Best overclocking mother board?

young boy · Apr 29, 2008

This has been asked before but now, I want the best motherboard. I'm currently looking at the following for a q9550/q9450.

1) ASUS Maximus fomular X38
2) DFI landparty LT X38-T2R X38 or the bloodiron if it's any good
3) Gigabyte GA-EX38-DQ6 X38
4) Abit Pro
5) Any other motherboard capable of 520fsb (45nm duo core w/2sticks of ram) and 490fsb for quad.

I'm not sure if the X48 is any good so I'm not going to include it though you can recommend it to me too.

Also, does the 8 mulit-phase power matter much?

Ty for all replies.

troisanh · Apr 29, 2008

Option #2 probably cause im slightly biased.

kirbyrj · Apr 29, 2008

X48 is theoretically better than X38 (probably not by very much).

Asus Rampage Formula or DFI X48 LP are what I'd look at for best OCing. Probably the DFI is what I'd get.

E.R · Apr 29, 2008

Maximus/Rampage has no advantage for 45nm CPU:s over other cards as you should stay away from using LLC as they can kill you 45nm CPU.
I agree that DFI or perhaps Foxconn BlackOps is the way to go and i still hate Gigabytes X38-DQ6.

BUFF · Apr 29, 2008

There is no 1 best mobo as everybody has different opinions of what they want/are willing to put up with.

8-phase power on it's own does not automatically make for a good PWM, design & component choice are also very important - a good 4-phase can be better than a bad 8-phase.

young boy · Apr 30, 2008

troisanh said:
Option #2 probably cause im slightly biased.

You sure are active in the mobo forum!

Thanks for all replyes. Hope more will come.

RE: buff, I've checked up this site upon seeing your post. Do I need to look out for more than that (except design and layout for I know nothing about electrical engineering)?

LCC? Why do you hate the gigabyte board?

From (H)ocp, I've read that same opinion too but I believe it has potential after it has been refined, marginally at least and I'm willing to pay for it.

Come!

Youri Carma · Apr 30, 2008

I just am bussy with a friend to build a new very OCable rig.
We decided to go for the X48 with DD3 cause this RAM has become afordable now.
DDR-II vs. GDDR3
We are bit in a quandary cause the RAM devolpement (For the first time I guess) goes faster than that of the Mobo's.

I will post ouer findings here sofar but we are still bussy with it.

Intel's X48 Express chipset on the Techreport

X48 heavyweights go head to head

Another problem is that there are not many reviews around and no reviews where the newest fastest DDR3 is fully utilised cause that can make the difference between X38 and X48 clear.

Mobo X48 Mobo (Not much around yet) maybe the:

Asus X48:

P5E64 WS Evolution

Some pretty Preview Pics on Xfastest
ASUS X48 P5E64 WS Evolution sighted

Rampage Formula DDR2!

ASUS ROG Rampage Formula: Why we were wrong about the Intel X48 on Anandtech
Asus Rampage Formula on [H]Enthusiast
In German but allotof nice pics - [SAMMELTHREAD] Asus Maximus/Rampage Formula (S.E.) / Extreme (Intel X38/X48)

P5E3 Premium/WiFi-AP
Asus P5E3 Premium/WiFi-AP on TweakTown
Asus P5E3 Premium/WiFi-AP on Techspot
Asus P5E3 Premium/WiFi-AP on OC3D
Asus P5E3 Premium/WiFi-AP on Bjorn3d

Asus P5E3 Premium/WiFi-AP on Neoseeker

young boy · Apr 30, 2008

That's an excellent post. The X48 heavyweights go head to head was exceptionally useful.

I look forward to your results though!

bloodlet · Apr 30, 2008

I'll vote DFI.

BUFF · Apr 30, 2008

young boy said:
RE: buff, I've checked up this site upon seeing your post. Do I need to look out for more than that (except design and layout for I know nothing about electrical engineering)?

I don't know much about electrical engineering either but rarely in life is 1 approach to a problem the only solution.
I'm about to do it myself

but people often generalise things more than is perhaps correct & I advocate keeping an open mind until there is some body of evidence either 1 way or another.

As Anandtech said in their follow up to their initial article re. 780G mobo problems with 125W Phenoms "While a board’s PWM/MOSFET count generally indicates its capability to handle a particular load rating, it does not always indicate its ability to properly regulate, correct, and deliver clean power. That is why a board with a properly designed four-phase system can offer improved quality/performance over a poorly designed five- or six-phase system."
& then you have marketing, where many boards with dual 4-phase or 6-phase designs are instead touted as 8 or 12-phase (again, I'm told by people with more knowledge than I that a dual 4 or 6 phase design is not as good as a true 8 or 12-phase one).

