Eight P35-DDR2 Motherboards Compared

Encores: Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R And MSI P35 Neo Combo

Two formerly-reviewed motherboards that support the builder’s choice of DDR2 or DDR3 configurations make their return for performance retest : Gigabyte’s GA-P35C-DS3R and MSI’s P35 Neo Combo :

The GA-P35C-DS3R proved itself a formidable contender in its performance debut, while the P35 Neo Combo sacrificed some overclocking capability while meeting lower-cost demands typical of the broader upgrade market.

Test Setup

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System Hardware
Socket 775 ProcessorIntel Core 2 Duo E6700(Conroe 65 nm, 2.67 GHz, 4 MB L2 Cache)
RAMCorsair Dominator TWIN2X2048-8888C4DF2x 1024 MB DDR2-1111 (CL 4.0-4-4-12)
Hard DriveWestern Digital WD1500ADFD-00NLR1, Firmware : 20.07P20150 GB, 10,000 RPM, 16 MB cache, SATA/150
Graphics CardFoxconn GeForce 8800GTX, P/N : FV-N88XMAD2-ODNVIDIA GeForce 8800GTX - 768 MB
Power SupplyOCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI - 700W
System Software & Drivers
OSWindows XP Professional 5.10.2600, Service Pack 2
DirectX Version9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Platform DriversIntel INF 8.3.0.1013
Graphics DriverNVIDIA Forceware 158.19

Everyone wants to see how the new P35 Express chipset compares to competing parts, including the P965 Express chipset it replaces. Representing the P965 is Asus’s top-overclocking P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP Edition motherboard, updated to BIOS 1101 (03/09/2007).

Of course Intel isn’t the only name in the Core-2 supporting chipset game : Nvidia’s 650i SLI chipset is represented by MSI’s top-overclocking P6N SLI Platinum.

Anyone who wants to see how the P6N Platinum stacked up to Nvidia’s high-end 680i chipset should enjoy our 650i Motherboard Comparison.

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.