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## cdawall (Apr 8, 2009)

mrhuggles said:


> wow thats really awesome... my only concern is how well it would do with a quad core cpu and 4 dimms



8GB overclocking sucks on P35 and P45 however 4x1GB is still able to do 1200


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## alexp999 (Apr 8, 2009)

I believe it was Paulieg who had 4 x 1GB on a P45 to 1300 MHz


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## mrhuggles (Apr 8, 2009)

1300mhz 1:1 ratio?


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## alexp999 (Apr 8, 2009)

Dunno about that. What does 1:1 ratio matter anyway?


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## mrhuggles (Apr 8, 2009)

memory bandwidth is limited by FSB speed, if the FSB is at 650mhz then it will be able to carry the bandwidth of 1300mhz ram 

"you'll never find... that microfilm of mine..."


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## alexp999 (Apr 8, 2009)

I dont know whether the Ratio really makes that much of a significant difference anymore,


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## mrhuggles (Apr 8, 2009)

did you just say that memory bandwidth "really makes that much of a significant difference anymore" ?

yeah in reality it doesn't make any real difference thats why the corei7 isn't really any better...

but still!


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## cdawall (Apr 8, 2009)

mrhuggles said:


> did you just say that memory bandwidth "really makes that much of a significant difference anymore" ?
> 
> yeah in reality it doesn't make any real difference thats why the corei7 isn't really any better...
> 
> but still!



liars all of you  i will leave my ram@1800 Cl7 and there is nothing you can do about


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## mrhuggles (Apr 8, 2009)

the athlon64's and above dont have the bandwidth limited by FSB issues, neither does the corei7
well thats not entirely true, but at least it doesn't have any issues between the cpu and ram and thats definitely what counts the most.


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## JrRacinFan (Apr 8, 2009)

Without reading through posts, X38 if definitely planning on running a crossfire based rig. P45 if needing a budget and may want to go crossfire in the future. P35 if needing tried and trued overclocking and have no plans of crossfire. X48, same reasons apply as x38, only if your wishing to go DDR3. As you can see all have pros & cons. I say P45 is the best choice.


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## mrhuggles (Apr 8, 2009)

yeah p45 looks pretty sweet, they have some really nice p45 boards for sure


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## alexp999 (Apr 8, 2009)

Asus P5Q FTW!  I have two graphics cards and my GTX 260 is running at PCI-E x16 2.0


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## viczulis (Apr 9, 2009)

Got it down to two boards:

Gigabyte GA-EP45 UD3P  114.99 after rebate      Reviews 76 % 5 eggs out of 658 people

Asus P5Q Pro  114.99 after rebate    Reviews 62 %  5 eggs out of 824 people


Both seem to be good boards.  Any one got Pros Cons on these two boards.


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## cdawall (Apr 9, 2009)

P5Q-PRO is great but picky with ram.

my personal experience it like these kits

2x2GB crucial ballistix tracers (both the red and yellow ones) i got 1280 6-6-6-18 on it with those sticks

4x1GB corsair XMS2 800 ProMOS based did about 1066 CL4 not bad but my phenom 9500 pushed them to 1100....

2x1GB corsiar D9 dominators loved them to death D9's+Asus is nothing but love


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## newtekie1 (Apr 9, 2009)

mrhuggles said:


> i disagree about 450mhz being enough, imho you can never have enough



For the average user, or any user on Air cooling, 450FSB is enough.


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## cdawall (Apr 9, 2009)

newtekie1 said:


> For the average user, or any user on Air cooling, 450FSB is enough.



what is an average user?


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## newtekie1 (Apr 9, 2009)

alexp999 said:


> I couldnt get the x38 to get me to 400*9 :shadedshu



I have yet to see an x38/x48 that couldn't do 450FSB, not doing 400FSB is impossible, and not the chipsets fault, as the chipsets are rated for 400FSB(well the x48 was rated for 400FSB, and the x38 was the exact same chip).



cdawall said:


> what is an average user?



Anyone using Air cooling, the part of the sentance between the comma's was meant to clearify exactly what I meant.


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## buddatech (Apr 9, 2009)

Recently I had to make a decision between the Gigabyte GA-EP45 UD3P, Gigabyte GA-EP45 UD3R and the Asus P5Q Pro for a budget build for my nephew and I opted for the Gigabyte GA-EP45 UD3P every review I've read is simply amazing on that board. Will be here tomorrow gonna put it together with a e5200 and oc to a mild 3.2 on stock cooling will let you know how it turns out


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## Rock God (Apr 9, 2009)

X48... cause it's the 2nd latest chipset.


