Intel X38 Chipset: Porsche with Handbrake On

[muk]

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/09/26/intel_x38_chipset/index.html

Intel successfully introduced the P35 chipset not long ago. Now it is touting the newly released X38 chipset as the high end leader of the Series 3 chipset family. But is X38 it a significant step up from P35?

 

[nicolasb]

What was the point of reviewing X38 at all when you don't have access to a DDR3 X38 board?

 

[randomizer]

That's a purty board, but I'm going to avoid X38 altogether unless they start releasing boards at a price that is somewhat reasonable! Like <$160 maybe, but then, it is an "enthusiast" chipset.

 

[Maziar]

This makes P35-based boards look a lot more attractive. Our recommendation is that potential buyers hold on to their money before buying an X38 board, and wait until the features it offers are properly supported.

 

[rammedstein]

not beign rude or anythign but, in that review i think you *bananas* forgot to include a crossfire test...

 

[zenmaster]

And I seemed to notice quite a bit of ATI slamming going on.

Last time I looked 2900XT was between the 8800 GTS and GTX both in price and performance with performance edging closer and closer to the GTX. I really don't see how it would be so illogical to toss a couple 2900XTs into a system.

 

[fishboi]

Maziar - off the topic but you can try tighten your timings. I got 4-4-4-12 with the Platinum Rev. 2. Not sure if yours is the same, but FYI. Check sig .....

On topic - I'm never gonna get the latest and greatest again. Im waiting 6 months before trying out a new tech. We get burned over and over by being guinea pigs, but never seem to learn. Wait until 1) price drops and 2) bugs are worked out. Its so simple, but no one here seems to learn (including me). LOL!

P35 with that new 45nm, ~$300 Quad CPU in Jan looks like the way forward.

 

[systemlord]

It looks like the only reason you would want to get a X38 mobo is the PCI-E 2.0 slots. In the review they said that G-cards wouldn't be taking advantage of that extra bandwidth offered by the PCI-E 2.0 slots until Intel's next chipset release. A lot of people have been saying all along that current PCI-E 1.0 hasn't been fully utilised yet.

It's going to be a hard sell for Intel.

 

[drysocks]

"Conclusion: X38 Boards Too Expensive; P35 Offers More Bang For The Buck"

Understatement of the year. Page 7 made me laugh. Hey, I have a #1 phillips screwdriver with blue handle that has 38% better performance than your yellow one. You want to buy it for twice the price?

 

[cyph0r]

How can you "Tomshardware.com" make such a BOLD and broad statement such as:
"Conclusion: X38 Boards Too Expensive; P35 Offers More Bang for the Buck"
When only having your hands on ONE X38 motherboard?
A GIGABYTE BOARD AT THAT!

At least test more than just one company's board before shooting down the entire chipset.

The Gigabyte X38-DQ6 DOESNT EVEN SUPPORT DDR3!
So clearly this board is not a full representation of the X38's true/possible potential!

Again the X38 is an "Enthusiast" chipset not a "Budget" chipset.
Why are we comparing DDR2 to DDR3 on prices? As if this was a factor limiting the X38 worthiness.
"We compared the prices of the cheapest DDR2 and DDR3 memory modules with 1 GB capacity:
DDR3-1066 - $226 (CL7, OCZ Gold)
DDR2-800 - $38 (CL5, Aeneon) "

Especially when you say:
"No Boards Under $283"
More than likely a "Enthusiast" consumer who is putting at least 283$ down for a X38 board is probably not going to mind spending the extra bucks for DDR3.

Now your comparison of the DDR2 to DDR3 Prices might have been actually relevant/justified if you had more than just one X38 board.

I think you guys should have waited to publish this review until you got your hands on a Asus Maximus Extreme or at least a DDR3 x38 motherboard.



Disclaimer: I am in no way an INTEL fanboy my current rig has a AMD FX-60.

 

[03flat4]

Nice article. I do like that some innovations made it into this board..such as 2 x 16x PCIe slots, ability to cool the northbridge yourself...but the price, as you said...ouch!

 

[gwolfman]

One thing is certain, though: the 975X will not support the upcoming 45 nm Penryn processors and has thus passed on the title of "high-end chipset" to the next generation, the X38.

That is incorrect! Sorry! Check this out...

http://event.asus.com/mb/45nm/

There are 4 975x motherboards listed that with 45nm support, and that's Asus alone!

 

[sailer]

Call this a chipset a Porsche with a handbrake on? I'd call the review itself a Porsche with the handbrake on. If I'm looking for a hot new motherboard to run hot new chips, I don't want to see it handicapped. I'd like to see a review with DDR3 ram and Crossfired 2900 XTs. Sure, that would be expensive, but the whole thing's expensive from the start. If you want a cheap or midrange machine, than ok, buy cheap or midrange components. If you want expensive, then be prepared to pay the bucks to get the best.

