Shootout at the Core 2 Corral: Seven P965 Motherboards Compared

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Yeh, the Chips have beaten a number of major teams in the past 10 years. I believe the reason people around here aren't paying attention to those wins is that the bigger teams are outside our own conference. These are still regular-season games, so the wins should count on the record but the other team's loss doesn't go against any of our "rivals".

You might come up with reasons why this could happen, such as apathy from the larger team concerning a smaller school, or the smaller school putting increased effort into showing off for professional recruiters when a big team is here, but in the end it's still a win 😛
 
I do not see any comparisions between the two (965 vs 975). Does the 975 deliver higher performace?? Looks like it supports crossfire.
 
975X has native crossfire support and performs better, see the Foxconn 975X7AB review at SysOpt.

It's widely reported that the 975X chipset runs out of overclocking room around 380MHz. If you want better performance and don't care to overclock past ~380MHz, the 975X is probably the better choice.
 
It's widely reported that the 975X chipset runs out of overclocking room around 380MHz. If you want better performance and don't care to overclock past ~380MHz, the 975X is probably the better choice.
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The better ones (AW9D, P5WH) will go higher but yes, 965 can run higher fsbs (partly because they switch to the 1333 strap) than 975 whereas 975 tends to perform better clock for clock.
 
975X has native crossfire support and performs better, see the Foxconn 975X7AB review at SysOpt.

It's widely reported that the 975X chipset runs out of overclocking room around 380MHz. If you want better performance and don't care to overclock past ~380MHz, the 975X is probably the better choice.
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The 965's memory interface is a bit faster than 975X as well, which explains why in a lot of synthetic benchmarks it outperforms 975X mobos. I think as the bios revs continue to mature the 965 will continue to edge its way out there as the superior chipset.
 
Well, they're out, and yea, they clean up. 'Bout time Nvidia did Intel right, a lot of their 4 series were flakey and the 500s were utter crap. Anandtech had a pretty decent overview, looking forward to see what TH has to say. They had a strange issue getting 4MB cache C2D stable with a high FSB, but 525 on an X6800 and like 510 on a 6300. Promising indeed. Makes me really curious to see what DFI can pull off with their ATI chipset. They certainly have their work cut out for them though...
 
And a short time after that until some solid results will be available between the NV 6X0 and ATI RD600 to compare with the Intel variants. Good times are ahead as there will be four high-end chipsets to look forward to.
 
I emailed DFI and they confirmed that the T2R/G is in its final stage of developing, so we will definetly have it in a month. They ill wait for some reliable results and place my final order on Christmas eve 😀
 
Ok, i have a question what motherboard do you guys reccomend the most,... NOT FOR OVERCLOCKING.. mainly for games.. like bf2.. and Graw..that kind of stuff.. higher end games... and i am palnning on getting a core two due.. e6600 2.4.. and most lilly a 7900 something for my card... i am looking to build an entire comp for $1300-$1400,
And out of ALL THE MOTHER BOARDS OUT THERE I am looking to see what one is beset.. for what i want to do... mabe even go SLI/... down the road.. Just trying to buila nice gaming comp.. at a very nice price.. lol.. Any suggestions would be great thanks..
Steroids
 
If your not going to OC then just get the board that has the features you want for the cheapest price. They all perform adequately when you remove OCg from the equation.
 
What a bad article! I've been reading all over the internet and magazines about how good a overclocker GIGABYTE GA-965P-DQ6 is and to you it sucks? Have you considered doing a bios flash? There have been 4 bios releases since the one you used!!!
Either the author knows nothing about the subject or is doing on purpose to beneficiate other brands!
SHAME ON YOU!
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Yeah, THG has gone way down. It used to be a decent source for hardware information. Now it's a joke.

from the article:
but the lack of CPU multiplier adjustment prevented us from finding its maximum stable bus speed. We were instead limited to the maximum overclock our specific CPU could support at its stock multiplier at 100% stability, which was 346 MHz FSB for our early-stepping Core 2 Duo E6700 with Intel boxed cooler.
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Testing the OC ability of a motherboard with an E6700 on stock cooling? With a 10x multiplier? Even if the MB can turn down the multiplier, you'll be overclocking the NB with the 965 chipset and won't see the same FSB's you'd see from that same board with a CPU with a low stock multiplier (link: http://www.bleedinedgesupport.com/ocz/forum/showthread.php?t=23803). These guys are a bunch of amateurs. Get an E6300 and test the motherboard, or don't write about it. Most (if not all) of those motherboards reviewed hit the heat limit of the CPU on stock cooling before they hit any limit in the MB. The article tells you no information about the OC abilities of the MB's. Amateurs.

And they still don't have the E6300 anywhere on their site... not even in the price/performance charts, and all they'd have to do for that one is go to pricegrabber (if you really can't spring for one for $180 from NewEgg then just estimate... it pretty much performs clock-for-clock like an E6400)... and they keep talking about how AMD has the edge on Intel in the budget/value market segment, while Intel's value chip isn't even included in their roundup. I emailed them about it a few times and their answers were laughable... everything from "our labs are bogged down, wait till the start of November for the E6300 reviews to appear" to "with all the other sites out there to read about the E6300 on, why should we write about it?" I'm really starting to think these guys are getting paid off, on motherboard and CPU reviews both.

