DH Review: P35 Motherboard Roundup

Zardon · Jul 3, 2007, 10:27 AM

Read The Review Here
_________________________

It’s nearly a year since the Intel 965 chipset first made it to retail and whilst it is still a great performer these motherboards are up against some strong competition in the form of Nvidia’s 680i chipset. As well as being a little lacking compared to the aforementioned Nvidia part the upcoming move to 45nm and 1333FSB processors has resulted in a new high end chipset being produced by Intel.

As well as featuring enhanced CPU support, the new chipset is able to compete with other products in regards to memory support, finally officially breaking through the DDR2-800 limit which has been in place on many Intel based boards for some time now. Today we have four boards to review from four manufacturers which take slightly different approaches to this chipset.

The boards being tested are the Gigabyte P35-DQ6, Abit IP35 Pro Off Limits, Asus P5K Deluxe and MSI P35 Platinum, let’s see how the P35 handles.

Tipstaff · Jul 3, 2007, 11:37 AM

Great review, Stuart, and I've gotta agree: the Gigabyte board is the best of the bunch, along with Abit in 2nd.. but just barely. However, my reasons are little different. By that I mean, did anyone notice how stupid MSI and Asus' designers are?

First we have MSI with their dumb ass USB Hub.. er.. brick design on the back panel (what a wast of space!!), and a Firewire port that is sticking OUT from the back. Then we have.. ?? 5 SATA ports? And 2 will be blocked by a video card with a large cooler on it? Smartttt...

Next up is Asus. Ok.. first.. only one PS2 port.. for the keyboard. Ok.. not a prob. No parallel port? Ok.. still not a prob. Wait a sec.. if I put in a video card that has a large cooler on it I'm going to lose 4 of the 6 SATA ports on the board. Ok, now that's going to be a problem.

From quality to design, Gigabyte did almost everything right. Add performance onto that, and that's why I'll sell their board over the others.

Erroneus · Jul 3, 2007, 11:44 AM

Gigabyte has really proven them self lately, I'm highly pleased with my DS4 v3.3

Necrosis · Jul 3, 2007, 12:08 PM

That Abit board is very tempting though I deplore swapping motherboards.

**temeteus82** · Jul 3, 2007, 01:20 PM

I would like to get that gigabyte's board

***Veridian3*** · Jul 3, 2007, 01:38 PM

Yeah, SATA connectors and their positioning really bugs me... and it bugs me more that very few sites, if any, actually mention that problem.

With the amount of motherboards i see and the amount of times i've had to work around stupid layout problems i really appreciate good design decisions like Abit's.

dipstick · Jul 3, 2007, 02:27 PM

Nice review, I only wish I had read it before buying

As for the sata ports on the Asus, they definitely suck, but they are all usable with right-angle cables. I'm using five ports with an ACS3 gfx card so it's not too bad..
Nicely done guys

Lowfat · Jul 3, 2007, 10:55 PM

GA-P35-DQ6 owner here and i love it. Even with an 8800 GTS, all the SATA ports still easily clear the videocard cooler.

My only complaints are sometimes on a 'failed' overclock, which even though it has been stable many times before, will reset all your overclocking settings in the bios, and the fact that if you used aftermark aircoolers that require a backplate, the crazycool can be very difficult to remove.

But otherwise it is the best board I have used.

Judas · Jul 4, 2007, 12:10 AM

I've actually been looking at the gigabyte board, i'm still holding off till the triple PCI-ex 16x intel chipset comes our way.... (or at least the dual full 16x chipset)

PangingJr · Jul 4, 2007, 06:47 AM

there's no doubt in my mind that Gigabyte's BIOS engineers or programmers are the best there is for improving the platform BIOS on the motherboard that they built.
i think, in an overall, Gigabyte's are doing very good job on their BIOS updates, as i have experienced number of times.

