chipset question X48 and p45

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suhr65

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I was looking for a new motherboard and I wanted to know which chipset was a better chipset. or should i just wait for the new intel proc's to come out and just get a new setup then.
 
Techincally, X48 is better. But really about the only thing you get is full dual set of x16 PCIe lanes ideal for Crossfire.

Otherwise I'd say stick with P45.
 
It depends what you want.
For full Crossfire performance you need X38/X48.
For single gfx cards theres little between them.
 
Do you plan on doing Crossfire? If so, get the x48, or wait for the x58 which is even better. If your not doing Crossfire, get a P45 board, which has more features. I'm using a P45 board and its great.
 
Kinda at odds after reading through a review of x8 vs x16 for crossfire as I just bought a P45 mobo, but since it's the only matx crossfire : \. Still the gap seems really wide at higher resolutions.
 
Menelmarar said:
Techincally, X48 is better. But really about the only thing you get is full dual set of x16 PCIe lanes ideal for Crossfire.

Otherwise I'd say stick with P45.
Click to expand...

+1 to this.

However if a P45 motherboard is roughly the same price as a X48 motherboard, then go with the X48 motherboard.

@ lowteckh
This article might be of use to you:
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=761
 
Danny Bui said:
yes it does, but only x8/x8 Crossfire. Which means that each card will perform at x8 speeds rather than full x16 speeds.
Click to expand...

is the x8 speed = PCIe 1.1 and x16 = PCIe 2.0?

What is the real performance difference if both are running x8 rather than x16?
 
forsberg78 said:
is the x8 speed = PCIe 1.1 and x16 = PCIe 2.0?

What is the real performance difference if both are running x8 rather than x16?
Click to expand...

Check the link I provided #8 to see the performance difference between x8/x8 Crossfire and x16/x16 Crossfire.

And PCI-E 1.1 and PCI-E 2.0 are revisions or model versions of PCI-E. The x8 and X16 are the speeds of PCI-E. So there are PCI-E x16 slots are just based on PCI-E 1.1 and PCI-E 2.0
 
There seems to be a lot of conflicting info on the performance of CF on the P45, and not enough of it; but if you piece together some of it from the TweakTown article, some xtremesystem threads, and that one Legion Hardware article Danny linked, you start to realize that it compares favorable to an X38/48 setup at lower res... But at higher res the gap widens, and that's the only place you'd really wanna go CF anyway. For gaming at 1920 or below you might as well just get a single 4870, etc.

An X38/48 is gonna run ya $200 minimum though, while a P45 won't be more than $160 and I'm sure you'll find several for $130-ish. So really, just go with an X38/48 board if you plan to go CF off the bat and have a display that's at 'least 24" or larger, otherwise it's not worth the investment.
 
Danny Bui said:
Check the link I provided #8 to see the performance difference between x8/x8 Crossfire and x16/x16 Crossfire.

And PCI-E 1.1 and PCI-E 2.0 are revisions or model versions of PCI-E. The x8 and X16 are the speeds of PCI-E. So there are PCI-E x16 slots are just based on PCI-E 1.1 and PCI-E 2.0
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link!

Seems like multi-card setup right now is not as optimized as I thought they were. It's like a hit or miss specific to the game.
 
^^ Well, as I see, all x48 boards support a maximum of 8 GB only, while the P45 boards support 16 GB, and I think they have more components on their motherboards as well, thats what I meant.
 
John Vuong said:
^^ Well, as I see, all x48 boards support a maximum of 8 GB only, while the P45 boards support 16 GB, and I think they have more components on their motherboards as well, thats what I meant.
Click to expand...

Component count means very little unless the design is more reliable / better quality.

How many people do you know need more than 8GB ram?
How many applications can you think of that will require more than 8GB ram?
For gamers and home users, there is no need for more than 8GB.

Also, care to explain these 16GB memory kits that are able to run in X38/X48 ?:
http://pcstation.pt/forum/index.php?topic=1181.msg5348
Gskill PC2-6400DDR2 MQ 8GB/16GB 6-6-6-18
M/B Chipset Intel X48, Intel X38, Intel P35

http://www.memoryc.com/computermemory/ddr2ram/16gbgskillpc26400mqseriesquadkit.html
16GB G.Skill MQ Quad kit PC2-6400 (800MHz)
This memory kit is another first from G.Skill - the worlds first 16GB Quad channel 800MHz memory kit consisting of 4x 4GB modules. Pre-tested in Intel based board with chipsets Intel X48, Intel X38 and Intel P35.

From G.Skills own site
http://newgskill.web-bi.net/bbs/vie...&sc=on&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=123
M/B Chipset Intel X48,
Intel X38,
Intel P35
 
p45 crossfire works fine, i had 4870 cards in crossfire on 8x/8x and was getting the same fps/vantages scores as 16x/16x boards

id imagine the 4870x2 cards in crossfire might see some bottle necking on 8x/8x so i went with an x48 for them just to be sure.
 
lowteckh said:
Kinda at odds after reading through a review of x8 vs x16 for crossfire as I just bought a P45 mobo, but since it's the only matx crossfire : \. Still the gap seems really wide at higher resolutions.
Click to expand...

seems to run fine w/ my setup:

just had to do a fresh OS install in order to get the drivers to work correctly
 
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