As far as I can tell, the only difference between these two chipsets, is that the X38 supports DDR3 1333 memory modules and PCIe 2.0.Is this correct information?If so, then it makes no sense to buy the more expensive X38/X48 unless you're going to run DDR3 memory, right?RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

Mace,If you are thinking of going Crossfire at sometime you definitely want to go with the X-38 as its PCIE 2.0 and both slots are full 16x instead of one at 16x and a one at 4x on a P35 board.

P35's overclock better than x38's generally, the only reason to go x38/x48 is because of crossfire. If you are looking at an upgrade I would reccomend the p5k premium.

X38

I have a GA-X38T-DQ6 and find it to be excellent. Running a Q6600 and 2MB DDR3 memory.Bruce.

>>>X38Say what?I wasn't asking "either", "or"I was asking if the difference was only the memory supported, and PCIe2.0I am not planning on Crossfire.I am still torn over whether I am going to go wild, with a QX9650, or do a less expensive build with a Q9450 (slated to be released next week I hear).If I go wild, I might as well get X38 and DDR3.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

I'd go with the X38 on an Asus board, the Maximus Formula rocks, great overclocker, fully loaded, and tolerant of 'user error' when it comes to bios settings. ;)Careful if you're considering the Gigabyte X38 boards. I had one with my QX9650, ran well until I put an extra 2 gigs in. It ran once then went into an infinite no-post loop and wouldn't boot with any configuration of memory, and this is a very common problem with them. They freak out running 4 chips of anything in the 2.0 - 2.2 volt range. Any error at all causes the board to drop its memory voltage to 1.3 and no memory can boot with that. Once they're in that no-post loop they won't even boot with a single stick of 1.8v stuff, totally game over. Runs fine with 2 gigs, 4's a real toss up. I'm using those same 4 chips in my replacement Asus board and it works flawlessly.In either case I'd go with DDR3, though its still madly expensive stuff hehe.I'd also get water cooling. I have my Penryn oc'ed up to a comfortable 4.1 ghz and a good waterblock is able to handle it really well. 27 C idle and 45-48 under full FSX load. Can run pretty high settings just about everywhere but still need to make some compromises for multiplayer. Bring on Nahalem. ;)Cheers, and goood luck. :)-mike

>I'd go with the X38 on an Asus board, the Maximus Formula>rocks, great overclocker, fully loaded, and tolerant of 'user>error' when it comes to bios settings. ;)>>Careful if you're considering the Gigabyte X38 boards. I had>one with my QX9650, ran well until I put an extra 2 gigs in.>It ran once then went into an infinite no-post loop and>wouldn't boot with any configuration of memory, and this is a>very common problem with them. They freak out running 4 chips>of anything in the 2.0 - 2.2 volt range. Any error at all>causes the board to drop its memory voltage to 1.3 and no>memory can boot with that. Once they're in that no-post loop>they won't even boot with a single stick of 1.8v stuff,>totally game over. Runs fine with 2 gigs, 4's a real toss up.>I'm using those same 4 chips in my replacement Asus board and>it works flawlessly.>>In either case I'd go with DDR3, though its still madly>expensive stuff hehe.>>I'd also get water cooling. I have my Penryn oc'ed up to a>comfortable 4.1 ghz and a good waterblock is able to handle it>really well. 27 C idle and 45-48 under full FSX load. Can run>pretty high settings just about everywhere but still need to>make some compromises for multiplayer. Bring on Nahalem. ;)>>Cheers, and goood luck. :)>>-mike>>>Get an asus p5k premium p35, best overclocking board out there, I speak from experience. Get the cheaper quad, they will overclock like mad, no need to waste your money. And for penryn watercooling isnt really going to help, because of the limitations of these 45nm chips you will want to keep your vcore under 1.45 no matter what cooling you have, at that voltage your temps shouldnt become a problem on air, so watercooling inst really very usefull right now.

If you will run only one video card and want to use DDR2 memory, I would recommend the DFI LanParty P35-T2R LT (P35 based). It is $185 on Newegg...the DFI X38 is $270.This is the LT P35-T2R without the heatpipes (the UT has the heatpipes). It will run Penryns just fine. I believe we'll have a new socket for Nehalem, so we'll need to upgrade the motherboard whether it is a P35 or X38, so why not get the cheaper P35?I got to about 460 or 470 FSB without breaking a sweat. DFI uses great components and their stuff is designed for overclocking. You may need a 65nm chip to flash the bios before a 45nm chip will work (I did--the E8400 works now). The 65nm chip is now on Ebay. Small price to pay instead of the $85 markup on the X38.If you want to get really deep, read this:http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3129You can read about the X38 and what it offers vis-a-vis the P35 here:http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel...doc.aspx?i=3120Note the article title.EDIT: Another great thing about DFI is that there is a bootable CD you can download that has every DFI BIOS known to man on it. Very handy.http://www.diy-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22031I am an "early-adopter"/"need to be current" freak. I needed a motherboard for a Penryn in February, and after weeks of feverish researching, I got a P35 board (after at first thinking I HAD to have an X48...). I only run one graphics card though.