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## mrhuggles (Apr 9, 2009)

i needs my 600mhz fsb for getting the most out of 1200mhz ddr2 yay


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## [I.R.A]_FBi (Apr 9, 2009)

Gigabite


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## mrhuggles (Apr 9, 2009)

which one has more options in the bios?


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## alexp999 (Apr 9, 2009)

I say P5Q Pro is best.

And if you have any problems with memory, flash to one of Ketxxx's Bios, it has the memory table from the P5Q premium in it


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## newtekie1 (Apr 9, 2009)

alexp999 said:


> I say P5Q Pro is best.
> 
> And if you have any problems with memory, flash to one of Ketxxx's Bios, it has the memory table from the P5Q premium in it



Definitely, the P5Q-Pro is a really nice board.


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## lemonadesoda (Apr 9, 2009)

IIRC, there is little performance difference between the chipsets, but the X48 will save you about 20W. That adds up to saved heat and electricity. Go x48. Check the Intel site for stats. Example: http://ark.intel.com/cpu.aspx?groupId=35428 Look at last table column "System TDP".


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## Mussels (Apr 9, 2009)

X48->x38->P45->P35

in that order of awesomeness. rather simple eh!

I just ordered a DFI x48 for the same price as an asus P45 - 16x/16x/4x on DFI vs 8x/8x on the asus..


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## alexp999 (Apr 9, 2009)

X48 is the same as the X38, so you cant rank it higher in awesomeness.

Like I said in other threads, it depends what you want it for, 16x/16x aside, P45 is better in every way IMO.

And the P45 will use the least amount of power of any of the 3 or 4 series chipsets.


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## [I.R.A]_FBi (Apr 9, 2009)

I have an assus on the way


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## Mussels (Apr 9, 2009)

alexp999 said:


> X48 is the same as the X38, so you cant rank it higher in awesomeness.
> 
> Like I said in other threads, it depends what you want it for, 16x/16x aside, P45 is better in every way IMO.
> 
> And the P45 will use the least amount of power of any of the 3 or 4 series chipsets.



not true, it has an extra 10 in its name (38 vs 48)

P45 for single card or mid range crossfire, x48 for serious crossfire. How about that?


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## alexp999 (Apr 9, 2009)

Mussels said:


> not true, it has an extra 10 in its name (38 vs 48)
> 
> P45 for single card or mid range crossfire, x48 for serious crossfire. How about that?



Better 

But if I wanted Intel and PCI-E 2.0 x16/x16 I would buy an X58


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## viczulis (Apr 9, 2009)

Damit now I'm going to have to rethink this again.  Just way to many options 

Ok does any know of any X48 X38s 100.00 to 150.00. That are good over clocking boards.
That might be the big difference PRICE.

I got the two 45 boards now I need to compare with 48/38. Like I said in first post this will be my traveling PC which I do game and do paper work. I have a 4870 and and E8400 to throw into it. I dont expect it to be as good as my rampage and I dont want to spend money yet to go with the X58 at this time.

Help me find descent 48/38 so I can do more research. 

Thanks


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## CarolinaKSU (Apr 9, 2009)

alexp999 said:


> Better
> 
> But if I wanted Intel and PCI-E 2.0 x16/x16 I would buy an X58



I'm loving my P5Q-Deluxe board and Q9550, but I almost wonder if I should have waited just a bit longer and gone i7 and X58. I really would love to have a pair of 4890's in CF but whats the point if it would be held back by the 8x/8x downthrottle if both PCIe slots are populated. :shadedshu


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## alexp999 (Apr 9, 2009)

I dont think it would affect you that much. Its PCI-E 2.0 dont forget.

Only cards like 4870X2 or GTX295 are going to see a more significant drop on 8x/8x


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## viczulis (Apr 10, 2009)

Yea the going board is still looking like the 45  P5Q Pro the x48s are more money than I want to spend right now.


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## [I.R.A]_FBi (Apr 17, 2009)

wat u got?


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## Paintface (Apr 17, 2009)

P43 the same as P45 but basicly no crossfire?


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## Mussels (Apr 18, 2009)

Paintface said:


> P43 the same as P45 but basicly no crossfire?



pretty much.


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