So what everyone is saying is...........(RE X38)

[barthautala]

So what Im getting out of everything now is wait for the x38s to come out because theyll be better than the P35s.....

But will it be like the test I just read of 965 vs P35 that the performance wasnt really that much better?

Is there only 1 board that actually has true 2x PCIe x16 slots? The Striker Extreme? Thats kind of a bummer because that forces me to buy Nvidia and I kinda want ATI for Xfire. (ITs price vs performance ratio that sways me in that direction.)

 

[jwlangs]

X38 will be the 1st Intel chipset to support crossfire at the full x16/x16, so there should be a nice performance increase compared to all other Intel chipsets when using crossfire.

 

[rammedstein]

the asus blitz extreme is a p35 board with 8x/8x if you want that now instead of waiting for a x38 board...

 

[NaDa]

P35 is like 965 actually a replacement
while X38 is like 975 a top of the line.

You shouldnt worry about performance it's more of a feature thing.
The X38 will be the top of the line Intel chip while the P35 will be the mainstream chip.

The difference will be in the pci-e lanes the x38 haveing much more of them and thus being more expensive. The x38 will also support pci-e 2.0

For overclocking... who knows? we will just have to wait and see.

 

[T8RR8R]

I've only read a few rumors here and there but from what I can gather the Nvidia series chipsets will also have 2x PCIe 2.0 slots as well as a slew of other features too. I'm guessing this Xmas will be quite the Mobo adventure.

 

[rammedstein]

also from what i have read about x38 oc, it can stably do fsbs of over 600mhz, if you have the chip to follow. 6x multi, 600 fsb = 3.6ghx, 1200mhz memory and f-loads of fsb bandwidth... also, i read that x38 will have downwards multis so you can run your fsb faster than your ram.

 

[huron]

I'm not sure, but I didn't believe that Asus was the only full 2x16 board out there. I have an MSI P6N Diamond, and I was told that it supported both at x16. Check out the specs on some of the other 680i boards or wait for the x38

 

[pavel-]

There are already several motherboards that have 2 x16 PCI-E slots, they run on the P35 chipset (GA-P35-DQ6 by Gigabyte), and on the 680i chipset (IN9 32X-MAX by Abit, LP UT NF680I LT SLI-T2 by DFI) just to name a few, however, you are correct, all of these boards run SLI on 2 x16 lanes.

As for Crossfire boards, they all currently run in x8/x8, so if your mind is set on ATI video cards, i suggest you wait for motherboards that will specifically run Crossfire in 2 x16 mode, unfortunately I am not sure which chipset they will run on as I am just waiting for x38 for the sake of PCI-E 2.0 spec.

 

[T8RR8R]

There are some downsides to the X38 though.

1) Heat output, we might not be able to get to that 600+FSB, but what if the chipsets make more heat than we can really handle on any reasonable budget.

2) Price, not alot of people want to pay ~$300+ USD for a board that's going to be outdated in a year or 2. I'd probably spend that much if it could do both SLI and Crossfire.

3) BIOS, alot of really good looking boards, with great layouts and great technology go to waste because of a crappy unstable BIOS.

4) DDR3, it's somewhat optional because alot of board makers are supporting DDR2 but you'll have to buy the board and then spend 450 on DDR3 for just 2 gigs.

Amateurs need not apply, not that I really care but 300 for a board, 900 for 4 gigs of DDR3, 900 for 2 GPU's, 300 for Q-core CPU, 300 for a powerfull PSU, then add your OS, HDD's, peripherals, DVD players, soundcard, high-red monitor, case, and of course your fancy cooling to allow such crazy high FSB's. Makes the p35 look pretty good.

Even if the X38 chipsets do have these downfalls I'll probably still get one or at least want one. I think the benefits outweigh the negatives. Some of those things I've mentioned are pretty optional, like DDR3, and 2 graphic cards, but if you're gonna get the X38 over the P35 you're really paying alot more to have the 2 GPU funtionality.

 

[rockyjohn]

There are already several motherboards that have 2 x16 PCI-E slots, they run on the P35 chipset (GA-P35-DQ6 by Gigabyte.

The P35 chipset does not support two full PCIe x16 slots. Each slot requires 16 PCIe lanes and the chipset has only 22 lanes total. The second slot, while it has the x16 hardware, is only supported by much fewer lanes - only 4 in the case of the DQ6. See the reveiws:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/06/19/eight_p35-ddr2_motherboards_c ompared/page8.html

 

[T8RR8R]

Some rumors point to the P35 coming out with PCIe-2.0 later on but I think it's based mostly hopes and dreams. However I could see intel or another chipset manufacturer coming out with something similar later on, but I don't think it'll be the P35 though...P38? instead of X38? that's just my speculation.