>Get an asus p5k premium p35,Mike I meant to ask you, does the "wifi" version of this board mean that it has built-in wifi? And does that mean that you could, for example, get hi-speed internet to a laptop in your house, while your computer with the ASUS wifi board sits upstairs?I'm just trying to get a full understanding of what that option means in practical terms. Thanks.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

> I believe we'll>have a new socket for Nehalem, so we'll need to upgrade the>motherboard whether it is a P35 or X38, so why not get the>cheaper P35?>This is indeed an idea worth considering. I may in fact do that because I may want to run a Nehalem at some point in time, if they turn out to rock FSX.>I got to about 460 or 470 FSB without breaking a sweat. DFI>uses great components and their stuff is designed for>overclocking. >460 x 8 = 3.680, and especially in Penryn ghz, that ain't bad...that's on DDR2/800 mem? I was thinking of getting some 1000-ish rated DDR2...something along those lines...4 gigs (2x2) of Patriot for $115.>You may need a 65nm chip to flash the bios before a 45nm chip>will work (I did--the E8400 works now). The 65nm chip is now>on Ebay. Small price to pay instead of the $85 markup on the>X38.>I am going to make sure the BIOS supports it before I do that. I don't want to go through that extra hoop if I can help it. If I can't then Celeron it is. I could always build a cheap box for someone with it.>I only run one graphics>card though.That's all I'm going to run on this box too.All good points to consider by all of you, thank you.You can tell by the feverish pitch of my questions, that I am heavy into research mode right now.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

>>This is indeed an idea worth considering. I may in fact do>that because I may want to run a Nehalem at some point in>time, if they turn out to rock FSX.>Yeah, I'll probably jump on Nehalem when it comes out. Maybe this time next year. It is supposed to be quite a leap.>>460 x 8 = 3.680, and especially in Penryn ghz, that ain't>bad...that's on DDR2/800 mem? I was thinking of getting some>1000-ish rated DDR2...something along those lines...4 gigs>(2x2) of Patriot for $115.>This was with an E8400. Q9450 might be a little tougher. But the bottom line is the DFI board will not be a FSB bottleneck.This is with 4 gigs of DDR2/1000 memory...G.Skill, $99.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820231145>I am going to make sure the BIOS supports it before I do that.> I don't want to go through that extra hoop if I can help it. >If I can't then Celeron it is. I could always build a cheap>box for someone with it.>If you go DFI P35, then you can't be sure. Depends on how new the stock is. Some retailers may be able to tell you. There is a list of P35 motherboards that work with Penryn on day 1 (no BIOS flash) floating around on one of the overclocking forums--can't remember which on. But then, my DFI P35 was on the list and no dice. If you can borrow a 65nm chip, that would do it.>>That's all I'm going to run on this box too.>>All good points to consider by all of you, thank you.>>You can tell by the feverish pitch of my questions, that I am>heavy into research mode right now.>Ah, research mode. It consumes me. You'll like Penryn. I upgraded from an Opteron dual core 2.8 ghz. Big difference.>>Rhett>>AMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS>A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150>gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb>5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

>>>Get an asus p5k premium p35,>>Mike I meant to ask you, does the "wifi" version of this board>mean that it has built-in wifi? And does that mean that you>could, for example, get hi-speed internet to a laptop in your>house, while your computer with the ASUS wifi board sits>upstairs?>>I'm just trying to get a full understanding of what that>option means in practical terms. Thanks.>>>Rhett>>AMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS>A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150>gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb>5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster PraetorianHey, The p5k premium does indeed have built in wifi, so yes you can set up wireless for your laptop. The p5k premium is the best tuned p35 in my view, capable of hitting the highest fsb's, has vdroop protection, a waelth of bios options, the cooling solution is great, it has a cool running 8 phase voltage regulator. and it is also built with longevity in mind. Afaik its only $200 on newegg, imho its very worth it, best board I have ever owned.