P965 Comparison - Opinions needed

Bobsama

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I'm trying to find out what the best P965 boards are out there, how much they are, their stability and features, and overclocking potential.

Without further waiting... a list of boards from tigerdirect (7 total).

ECS P965T-A Intel Socket 775 ATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / Gigabit LAN / USB 2.0 / Serial ATA / RAID
-Horrible dynamic overclocking. Settings only for "standard" speeds of 200/266/333.

MSI P965 Neo-F Intel Socket 775 ATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / Gigabit LAN / USB 2.0 / Serial ATA (improperly categorized - listed in Core 2 Ready only, not Intel Chipsets - P965)
$99.99

ECS PX1 (1.0B) Intel Socket 775 ATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / CrossFire Ready / Dual Gigabit LAN / USB 2.0 / Serial ATA / RAID
-Horrible dynamic overclocking. Settings only for "standard" speeds of 200/266/333.

Abit AB9 Socket Intel 775 ATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / Gigabit LAN / S/PDIF / USB 2.0 / Serial ATA / RAID
$129.99

Asus P5B Intel Socket 775 ATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / Gigabit LAN / S/PDIF / USB 2.0 / Serial ATA / RAID
$139.99

MSI P965 Platinum Intel Socket 775 ATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / Gigabit LAN / S/PDIF / USB 2.0 & Firewire / Serial ATA / RAID
$149.99
---maximum 370mhz FSB---
-OK overclocker with many features.

Asus P5B Deluxe GR Intel Socket 775 ATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / CrossFire Ready / Dual Gigabit LAN / USB 2.0 & Firewire / Serial ATA / RAID
$199.99

GIGABYTE 965P-DQ6 Intel Socket 775 ATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / Gigabit LAN / S/PDIF / USB 2.0 & Firewire / Serial ATA
$219.99

I think it's safe to say the ECS P965T-A is the least expensive... but is it the worst? Afterall... everyone loves ECS's purple motherboards! :lol:




From NewEgg's much more organized site...

BIOSTAR TForce965PT LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
-Stable at 443+ mhz FSB
-"best bang for your buck in a limitted-feature board"

Intel BOXDP965LTCK LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$108.99

GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
-Recommended for budget-overclocking. Stable at 450+ mhz FSB
-it is pretty bad in the beginning, but with BIOS F9 it overclocks like crazy.

ABIT AB9 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$124.99

EPoX EP-5P965+GLI LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$124.99

ASUS P5B LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$126.99

MSI P965 Platinum LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$134.99
---maximum 370mhz FSB?---

ABIT AB9 Pro LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$145.99

ASUS P5B-E LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$150.99

ASUS P5B Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$179.99

ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$194.99

GIGABYTE GA-965P-DQ6 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$199.99

Foxconn P9657AA-8KS2H LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$99.99 (unavailable)

ABIT IB9 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$109.99 (unavailable)

Intel BLKDP965LTCK LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - OEM
$114.99 (unavailable)

ECS PX1 (1.0B) LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$139.99 - $20 = $119.99 (unavailable)

GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$144.99 (unavailable)

ABIT AB9 QuadGT LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$239.99 (unavailable)

All boards marked unvailable are out of stock.



Other boards:

Asus Commando LGA 775 Intel P965 ATX Motherboard
$219?
(http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=307&model=1480&modelmenu=1)


It is easily seen that the MSI P965 is least expensive at purchase, though once again the ECS P965T-A takes the title of least expensive after the rebate.

Anyways... Opinions? Comments? Experiences? Would it be worthwhile to buy a inexpensive P965 board and simply use extra cooling over hot-spots?
 

Bobsama

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Thank you-I'll add it to the list.

That board looks awesome; I however will probably never have a build with it. However, I will applaud Asus for another feature-filled board.
 
Most P965 based MB's will have similar features.
Most of the major diffrences are going to be in the design, quality and layout of the boards.

Here is the P965 shootout review.

As far as stability and overclocking goes, Asus makes some really good boards.
The Asus P5B Delux is the only mb that I could really recomend to an avid overclocker.
At $180 (newegg) it is a bit more than many of the other P965 MB's, but well worth it.

I am running a Msi P965 Platinum and while it is not a bad board, I would not recomend it for max overclocking.
Discovered after I orderd (and from experience after I got it) that it won't let you push past 370fsb.
I have mine running @ 360MHz 100% stable, but with a better board you can get mutch more.
 

Bobsama

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May you push that to the limit? I want to compile a list of the best and most-extreme OC'ers. I will take from the reviews on NewEgg and TigerDirect.
 

kukito

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I have the DQ6 but would not recommend it. It's stable and performs/overclocks well so I'll obviously keep it but I wish I had gone with Asus. I'm more familiar with their BIOS and I also like the Q-connector and the various energy saving features, although you'll probably disable most of those for overclocking. I try to share my business so I went with Gigabyte this time but Asus just has a more polished approach to motherboard design.

PS: On the DQ6, is there a way I can disable that garish neon green logo that appears when you start up? I don't want a startup screen since I like to monitor the boot process. I also hate the PCI listing at the end of post screen before the OS boots. Is there a way to disable that crap? TIA
 

BUFF

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PS: On the DQ6, is there a way I can disable that garish neon green logo that appears when you start up? I don't want a startup screen since I like to monitor the boot process. I also hate the PCI listing at the end of post screen before the OS boots. Is there a way to disable that crap? TIA
On the DS4 you can disable the startup screen, I would imagine that the DQ6 would let you too.
 

Crashman

Polypheme
Former Staff
ECS has few overclocking features: You can't "overclock", you can only select from "standard" bus speeds of 200/266/333 (FSB800/1066/1333). That's probably good enough for an E4300, but not for anyone who wants to find the limit.

Gigabyte DS3 was pretty bad in the beginning, but with BIOS F9 it overclocks like crazy

Abit AB9 Pro was always a good overclocker, but I'm not sure if it has become a great overclocker yet.

MSI P965 Platinum is a decent overclocker and gets you a lot of features for the money.

Biostar TFORCE P965PT is probably the best bang for your buck in a limitted-feature board.