Youri Carma · Apr 30, 2008

Well I am a learnabout that subject myself but I think you are right.
You better have a one good controlled system instead of ten bad ones.
Unless your 10 are good than maybe you can deliver "chosen one" power.
But I think the total Voltage control of the design is much more important.
The chain breaks only at it's most fragile point
Which point is that and how to find out?
For me? Just testing the rig and see what happens.

young boy · Apr 30, 2008

BUFF said:
I don't know much about electrical engineering either but rarely in life is 1 approach to a problem the only solution.
I'm about to do it myself but people often generalise things more than is perhaps correct & I advocate keeping an open mind until there is some body of evidence either 1 way or another.

As Anandtech said in their follow up to their initial article re. 780G mobo problems with 125W Phenoms "While a boards PWM/MOSFET count generally indicates its capability to handle a particular load rating, it does not always indicate its ability to properly regulate, correct, and deliver clean power. That is why a board with a properly designed four-phase system can offer improved quality/performance over a poorly designed five- or six-phase system."
& then you have marketing, where many boards with dual 4-phase or 6-phase designs are instead touted as 8 or 12-phase (again, I'm told by people with more knowledge than I that a dual 4 or 6 phase design is not as good as a true 8 or 12-phase one).

Then which motherboard do you recommend? Btw, the asus board with ROG have 2 phase for their RAM and they do perform better than other boards with 1 phase. Does gigabyte/abit/dfi do that too?

Youri Carma said:
Well I am a learnabout that subject myself but I think you are right.
You better have a one good controlled system instead of ten bad ones.
Unless your 10 are good than maybe you can deliver "chosen one" power.
But I think the total Voltage control of the design is much more important.
The chain breaks only at it's most fragile point
Which point is that and how to find out?
For me? Just testing the rig and see what happens.

Again, which has good controlled power? Yes, testing is the best benchmark. Show us your results please!

Youri Carma · Apr 30, 2008

I am sorry to fail you.
I simply donnow?
If live would be that easy I would tell you.

young boy · May 1, 2008

Fortunately it isn't. I just love the ups and downs of life. Makes things interesting! I'll like to see your results though.

Youri Carma · May 2, 2008

Well one big conclusion sofar folks!

Gigabyte has the most Reviews LOL

Valnar · May 2, 2008

I just bought the DFI LP LT X38-T2R. Still waiting on the CPU, but I believe I made the best decision after reading reviews and posts for about a month. It also helps that I have a DFI now which has been flawless.

Robert

Youri Carma · May 2, 2008

Just been reading a review about the Conclusion: DFI LANParty LT X38-T2R on Xbitlabs

Verry funny in the conclusion:

However, I believe that enthusiasts and extreme users will be able to turn this drawback into an advantage boasting in the forums that they were able to figure out the meaning of various parameters, determine its effect on the system performance and stability.

Think it's allotof fun

BUFF · May 2, 2008

young boy said:
Then which motherboard do you recommend?

as I said earlier different people want different things so it's hard to recommend a mobo when one doesn't know what your needs/wants/likes are.
I like abits as their approach seems to suit what I want but I also am willing to use any mobo from any manufacturer that takes my fancy.
In my league table Asus come after abit, DFI & Gigabyte (alphabetical order

) & probably on a par with MSI.

Btw, the asus board with ROG have 2 phase for their RAM and they do perform better than other boards with 1 phase. Does gigabyte/abit/dfi do that too?

I would be interested to see the reviews testing comparable boards & where you could put improved performance down to that alone, got links?

young boy · May 3, 2008

Err, I just want a good oced quad which has a low multi, therefore needing a motherboard. What fancy items are there? I know for one that I only need 4usb ports and 0 firewire.

Best overclocking mother board?

young boy

Limp Gawd

troisanh

[H]F Junkie

kirbyrj

Fully [H]

E.R

Gawd

BUFF

2[H]4U

young boy

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Youri Carma

Gawd

young boy

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bloodlet

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BUFF

2[H]4U

Youri Carma

Gawd

young boy

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Youri Carma

Gawd

young boy

Limp Gawd

Youri Carma

Gawd

Valnar

Supreme [H]ardness

Youri Carma

Gawd

BUFF

2[H]4U

young boy

Limp Gawd