And their "Cheap Thrills... E6400 at 3.33 GHz" article? They couldn't even OC the E6400 past 3.33 with WATER COOLING???!!! A 12-year-old could get an E6300 past that on air. Amateurs.

They're my last choice for reading about hardware now... AnandTech beats the pants off of them, and xbitlabs does too even though they can't even write English 😉
 
Why hasn't anyone said anything about the foxconn yet? Has anyone had experience with it which was different to that of the review. I thought for just a second it may be a good choice for me. Unless of course, the ds3 is so much better for not much more.
 
Ok, i have a question what motherboard do you guys reccomend the most,... NOT FOR OVERCLOCKING.. mainly for games.. like bf2.. and Graw..that kind of stuff.. higher end games... and i am palnning on getting a core two due.. e6600 2.4.. and most lilly a 7900 something for my card... i am looking to build an entire comp for $1300-$1400,
And out of ALL THE MOTHER BOARDS OUT THERE I am looking to see what one is beset.. for what i want to do... mabe even go SLI/... down the road.. Just trying to buila nice gaming comp.. at a very nice price.. lol.. Any suggestions would be great thanks..
Steroids
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I have an upcoming project with my local computer users group. This is my reccomendation of a $1300-$1400 system:

CPU: Intel E6600 @ 2.4 GHz $315
This CPU offers the most bang for the buck of the newer Intel processors, do the research online and you will see what I mean.

Motherboard: Undecided at this point $150
Since we won’t be ordering parts for another few months, there are still some things shaking out on the motherboard front. I know the price will be about $150, but the specific board is in question.

Video card: BIOSTAR V7953GT52 GeForce 7950GT 512MB $260
I recently bought this video card and am very happy with the price/performance. The video card arena changes very quickly so on a couple of months my opinion may change (the GeFore 8800 series looks pretty sweet), but this is my choice for now.

RAM: 2 GB DDR2-800 $220
As with the motherboard, the exact memory will need to be decided upon when the time gets closer. Right now there are several decent 2 GB memory solutions. The current cost with shipping and before rebates is about $220. Hopefully this price will fall.

Hard drive(s): Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (320 GB) $95
The full name of this on NewEgg is: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive. This sums it up. I will recommend the at least two of the drives be purchased for building your RAID array.

Case: Rosewill R6AU6-BK ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $50
This seemed to have a lot of nice features and should last you a while. A case is a personal choice, but I didn’t see any issues with this one.

Powersupply: ePOWER ZU-550W ATX12V Version 2.0 550W $55
This seemed like a nice middle of the road powersupply. The important thing is the current available on the 12V supply line (rails). This powersupply has 18A and 16A on two separate rails. This is a great way to distribute the power to your components.

CPU Cooler: Tuniq Tower 120 $65
I am currently using this CPU cooler and can recommend it. It’s quiet and really helps to keep the CPU cool. The one issue to keep in mind with this cooler, its HUGE! It stands about 8 inches high and just clears the case that I am using. But once it’s in your system, you probably won’t overheat the CPU any time soon.

DVD Drive: LITE-ON 18X DVD±R Burner $30
I have seen many reviews for DVD writers and Lite-On seem to make the best.

Miscellaneous: Add about $100
With any project, there are always overages.

At this point the total is $1435. Some things may be able to be reduced here or there, but this is a firm number.
 
CPU Cooler: Tuniq Tower 120 $65
I am currently using this CPU cooler and can recommend it. It’s quiet and really helps to keep the CPU cool. The one issue to keep in mind with this cooler, its HUGE! It stands about 8 inches high and just clears the case that I am using. But once it’s in your system, you probably won’t overheat the CPU any time soon.
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If Steroids isn't overclocking, why would he buy an aftermarket CPU cooler? The stock cooler keeps a Conroe CPU plenty cool at stock speeds (it even leaves some room for overclocking).
 
I concurificate, the author must be trying to beneficiate some competitorizing brands of computerizification hardware. Such faltificatacity in journalizatifying cannot be permitted to standificate.
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8O

Using too much word-of-the-day toilet tissue at once is bad for the environment. :lol:
 
CPU Cooler: Tuniq Tower 120 $65
I am currently using this CPU cooler and can recommend it. It’s quiet and really helps to keep the CPU cool. The one issue to keep in mind with this cooler, its HUGE! It stands about 8 inches high and just clears the case that I am using. But once it’s in your system, you probably won’t overheat the CPU any time soon.
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If Steroids isn't overclocking, why would he buy an aftermarket CPU cooler? The stock cooler keeps a Conroe CPU plenty cool at stock speeds (it even leaves some room for overclocking).
It's a relitively cheap upgrade for down the road. But if he doesn't want it, drop it and save $65.
 
What a bad article! I've been reading all over the internet and magazines about how good a overclocker GIGABYTE GA-965P-DQ6 is and to you it sucks? Have you considered doing a bios flash? There have been 4 bios releases since the one you used!!!
Either the author knows nothing about the subject or is doing on purpose to beneficiate other brands!
SHAME ON YOU!
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I would imagine that there are variations between different boards of the same model due to component tolerances, alignement of board layers, etc, that can account for these kinds of differences in performance. No two boards, even the same make and model, are really identical.

In addition the power supply would also have some effect, e.g. voltage values, ripple rejection, etc, even the quality of the main supply going into the PC might also have some effect. Line noise from flourescent lights, inductive loads producing spikes, might also have an impact.
 
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