Whcih Intel chipset motherboard to buy?

[Saxito Pau]

So, having sold my AMD board, I now seek to buy a new motherboard. the temporary board is such that my 9800GTC cannot fit  so I have to run my PC with a fully integrated solution till i get a new board.

After much research, I opted to go for the Intel chipset for the sheer sake of trying them out.

I am also leaning towards the X38 over the P35 despite the performance being almost identical. The X38 has a few lil extras that I want.

so I ask my fellow GATTers, which board should I go with?


Abit
IP35 Pro XE
IX38 QuadGT

Gigabyte
GA-P35-DS4
GA-X38-DQ6


See vote above, which closes 30th June, which is when I should have the funds to buy the new board

Please provide informed data based on any aspect of one of the 4 boards that would make you buy it. Also if you know of any issues with said board(s) please post them as well with supporting links for everything where possible.

[Arcmanov]

The Abit IP35-Pro XE gets my vote.  The angled SATA ports along the board's edge is the deal-maker for me.
Of course this newer version now properly supports Wolfdale and Yorkfield CPUs, and now has more memory divider options.

The performance difference between the P35 and X38 chipsets aren't that great, unless you're using the DDR3 version
of the X38, with 1600 Mhz RAM, which is insanely expensive.  I guess it goes without saying that you staying with DDR2 right?

[W1nTry]

I voted for Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6, why? you may ask? future proofing of course.

[Arcmanov]

Explain that, W1ntry.  All the boards here are DDR2.  The only (practical) difference between the chipsets
is the support for the 1600 FSB in the X38's case.

Other than that, I see no other reason to choose the X38 boards listed here.

[W1nTry]

Didn't take the time to check the mobo, thought it was an DDR3 mobo. Ah well, then P35 ftw. Honestly though P45 is out though, i'd consider that instead.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128344

[Spazosaurus]

I was hot and sweaty on the ddr3 thing, but the prices still havent come down to a manageable level yet.

It's all about what you can manage.

I prefer to do multiple incremental system builds (read two) per year rather than do one big "brave dage" move that bussing the pocket. ESPECIALLY when the only main difference between insane and great price is negligibly better performance. I much rather inject some extra dosh into video power.

Maybe if by not this build, but the next build prices of both boards and memory come down, i'll bite.

[Arcmanov]

This is the article I was looking for to illustrate my point.  The performance numbers here speak for themselves.

Of course Sax, if you intend to use Crossfire in the future, then the X38, with its two X16 PCI-E 2.0 slots, is the better choice.