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Motherboard question: P45 or X48

Forum Motherboards & Memory : General Motherboard - Motherboard question: P45 or X48

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Hello all.

I've searched the site/forums for my answer, but I really didn't get a good search result. I sort of wish there was an advanced search feature.

Anyway, I am building a new system with an e8400. My main concern is the motherboard. I want to OC the e8400 to 4 Ghz or so. After reading a couple threads it seems that I need the x48 to do so due to bottle necking. But can the P45 do this as well? I don't plan on ever running dual GPU's so the x48 seems a bit like overkill, but I'm not 100% the P45 can OC to 4 Ghz. I know it can do close. FYI, I also plan on getting ATI 4850 series for a new GPU.

Can anyone clear up which mobo would be better?
Thanks so much!

:bounce:

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If you plan on getting a secend ati card a X48 might be better because you can then run both cards @16X with a P45 you can only run it @8X

Reply to col-p-todd

I don't oc myself so I can't help you there but I have both a X48 and a P45 board, but i prefer the P45 board it has alot more fetures. Why are you not going to ever crossfire an ATI card? if that is the case I would recommend getting a HD4870

Reply to col-p-todd

Try a GA-EP45-UD3R and a HD 4870 1GB.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128359

There's a combo with the E8500 too, btw.

Message edited by aevm on 10-30-2008 at 04:43:18 PM

Reply to aevm

^^ While that is true, it also depends on what resolution you're gaming at. I did alot of homework before I bought a new board and I couldn't justify the extra dough on a x48 because at my resolution (1680x1050), the difference between x8/x8 and x16/x16 was around 3-5%. Hardly worth the justification in my situation. I ended up going with the GA-EP45-UD3P and I am very pleased with this board. My 2nd 4850 should be arriving any second and I'm anxious to do some benchmarks.

Reply to bosshoss

Editted - I see the two post above were added while I was typing. End edit

Checkout newegg review, looking at post indicating OC's in the range of 3.6 -> 4 GHz. I'm looking at the gigabyte EP45-UD3R (has some good reviews). I really like the X48-DQ6, but as you said, its overkill, AND approx $150 more.
I will be moving my 4870 over and will not plan on using CF as I am really not into games.

Message edited by RetiredChief on 10-30-2008 at 04:46:37 PM

Reply to RetiredChief

While I really like my X48 Rampage Formula board, i also like to have the Crossfire option. If running only a single card, I think a P45 with a single 4870 would be a great setup, as Aevm suggested.

I'd take the 4870 over the 4850, by the way. The increase in performance is well worth the extra dollars, and seeing that you're planning to overclock a bunch, I figure that you're into performance.

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Reply to Sailer

Well to answer some of the questions. I game but there I just don't care about all the eye candy. I play mostly older MMO's that don't need cutting edge GPU's. I play some FPS but not many. But I want a newer game if I decide to and be able to play it.

For right now I game on 1280x1024. Until I buy a widescreen or hopefully a xmas present, the x8 and x16 don't matter as much to me.

I really like Gigabyte boards, they seem really solid and very high quality. I've had issues with both MSI and Asus. The board on newegg that was linked doesn't have the energy system does it? I don't see it listed, but I've heard they are annoying.

I've looked at the comparisons for some gigabyte boards hopefully this links works, but all are very close.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128358

Seems to me if the P45's OC to 4, that any one of those would be good. Agreed?

And as for GPU I'm looking at
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814125238 which with rebate and Zalman cooler seems really good and not as hot as others.

The 4870's are way more expensive that that card. I'm not on a budget but given my uses, that extra money might as well go towards a widescreen or other items of note.

Thanks.

Reply to sanityvoid

Careful there... if you buy a cheaper video card because you play at 1280x1024, but then you use the savings to upgrade the monitor, you will no longer play at 1280x1024 and that video card may not be suitable any more. But yeah, if you're not into Crysis and such, the HD 4850 is enough even at 1680x1050 IMO. It can get 30 fps in Crysis at that resolution, according to some Anandtech benchmarks I saw this morning. It will do better in most other games, of course.

Between those motherboards: decide based on the features. For example I like the UD3R because it has 3 PCI slots (I am using 3 right now with my ancient GA-P35C-DS3R) and 8 SATA ports (I'm using 7 right now). Your needs may be totally different. Maybe for you RAID or eSATA or FireWire are important, etc.

Message edited by aevm on 10-30-2008 at 05:43:37 PM

Reply to aevm

Agree with aevm - Good food for thought

You might be able to get a good 4870 dual slot (exhaute the heat out the back vs recycling it in your case) for about $50 -> $60. and find that it was a wize choise 6 monthes from now.

I bought the powercolor (512 / 750 ver) for $215 about a month ago and am very satisfied with it.

Reply to RetiredChief

I also agree with Aevm. When I buy hardware, i don't think just about what I need at the moment, but what I'll need in the future. If a wide screen monitor is in the future, a 4870 will be well worthwhile. Also, as Retired Chief said, a 4870 blows the heat outside the case, thus keeping the rest of the components cooler. This is especially good if you're overclocking, where heat can become a big issue fast.

+1 to aevm and bosshoss. You do want to think about the future some too.

1680x1050 will get you a 22" monitor - pretty nice size there.

I also agree that it's tough to spend so much extra if you won't ever use dual GPUs.

I would go with the P45 and get a 4870 1GB and be very happy.

Reply to huron

Well I think you guys have me convinced that a 4870 will be the way to go. The money I'll save on going from the x48 to the P45 mobo, will just be spent on the GPU.

Thanks everyone!

Reply to sanityvoid

The serious overclockers, from what I have read, prefer the P45 over the x48...
EVEN IN CROSSFIRE.

... At least many do.
The reason being that they can get a bigger performance boost from the extra CPU speed, than they can from the extra bandwidth on the PCI-E slots.

I like aevm's board suggestion. It's getting good reviews.

I think it's still possible to see actual visible frame rates (choppiness) in the more challenging titles with a single 4850 on a 22" monitor, so a 4870 should be a good bet. I like the new vapor chamber cooling on the Sapphire 4870s a lot.

Reply to Proximon

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