Intel boards

[BrokenHalo83]

I'm building a computer for a friend and the only X48 or X38 in stock at the local computer shop at the moment are the Intel boards. I was wondering are they worth buying? Or should I go a different route in terms of motherboard?

[screwballl]

a lot of local shops will carry the standard board with integrated graphics, typically the low and budget boards. Every now and then you may see an enthusiast board. We typically recommend ordering online, check at Newegg, zipzoomfly, tigerdirect and a few other online sources.

[Reloadron]

One downside to the newer Intel boards is the use of DDR3 which when I did my last build carried a hefty price tag. I settled for an Asus board for the wife's new machine and it worked out just fine.

Overall, however, I have built plenty of systems on Intel boards and never had a complaint about Intel.

Ron

[BrokenHalo83]

How are they performance wise? do they OC well?

[azianai]

X48 and X38 are great boards, we have a few that have been reviewed.
P35 is the tried and true one, but you can't go wrong with the X48 and X38.
Just make sure you get the board you'll be able to use with the memory you're looking for, i know a few X38 are DDR3 while i believe all X48 are DDR3

[Capper]

Az hit it on the head, the X38 and X48 boards are the best you can get....I'll always recommend INTEL chipsets over NVIDIA chipsets.

[BrokenHalo83]

So the Intel chipset is obviously a better one. how about the boards built by Intel? (Not just the chipset)

[Capper]

I'm not a fan, the INTEL built boards are rock solid, but they are not built for any type of overclocking and lack the quality you'll find on say a Gigabyte or ASUS board.