Tipstaff · Jul 4, 2007, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judas

I've actually been looking at the gigabyte board, i'm still holding off till the triple PCI-ex 16x intel chipset comes our way.... (or at least the dual full 16x chipset)

Yeah... me too. The DFI LanParty UT P35-T2R, for instance, looks amazing. DFI even lists the 3rd PCIE-16x slot as being for 'Physics Rendering' (although they don't mention PCIE speeds). And just like with the Abit board it's smartly designed. It even has 8 SATA ports that are in the same position as the Abit board. Too bad it got delayed, though.

Edit: ah.. just remembered about THIS link. Someone posted a quick look/preview of the board on Xtremesystems, although the picture they posted is the one from the show, so it's missing the massive heatpipe on the north bridge.

**kris23** · Jul 4, 2007, 08:45 AM

i knew the Gigabyte was far superior to any other P35 board..... i just knew it!

Necrosis · Jul 4, 2007, 08:46 PM

Not very superior to us with large heatsinks for our CPUs. Kinda pointless unless you're on water (or went back to air).

mike2h · Jul 9, 2007, 08:37 PM

i hope gigabytes x38 release does as well as this. rumours are that at least one company will release a ddr2 vers of the x38 chipset.. anybody hear anything substantial on this?
& thx fo a great comparison guys!!

Tipstaff · Jul 11, 2007, 03:03 PM

True or False: On the P35 boards that have 2 PCIE-16x graphics slots (of which the 2nd one runs at 4x), if you use those 2 slots up you lose the use of ALL the PCIE-1x slots.

I just read a review on the Gigabyte P35 board (which has 3 PCIE-1x slots), and it's mentioned in there that this is the case. That would suck ass if true.

dipstick · Jul 12, 2007, 05:08 PM

You lose a single 1x slot. I think it's the same as on the 965 chipsets

Jul 3, 2007, 10:27 AM	#1
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 177	DH Review: P35 Motherboard Roundup Read The Review Here _________________________ It’s nearly a year since the Intel 965 chipset first made it to retail and whilst it is still a great performer these motherboards are up against some strong competition in the form of Nvidia’s 680i chipset. As well as being a little lacking compared to the aforementioned Nvidia part the upcoming move to 45nm and 1333FSB processors has resulted in a new high end chipset being produced by Intel. As well as featuring enhanced CPU support, the new chipset is able to compete with other products in regards to memory support, finally officially breaking through the DDR2-800 limit which has been in place on many Intel based boards for some time now. Today we have four boards to review from four manufacturers which take slightly different approaches to this chipset. The boards being tested are the Gigabyte P35-DQ6, Abit IP35 Pro Off Limits, Asus P5K Deluxe and MSI P35 Platinum, let’s see how the P35 handles.

Jul 3, 2007, 11:37 AM	#2
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,658 Rep Power: 187 System Specs	Great review, Stuart, and I've gotta agree: the Gigabyte board is the best of the bunch, along with Abit in 2nd.. but just barely. However, my reasons are little different. By that I mean, did anyone notice how stupid MSI and Asus' designers are? First we have MSI with their dumb ass USB Hub.. er.. brick design on the back panel (what a wast of space!!), and a Firewire port that is sticking OUT from the back. Then we have.. ?? 5 SATA ports? And 2 will be blocked by a video card with a large cooler on it? Smartttt... Next up is Asus. Ok.. first.. only one PS2 port.. for the keyboard. Ok.. not a prob. No parallel port? Ok.. still not a prob. Wait a sec.. if I put in a video card that has a large cooler on it I'm going to lose 4 of the 6 SATA ports on the board. Ok, now that's going to be a problem. From quality to design, Gigabyte did almost everything right. Add performance onto that, and that's why I'll sell their board over the others. __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick.

