Difference between 965P-S3 and 965P-DS3

[Muck]

I recently ordered (on the way) an S3 motherboard, but after seeing that the DS3 was only a bit more expensive, did I make a mistake here?

The timings on both of these look similiar, so but some of the comments in the forums about the limits of the overclocking on my S3 have concerned me.

Here's the one I bought:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128017

Compared to a DS3:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128012

Looks the same to me, someone enlighten me please?

 

[fredgiblet]

The only difference is that the DS3 uses solid capacitors, this increases the lifespan of the capacitors. It MAY improve OC'ing capability but I've never seen a comparison that proved it (not saying there isn't any, just that I haven't seen them).

 

[danaconda]

I ordered the S3 to save myself some money. I dont regret it at all. It overclocks just fine. I upgraded the bios from gigabytes website because mine was old as hell. The board works fine.

I think S3 doesnt support RAID either, but dont quote me on that. Regardless, it offered everything I needed from the DS3 board (including the overclockability), but $20 cheaper.

 

[Lost_C1tY]

The s3 supports RAID 0 and RAID 1 afaik.

 

[fredgiblet]

The s3 supports RAID 0 and RAID 1 afaik.

I'm running RAID 1 right now so I hope it supports it...

 

[rockyjohn]

The s3 supports RAID 0 and RAID 1 afaik.

No the DS3 supports RAID 0 and RAID 1, not the S3. In addition, the DS3 rev 3 also supports a FSB at 1333 (in addition to the slow speeds) and has different LAN and audio controllers.

A more detailed comparison can be found on the manufacturer's site at:

http://www.gigabyte-usa.com/Products/Motherboard/Products_ComparisonSheet.aspx?ProductID=2428,2321

Don't people bother to do a little research on their own? It took me about 30 seconds to go from the newegg link to the manufacturer site to find a link that allowed comparisons. People should really do a little simple research on their own before asking others for help. The manufacturer's site is usually a good place to begin - especially when comparing two products from the same manufacturer.

 

[fredgiblet]

rockyjohn...did you read my post? I HAVE an S3, it has RAID, I don't know what's up with the comparison you linked but my S3 has RAID because like I said, I'm running RAID right now.

EDIT: Just went to that link again, click on your link and then click on the name of the S3 column, it takes you to the S3 page where it shows that it does have RAID. Apparently Gigabyte f'ed up their copmparison thingy.

 

[Ninjaz7]

Sometimes people need a little help,now nextime he/she might look at the egg....That's what we're here for,to help...The answers have enlighten myself even,thanx .

 

[p3matty]

Further, what's the difference between either of the above boards and this....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128042

As far as I can tell, this one, while cheaper, officially supports 1333 FSB, and has the solid state parts. Anything else?

Also, what can one of the cheaper P35 boards do that this board can't at roundly 2/3rds of the price?

 

[fredgiblet]

Further, what's the difference between either of the above boards and this....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128042

As far as I can tell, this one, while cheaper, officially supports 1333 FSB, and has the solid state parts. Anything else?

The one you linked to is and older revision, generally newer revisions will be more stable and have less chance of having bugs.

Also, what can one of the cheaper P35 boards do that this board can't at roundly 2/3rds of the price?

Well for one thing the P35 is much faster, around 3-5% improvement in real-world tests. Also it supports Penryn, DDR3 and a host of minor upgrades and updates over the 965.

 

[p3matty]

The board I linked to I think is newer, as it is a "generation 2.0" board, whatever that means. Anyway, a new BIOS should get rid of any bugs, and I haven't really heard a lot of problems with any gigabyte p965 boards.

The lesser expensive P35 boards don't have DDR3 slots, only DDR2, and I'm not one to pay 50% more for "3-5%" better performance in real world tests. Maybe if it was 10-20% better.....

As for the upgrade path to Penyren, can't the board I noted still run a 1333 FSB quad core, which is still much more than what many people need?

What am I missing here?

 

[fredgiblet]

The board I linked to I think is newer, as it is a "generation 2.0" board, whatever that means.

It's revision 1.3, the newest D\S3 boards are 3.3.

Anyway, a new BIOS should get rid of any bugs, and I haven't really heard a lot of problems with any gigabyte p965 boards.

There is such a thing as a hardware bug I had one on my last mobo from Abit, thing wouldn't run for more then about 10 minutes at a time without lots of extra cooling on the chipset, new revision fixed it. But you are right there hasn't been much in the way of issues with the P965 board from Gigabyte, but that doesn't mean they can't optimize it and include the newest BIOS.

The lesser expensive P35 boards don't have DDR3 slots, only DDR2, and I'm not one to pay 50% more for "3-5%" better performance in real world tests. Maybe if it was 10-20% better.....

True but the prices will come down somewhat once production ramps up and if you want the best you usually aren't looking at the price.

As for the upgrade path to Penyren, can't the board I noted still run a 1333 FSB quad core, which is still much more than what many people need?

Yes but once again, if you want the best... Also IIRC Penryn isn't just a higher FSB but has some other requirements.

 

[Lost_C1tY]

I'm running RAID 1 right now

I'm thinking about gettin another 2 disks and settin em up in RAID 0, or whichever RAID is striping. Is it easy to do with the S3?

Cheers, C1tY.

 

[fredgiblet]

I'm running RAID 1 right now

I'm thinking about gettin another 2 disks and settin em up in RAID 0, or whichever RAID is striping. Is it easy to do with the S3?

I had a few difficulties but it wasn't bad. The main problem was that I thought the S3 had the ICH8R chipset when it actually had the ICH8 chipset, the difference being that the 8R does RAID while the 8 requires an add-on chip to do RAID (hence the purple connectors).