Scared to buy a GA-P35-DQ6 or GA-P35C-DS3R

[3X3CUTION3R]

I wanted to buy a new rig for gaming and a lil overclocking (not much).

I decided upon Intel C2D E6850 and XFX 8800 GTS.

As for the mobo I had my eyes set upon GA-P35-DQ6 or a GA-P35C-DS3R . But after reading all the threads here, with all those people having so much trouble with these two mobos, I'm scared and can't bring myself to buy one.

What do you say ? should I forget them ? or these troubled people are a minute minority among all the GA-P35-DQ6 and GA-P35C-DS3R buyers ?

I am not afraid to spend a lil money if it would save me from these headaches later.

What do you say ? which motherboard should I buy if i have 200-300$ and want a p35, ddr2 mobo ?

 

[lunyone]

Well from what I've heard/read (don't have links right now), most people have had good luck with the Gigabyte's DS3L ($106 shipped) and the DS3R ($137 shipped). I'm sure the DQ6 is fine too, but I wouldn't spend that much on a mobo. The DS3R seems to have pretty much everything and it OC's well (from what I've read/heard).

 

[sycshk]

DS4 ? why not???? has silent pipe

 

[chris57]

I've not had any problems with my DS3R worked straight out of the box.

Have a read here:-
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=2430101#post2430101

 

[rahvyn]

I also use a DS3R and love the board, havent had any issues with it and it overclocks like a dream.

 

[Scotteq]

Went with a DQ6 - Issues with Memory stability

 

[dhvd79a]

"As for the mobo I had my eyes set upon GA-P35-DQ6 or a GA-P35C-DS3R . But after reading all the threads here, with all those people having so much trouble with these two mobos, I'm scared and can't bring myself to buy one."

All I can tell you is I just built a system using the GA-P35C-DS3R and have had no issues. Q6600, 7900gtx, 4gbCrucial Ballistix , seagate drive, stock cooler. no overclocking yet

 

[aevm]

I've got a GA-P35C-DS3R and it works very nicely too. Q6600, Scythe Ninja, OCZ Vista Upgrade 2x2GB DDR2-800, BFG 8800 GTX OC2, WD drives, etc.

For each guy who has problems there are several who don't have problems and don't start threads. Just because there are lots of threads it doesn't mean the mobo is bad, it just means a lot of people have it. A lot of those threads turn out to be because the memory was not on the approved list, by the way.

OK, if you're still not ready to trust Gigabyte, look at aBit mobos too. Some of their P35 versions are excellent.

 

[fatcat]

I have the P35C-DSR3, so far no problem. I even got my first OC at 3.6. Not pushing it further for the moment. I am also using a 6850. I am using a AC pro but I'll replace it with a TR90. Also, I will replace my memory which are C5. Memory is so cheap right now.....

 

[Daredevil_8]

I've got a GA-P35C-DS3R and it works very nicely too. Q6600, Scythe Ninja, OCZ Vista Upgrade 2x2GB DDR2-800, BFG 8800 GTX OC2, WD drives, etc.

For each guy who has problems there are several who don't have problems and don't start threads. Just because there are lots of threads it doesn't mean the mobo is bad, it just means a lot of people have it. A lot of those threads turn out to be because the memory was not on the approved list, by the way.

OK, if you're still not ready to trust Gigabyte, look at aBit mobos too. Some of their P35 versions are excellent.

I had a P35C-DS3R and it was broken right off the bat. I switched to Abit IP35 Pro and haven't been happier with a motherboard.

Abit builds pretty darn good motherboards. I've used Gigabyte and Abit for every build so far, and the only one I had break was one of the Gigabytes. The other was fine. Never a problem with Abit boards!

 

[james_8970]

Initially there was memory stability issues, however this was fixed with BIOS version F4. I have the P35-DS3P and I havn't had an issue with it yet.
James

 

[erloas]

Keep in mind that very few people post when they don't have issues.
I have no idea what the sales figures are for the Gigabyte P35 boards but it is almost always near the top of any recommendations I've seen on any recent Intel build.

I just built my brother a system using the GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3P (needed Firewire) and there have been zero issues so far. Didn't do a huge OC, just to FSB 433MHz (30% OC) and it didn't need any voltage tweaking and hasn't had any problems.

The only issue I did have was that the AC7 heatsink I bought just barily touched the NB heatsink, but it was fixed with a small modification to the plastic fan clip on the heatsink. It also appears that the NB heatsink (on the pictures from Newegg) has been modified since the one I bought it so that should no longer be an issue.

 

[Guest]

Last night I fired up my first build. I got a Q6600 on a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R. That build worked like a charm and could not have been any simpler.

 

[chefswg]

I just built my P35-DS3R system with the 6750, 4 gigs of 4X1gig crucial ballistix, running vista 64 bit and I've had zero problems. I've done some small overclocking and haven't had any problems at all. The MB also resets the bios if you do make any errors when overclocking which is nice if you're not an expert overclocker. Also you said you wanted to use DDR2 memory the P35C is DDR2/DDR3 cabable you could save money and just buy the DDR2 version.

 

[Guest]

In the process of doing my first build with the P35-DS3R myself. Great manual, they really make it simple to figure things out.


My only question is my case's power led connector is a 2 pin, and the mobo has a 3 pin hookup for it. Not sure what to do with that...

 

[FloridaDude]

Heyas,

Got a DQ6 with a E6750, 2GB of Corsair, a eVGA 8800GTS and a 1+0 1 TB RAID setup. Other than some RTFI hiccups, the thing worked right of the box and goes like stink. Highly recommended....

Fd

 

[Guest]

deuce271

Connect the + to the pin closest to the edge of the board. The other 2 pins are both - so you can connect the - to either one.

 

[Crashman]

I own both, no problems so far.

 

[shaido7]

the feedback on newegg.com for intel 775 p35 boards show the gigabyte with a 70+ satisfaction. the only board with a higher rating is abit ip35pro at over 80+ the 680i boards i believe are all around 50-60 percent positive ratings. I have used gigabyte boards before they have the advantage over other boards for these reasons... they use high quality components and they are know as the kitchen sink company meaning you get almost everything you could want on a motherboard.
this is not to say they are the best just that they are like a bmw or mercedes of mainboards they cost alot and you get almost all the options and they use quality parts. ive never had a problem with a gigabyte mainboard even after smoking one it worked for 2 years before i got rid of it. the fact that these new motherboards are so over clockable it is amazing to me its like everything you could want in one package.

 

[Lopez0101]

I have a DS3R and it works great and overclocks well. It's definitely a good board and just because the first time you get it and it's dead doesn't mean they're all bad, it's electronics.

 

[3X3CUTION3R]

Thanks to all for their help
I have decided to go for gigabyte!

 

[tlmck]

Chiming in a little late, but I have the DS3L, 2gb OCZ Platinum with no problems in 5 months. The main thing is to get the one with the features you need. If you will not use all the features on the DQ6, buy a lesser model.

 

[jeditim]

I have the P35-DQ6 running for over three months with an e6600, 4gb Corsair PC6400 with absolutely no problems running 24/7.