[desktop]

Well thanks to ClubIt I have to get another motherboard. They screwed up my order big time. I went looking for the same DS3R board, but now I'm seriously considering the DS4 instead. What's weird is I was looking at the DS4 on this Legion Hardware review here, but the board pictured looks totally different than anywhere else.

Below is the picture of the Gigabyte P35-DS4 from the Gigabyte site:



Here's the same board at Newegg:



Now this is the P35-DS4 picture on the Legion Hardware review:



On the Legion site the DS4 looks completely different. I'm referring mainly to the heatsinks. I actually like the one pictured on Legion, but since it doesn't look anything like the ones pictured everywhere else I'm wondering has the board been changed? If anyone knows I'd appreciate the info.

Either way, would the DS4 be a better mobo than the DS3R?

Thanks.

[darksideleader]

If you think the extra PCI-Express slot and fancier heat pipes are nessary, go for the jump.

At that price though, you might want to make an extra jump and get a x38 chipset, with a 1600 FSB for future quads. Looks after all are superfical. If your gonna crossfire then go to x38 while if your if your just using a single videocard a p35 does it just nicely.

[desktop]

Originally Posted by darksideleader

If you think the extra PCI-Express slot and fancier heat pipes are nessary, go for the jump.

True, the DS4 only has minimal differences from the DS3R, and it's roughly $40 more. Have to chew on that one. Thanks.

Originally Posted by darksideleader

At that price though, you might want to make an extra jump and get a x38 chipset, with a 1600 FSB for future quads. Looks after all are superfical. If your gonna crossfire then go to x38 while if your if your just using a single videocard a p35 does it just nicely.

No interest in gaming and the P35 with a Q6600 is just fine for me.

[darksideleader]

Theres this board:
Newegg.com - Open Box: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard

$100 open box, but should be top notch cuz its from newegg

Ever considered the AMD road?
Newegg.com - AMD Phenom 9600 Agena 2.3GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
Newegg.com - Open Box: MSI K9A2 Platinum AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard

An overclocker would use intel, if your looking for something sturdy, future proof and slightly cheaper you could go with AMD. The 9600 is slightly slower than the q6600 however.

[desktop]

The open box makes me nervous (it's also out of stock on Newegg), especially after the horrible experience at ClubIt. Plus there's no assurance of getting a rev 2.1 board.

I have no interest in AMD. After a month of researching all of this I've decided on the Q6600 and the P35. I have everything except the mobo, so changing my mind now would be pointless. Besides, I'm eager to get this all put together so I know everything I bought works.

After reading up on this today I'm seriously considering returning my OEM version of WinXP Home and going for the retail version. I know it's $100 more, but there appears to be too many limitations with the OEM version.

[veedubfreak]

I think the other board is actually a picture of the dq6. The ds4 is x38 correct? If so thats where the extra cost comes in. Also the ds4 has 2 pci-e and the ds3r only has 1.

[Vaanish]

To the OP: The reason that the pictures are different is that Gigabyte revised the heatpipes because they were too large and were causing practical problems such as fitting coolers and they were also too heavy so they changed it to the designs that you see on newegg.

Originally Posted by veedubfreak

The ds4 is x38 correct?

There are both P35 and X38 versions of the DS4.