 

[nukemaster]

12 Phase voltage? Hows the V-droop?

That is incorrect! Sorry! Check this out...

http://event.asus.com/mb/45nm/

There are 4 975x motherboards listed that with 45nm support, and that's Asus alone!

Does this mean i can go after ASUS....my P5W DH(Rev 1.02g) won't do 1333 if its life depends on it(Freezes not too long after boot up)....with that bios and all....MAX(well not max CPU as it did not need it this was stock for it after all) voltage....ASUS should test this stuff better.....

 

[Zorg]

I'm sure glad I didn't hold out for the X38, I would have been pissed.

 

[Onus]

Looks to me like a "solution" in search of a problem...

 

[gwolfman]

That is incorrect! Sorry! Check this out...

http://event.asus.com/mb/45nm/

There are 4 975x motherboards listed that with 45nm support, and that's Asus alone!

Does this mean i can go after ASUS....my P5W DH(Rev 1.02g) won't do 1333 if its life depends on it(Freezes not too long after boot up)....with that bios and all....MAX(well not max CPU as it did not need it this was stock for it after all) voltage....ASUS should test this stuff better.....

You should get a replacement then! Mine can do well over 1333. I got mine at 1500 with an E6600.

 

[aevm]

Maziar - off the topic but you can try tighten your timings. I got 4-4-4-12 with the Platinum Rev. 2. Not sure if yours is the same, but FYI. Check sig .....

On topic - I'm never gonna get the latest and greatest again. Im waiting 6 months before trying out a new tech. We get burned over and over by being guinea pigs, but never seem to learn. Wait until 1) price drops and 2) bugs are worked out. Its so simple, but no one here seems to learn (including me). LOL!

P35 with that new 45nm, ~$300 Quad CPU in Jan looks like the way forward.

I waited 9 months for the 8800 GTX drivers to mature before I bought. I'm still getting crashes, on XP Media Center. Yeah, I totally understand you. Just wondering if 6 months is enough though.

 

[gwolfman]

An FSB of 485 MHz is required in order to overclock a Core 2 Duo E6550 to 3.4 GHz. As the X38 has already reached its limit at this point, it doesn't seem like it will become an overclockers' dream board.

That doesn't mean the BIOS can't be tweaked for better performance. I'm beginning to think this journalist is horrible.

 

[aevm]

I read somewhere that they need nVidia's cooperation to add SLI support, for both legal and technical reasons. nVidia is not exactly in a hurry to help them, because that would make X38 compete with nVidia's own upcoming 780i chipset in the SLI market.

 

[MadHacker]

I'm just wondering when they will drop PCI slots all together...
and go with PCI-E 16 slots for all the slots.
look how long it took to drop the 16 bit ISA slots.

I don't have a use for PCI anymore.. but then again I'm probably a minority

 

[cyph0r]

Some info about the whole x38 and Sli bit.

"There's no technical reason why X38 can't support SLI on its own without an augmented MCP, but NVIDIA are definitely more likely to agree to a non-nForce (in the sense that NVIDIA aren't providing all the core logic ICs) platform supporting SLI if they have at least one piece of core logic silicon in there.

There's a small chance that SLI might still be supported on future mainboards with no NVIDIA core logic present, and it's not like there's no precedent for multi-GPU being untied from the vendor's own core logic: Dell have shipped Crossfire systems using non-ATI/AMD mainboards in the past, and HP's Blackbird 002 looks set to do the same with some of its configurations. And let's not forget the first SLI systems ever to break cover used Intel Xeon and Intel core logic.

We wait and see whether NVIDIA will truly open SLI support up to non-nForce, though, since the lock-in to their own mainboard products has been a lucrative one for them so far."
Compliments of http://www.beyond3d.com/content/news/483


on a side note I do recall reading somewhere you can get around this by useing modded/hacked drivers to enable SLI on a NON-SLI board.

 

[dark41]

Our decision to standardize on the P35 chipset a few months ago is looking better all the time. It's so hard to know ahead of time which chipset is going to perform and which isn't anymore. Nice review and muchly appreciated. I'm sure glad we didn't bet the farm on the X38.

I think the ATI slamming is justified. While ATI's 2900XT may perform almost as fast as a 8800GTX/Ultra, the 2900XT also uses twice the power. The power comsumption makes the ATI solution considerably more expensive over a year, instead of less expensive. No thanx ATI.

Anyway, with current games/apps and current hardware there's no real benefit to SLI/Crossfire, other than benchmark bragging rights. I guess if you're into that sort of thing and have money to burn, it's a moot point. Obviously reviews aren't written for these people though. They're written for the average user or enthusiast. I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[dark41]

double post

 

[DXRick]

How can it be considered a 975X replacement? 975X was a WORK STATION chipset that supported ECC memory. X38 is targeted at over clockers and gamers.

So, instead of targeting people that want quality and stability, it is targeted at kids that want more speed. The reason people overclock is to save money by buying a cheaper CPU and then overclocking it to get better performance than the expensive CPUs.

The X38 is going to be a complete flop IMO.