Jul 3, 2007, 11:44 AM	#3
Erroneus Get off my lawn! Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Denmark Posts: 13,343 Rep Power: 114 System Specs	Gigabyte has really proven them self lately, I'm highly pleased with my DS4 v3.3 __________________

Jul 3, 2007, 10:55 PM	#8
Lowfat Xtreme Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Grande Prairie, AB, Can Posts: 4,251 Rep Power: 99	GA-P35-DQ6 owner here and i love it. Even with an 8800 GTS, all the SATA ports still easily clear the videocard cooler. My only complaints are sometimes on a 'failed' overclock, which even though it has been stable many times before, will reset all your overclocking settings in the bios, and the fact that if you used aftermark aircoolers that require a backplate, the crazycool can be very difficult to remove. But otherwise it is the best board I have used. __________________ 27" iMac: i5 750 * 80GB X25-M G1 * 4GB DDR3 * HD4850 Stacker: 2600k * P8P67 Pro * 4GB DDR3 * 80GB ioXtreme * 30GB X25-E * (2) HD6950 * Asus D2 * Enermax Revo85+ HWD: (2) Xeon E5649 * EVGA SR-2 * 6GB DDR3 * 8800GTS * 1000W Antec FT01BW: (2) Xeon E5645 * EVGA SR-2 * 6GB DDR3 * GTS210 * Gigabyte 800W Odin GT Storage: (2) Sans Digital TR8M-B * 29TB

Jul 4, 2007, 08:45 AM	#12
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 5,990 Rep Power: 121 System Specs	i knew the Gigabyte was far superior to any other P35 board..... i just knew it! __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Jul 3, 2007, 12:08 PM	#4
Necrosis HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 8,838 Rep Power: 129 System Specs	That Abit board is very tempting though I deplore swapping motherboards.

Jul 3, 2007, 01:38 PM	#6
*Veridian3* Administrator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Cloaked Posts: 4,832 Rep Power: 174	Yeah, SATA connectors and their positioning really bugs me... and it bugs me more that very few sites, if any, actually mention that problem. With the amount of motherboards i see and the amount of times i've had to work around stupid layout problems i really appreciate good design decisions like Abit's.

Jul 3, 2007, 02:27 PM	#7
dipstick HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: USA Posts: 3,609 Rep Power: 70 System Specs	Nice review, I only wish I had read it before buying As for the sata ports on the Asus, they definitely suck, but they are all usable with right-angle cables. I'm using five ports with an ACS3 gfx card so it's not too bad.. Nicely done guys

Jul 4, 2007, 06:47 AM	#10
PangingJr Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 5,989 Rep Power: 69	there's no doubt in my mind that Gigabyte's BIOS engineers or programmers are the best there is for improving the platform BIOS on the motherboard that they built. i think, in an overall, Gigabyte's are doing very good job on their BIOS updates, as i have experienced number of times.

Jul 4, 2007, 08:46 PM	#13
Necrosis HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 8,838 Rep Power: 129 System Specs	Not very superior to us with large heatsinks for our CPUs. Kinda pointless unless you're on water (or went back to air).

Jul 9, 2007, 08:37 PM	#14
mike2h DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: norcal Posts: 6,483 Rep Power: 89 System Specs	i hope gigabytes x38 release does as well as this. rumours are that at least one company will release a ddr2 vers of the x38 chipset.. anybody hear anything substantial on this? & thx fo a great comparison guys!! __________________

Jul 11, 2007, 03:03 PM	#15
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,658 Rep Power: 187 System Specs	True or False: On the P35 boards that have 2 PCIE-16x graphics slots (of which the 2nd one runs at 4x), if you use those 2 slots up you lose the use of ALL the PCIE-1x slots. I just read a review on the Gigabyte P35 board (which has 3 PCIE-1x slots), and it's mentioned in there that this is the case. That would suck ass if true. __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick.

Jul 12, 2007, 05:08 PM	#16
dipstick HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: USA Posts: 3,609 Rep Power: 70 System Specs	You lose a single 1x slot. I think it's the same as on the 965 chipsets