I have a decision to make, and would appreciate some input. I have two motherboards that I can use for building my new "personal" system. Hey, it's a Christmas gift to myself, OK. Anyway, both are Gigabyte boards. One is the Gigabyte X48-DQ6, and the other is the EP45-UD3P. I'm not an "over-clocker", as I never got into that. I couldn't afford to accidentally destroy any expensive equipment (LOL).
My new system will be using one of the above motherboards. The other components going into it are:
Processor = Q6600 Quad Core
Memory = 4 GB (2X2GB) Corsair XMS2-6400
Power supply = Antec "Earth Watts" 650w.
Video = Nividia 9800 GT (the 1 GB memory model)
Case = Antec 300
You get the idea, anyway. All components are new. I'm sure both boards are fine, but was wondering which you would use given the choice.
Here's a comparison:
http://www.gigabyte-usa.com/Produc [...] =2914,2763 The main difference I see is that if you intend to use a pair of GPUs, the PCIe slots 'kick down' from 16x to 8x...
I went with an X48-DS5, as it has all the features of the DQ6, without the 'crazy-cool' thingy on the back, for quite a few $ less...
BTW - the comparison sheet is missing the com port on the DQ6 - it does have one, as well as lpt...
Seeing as you have an nvidia video card, you won't be using any crossfire features. I'd say go for the P45. There's no point spending the extra money on the x48 when it only benefits people using two ati cards in crossfire.
The x48 has LOTS of features, as well as being 'speed binned' - but they're really only worthwhile for OCing, so, yeah, if you're not planning on dual GPUs, and you can't SLI, go with the cheaper one...
After reading what I could find about the two boards, I was initially leaning toward using the EP45-UD3P motherboard, but wasn't sure as the X48-DQ6 is such a nice board. As your relies have reinforced the idea of using the P45 board, I'll go with it. As an extra thought, maybe I very wasn't clear in my initial question, but I already have both boards in hand and available (I don't need to go and purchase them). I bought the P45 from Newegg about two weeks ago for $114 with the idea of using it for my build, but then a few days later ran across the deal on the X48. It is used, but runs perfectly (tested with the Q6600), and bought it for $125 with all the extras included. I couldn't very well pass up that deal. Anyway, after I finish my new build I'll try and post a few pics, and hopefully some bench marks for it.
Thank you all so much for your replies, and thoughts. With me not being an OC'er, I wasn't exactly sure which motherboard to go with.
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