Whats the difference between these mobos?

[sogangsta]

Hey guys can you help me figure out the difference between these x38 and x48 mobo? The extra 5 bucks for the x48 seems too good to be true. Thanks!

x48
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131317

x38
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131219

Also, are GIGABYTE mobos a better option than asus?

 

[zenmaster]

Giga and Asus are both good.

I tend to go Gigabyte because they are usually priced better, but Asus is fine.

There is not a big difference between the boards.
In fact, there is not really much of a difference between the X38 and X48 Chipsets.

That being said, I would spend the $5 on the X48.

 

[dagger]

Asus had issues where its DES power saving feature causes system instability. But as long as you keep it turned off, there's no problem.

 

[shadowthor]

for $5 more get the X48. Weren't you getting a rampage in an earlier thread?

 

[sogangsta]

yeah but i have to cut back on something so i can fit a 4870 in the budget.

 

[dagger]

yeah but i have to cut back on something so i can fit a 4870 in the budget.

There's the p45 board for $99.99. It's as good as x38/x48, but no crossfire.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130181

 

[sogangsta]

lol you see thats the thing. Im planning to run crossfire.

 

[dagger]

lol you see thats the thing. Im planning to run crossfire.

Then you need x38 minimum. No cheaper alternative there. While some p45 boards support crossfire, they only run at 8x each, which bottlenecks 4850.
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1472/7/page_7_benchmarks_crysis/index.html

 

[sogangsta]

so yeah that x48 is going to be perfect. Also, why is the Rampage more expensive? They both are the same chipset and the boards are basically the same.

 

[dagger]

so yeah that x48 is going to be perfect. Also, why is the Rampage more expensive? They both are the same chipset and the boards are basically the same.

People like Asus. Not sure why they think a Taiwan based firm with factories in mainland china would be considered top brand. But whatever...

 

[pcgamer12]

I have a GA-P35-DS3L and it's perfect. Asus is good too.