A Chipset Question

[wingsofzion]

Currently looking to purchase a mobo but i've hit a snag on which chipset to go with. From personal use and reading around the P35 mobo's seem more stable and perform better. The P35 mobo i am looking to get is the Asus P5K Premium. But then again there is the Asus P5E or the Maximus Formula mobo that is built on a X38 chipset. Big difference between the two is that the X38 chipset supports PCI x 16 2.0 where the P35's don't. Price wise these boards differ i'd say between $40 bucks ($220 to $260) With the release of the Nvidia 8800GT it seems that newer vid cards are now being released with PCI x16 2.0 support. My gut tells me to go with X38 because it's built around currently evolving technology. But i hear it also is not as great as a performer as the P35 chipset which are very stable. And yes i'm aware a updated chipset to the X38, the X48, will be released but i am purchasing my mobo this year and not in '08. At this point i am at a minor stand still. Should i go with stability (P35) or the future (X38)?

 

[Maziar]

P35 supports PCIE-2 but not @ full speeds :
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/06/06/p35_supports_pcie_2/1

Also instea of P5K PREMIUM, look @ P5K-E WIFI , it has the same features and its cheaper

 

[wingsofzion]

I've been looking into the P35 vs X38 charts. From my take the X38 just seems to be a more updated version in terms of features. Though having two PCI-E slots running @ 16X is tempting, this is only benificial if your doing a crossfire set up and I have been alergic to anything ATI for 7 years now. I like the Maximus's ability to store OC profiles and it's preset OC settings set in the bios. But the P5K Prem board is a very stable board and a decent OC'er. If i was a OC junkie i'd make this my deal breaker but i am not. And i agree on the P5K-E but i'm more comfortable with the Premium (north and south bridge cooling is more to my liking). Hmm touch choice. Go with more features (X38) or more stability (P35)?

 

[Maziar]

P35 main difference with X38 is that X38 supports PCI-E 2 and @ dual 16x mode , so i suggets u getting P35 , it supports 45nm CPUs too