MSI P35 Neo vs Gigabyte DS3R vs P31 Chipset!

[[Dr. V]]

MSI P35 Neo
Gigabyte P35-DS3R
Gigabyte P31-DS3L

There is about a 40-dollar price difference between the two boards, MSI being cheaper.

I don't see much wrong with the MSI board - and I've used maybe 3-4 MSI boards in the past with nothing but success and happy clients. Not only is it a nice cheap solution (for a P35 chipset and really nice overall support like the 1066MHz DDR2), but I'm honestly inching out for every penny I can get from now on.

If the Gigabye P35-DS3R is WAAAAYYYYYYYY better and really worth the $40 extra, then I guess I'll grab it, but therein lies the reason for this thread Also, I was wondering about this so called P31 chipset. I really have never heard much about it - how does it compare to P35? Is it kind of like 650i vs 680i? If so, I think the P31 would be good enough...

Basically does it have the same OCing success and support/stability - all the good stuff that P35 has? I got a G0 stepping Q6600 and haven't been able to run it yet because my motherboard fried on me the other day and I'm finally grabbing one.

Thanks guys. Looking to buy this TODAY in about 4-5 hours!

[[Dr. V]]

I stumbled upon some reviews for the P31 chipset, and one particularly the Gigabyte one I have linked up there. It seems to be a very good, solid chipset, and is holding a Q6600 at 3.3GHz extremely stable (for that one particular review) - at a 1.0GHz overclock that's good with me lol!

Either way, I'm not sure if it's enough of a difference to completely justify getting a P35 over a P31.

[halutzparilla]

i dont know anything about P31, but with the P35 its good espcially from gigabyte...
msi p35 have bad reviews especially issues on updated Bios... so i read in Newegg review...

post which one will you buy and what happened next coz i need a motherboard too, i might buy by the end of the year or early January, when i get extra cash out...

[Yellowhello]

I personally would go with the Gigabyte P35 one, but maybe that's just me... I hear a lot of people love that board.

[Tyreal]

P35-DS3R owner here. Loving this board and highly recommend it. No problems thus far.

[[Dr. V]]

Well the scenario left me with no choice.

I saw a few foul cases of the MSI P35 board, so I wanted to kind of stay away from it. But at the same time I didn't have enough money to get the P35-DS3R. So, I decided why not go for a new chipset and see how I like it - so I grabbed the P31-DS3L. So far it's running my Q6600 GREAT! I haven't tried any O/Cing yet - I'll try it tonight and post some things.

[Yellowhello]

Good luck man. Good to see it worked out for you.

So the P31 is basically a "declawed" (so to speak) P35 chipset?

[halutzparilla]

wish all the best and i hope you get the best out of it, tell how it go against 965P DS3 of Gigayte... it seems a pretty good board to me though... i might consider that one too for my January things to buy list...
so please post some result... OC, CPU TEMP, RAM support and how is it handling multiple HDD, FPS Game, and resource hunger applications, boot time and the everything you can see...

ty in advance for the result of your test...

oh btw could someone elaborate this review from Newegg customer about the P31 :
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P31-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P31 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Qoute: Cons: P31 Chipset does not support double sided ram beyond 2 slots!

[screwballl]

I understand the P31 vs P35 to be the equivalent of a 650i vs 680i...
I have also heard of flaky issues with the MSI board, some work fantastic but too many bad reports to say it is just a few bad boards
I would say DS3R is your safest bet

[fps justin]

I'd go with the DS3R, you won't regret it.