Doubts about CPU and Chipsets

[Spielwurfel]

Do somebody know wich cpu revision is the most recent, M1 or C1?

And... Is there a big performance difference between these chipsets, Q45, Q43, P45, P43, G45, G43, G41, G35, Q35, Q33, P35, P31, G33 and G31??

I know some of these support PCI-Express 2.0, and I'll use a PCI-Express graphic card...

Thanks!!

 

[aevm]

I suggest you stick with P45, of all those.

Which CPU are you looking at?

If the P45 boards are too expensive for you then try P43.

 

[Spielwurfel]

Intel Quad Core... Probably some of the 9000 series...

 

[aevm]

Sounds good. My favorite combination like that is GA-EP45-UD3P + Q9550.

What exactly do you want from the motherboard? Specifically:
1. do you want a serious gaming machine, with two gaming cards?
2. If yes, any strong preference between ATI and nVidia?
3. do you want the ability to use more than 2 monitors?
4. do you need RAID, e-SATA, FireWire?
5. do you need lots of SATA ports? (i.e. lots of hard disks)
6. do you need lots of PCI slots? (as in, TV tuner(s), modem, sound card)

I'm assuming you don't care about overclocking features, otherwise it gets even more complicated

 

[Spielwurfel]

I'd like a gaming machine, but doesn't need to be the best of the best... I just want to change my pc (that barely play an youtube video without lagging)... I think I'll take and ATI card... I think it has the best price/performance... And don't want to use more than 2 monitors, and don't need lots of nothing... 😉

 

[aevm]

All right, then even the GA-EP45-DS3L has all the features you need.

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P45 $85 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128345

The GA-EP45-UD3R ($105) and GA-EP45-UD3P ($117) would be more future-proof, but you don't really need the extra features they have. Not for now, anyway.

Asus also has a good model called P5Q Pro ($100).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299
This one is probably best bang for the buck of all 4 boards I mentioned. It has about the same features as the GA-EP45-UD3P and it's cheaper.

 

[Spielwurfel]

hehe... i live in brazil... these motherboards here are **** expensive... xD
i know gigabyte and asus are great brands, but there's not a cheaper motherboard?

 

[aevm]

Ouch! Yeah, I've heard from others in Brazil before. You guys have some horrible customs fees on hardware apparently. Do you have a URL where you're going to shop?

 

[Spielwurfel]

you mean... from a brazilian or international site?

here I think I'll use www.e-coyote.com.br to buy my stuff...

 

[aevm]

They only have one P45 motherboard on the site (and no P43). The one they have is Gigabyte EP45-DS3R, R$ 561,85. It's very good, and it even has Crossfire, but I was hoping to find something a little cheaper.

OK, you could try something like this:
GA-P35-DS3 (R$ 323,10)
http://www.e-coyote.com.br/produtos/detalhes/placa-mae-gigabyte-ga-p35-ds3-socket-775

If you get that one, combine it with a Q6600. I don't think it works with Q9xx0 CPUs. It might, but they're not listed.

That board only has PCI-E 1, but it's OK for a card like HD 4850 for example.

 

[Spielwurfel]

doesn't work with Q9xx0 cpus???? why??

and... there not a big performance because of the 1.1 pci-express interface??

 

[aevm]

It's based on the P35 chipset, which was released long before the Q9xx0 CPUs. You can't demand compatibility with things that don't exist yet, you know...
It may work with one of those, with a BIOS update, but it's not guaranteed.

No there's no big performance hit from PCI-E 1.1 as long as you only have one video card. Maybe a couple of %, nothing you'd really notice.

 

[aevm]

OK, good news. There is indeed a BIOS update (called F14c) that make sthat board compatible with Q9300 and Q9400 and Q9550.

http://www.giga-byte.com/Support/Motherboard/CPUSupport_Model.aspx?ProductID=2544

 

[Spielwurfel]

nice!!! thanks A LOT for your help man!!! =)

Now I'll look for the other components of the pc!!! 😉