Need to decide.

[Carl Martin]

The GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R mobo I ordered for my new build was defective, so I had to RMA it for a refund. (Newegg is out of them.) Right now I have a bit of a sour taste in my mouth and don't like the idea of replacing it with another Gigabyte board. How about any of these? I'm not impressed with Asus, but have had good luck with the Abit in my current board. The DFI just caught my eye, so I added it to the list.

ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard

DFI Product for LANPARTY
GIGABYTE GA-EP35C-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Dynamic Energy Saver Ultra Durable II Intel Motherboard (Should my anger abate. Is DDR2/DDR3 just a gimmick, or a good feature?)

Carl

[screwballl]

tough call, DFI boards are known for being picky but when they work, they work great!!
Gigabyte over the past year or two have been a bit flaky but ABIT has been stable, especially recently.
Some may have differing opinions but thats why we are here...

[Stormcrow]

ABIT boards are one of my favorites, I was sold on the KV8Pro which was one of the best clockers in it's heyday and my favorite board to date. They have had some flaky BIOS issues over the past few chipsets, many on the AMD side though and the Intel boards have been pretty superb as far as I know. The uGuru utility was pretty impressive back in '05 on the KV8, and has evolved even more since then. ABIT also usually sticks a CMOS Reset switch on the I/O panel, which is a real boon in my opinion. Support is pretty good too, had to call them a few times since that board was my first attempt at going pro with a high end system and the techs were awesome and handled all my dumb questions no problem.

The only problem I have with DFI is their boards run hot and the stock cooling on them is usually terrible. My NF4 Infinity was a monster overclocker, but the fan on the northbridge was so tiny and cheap the thing hovered around 65C-70C stock. The capacitors and regulators also tend to be of cheaper quality then comparable boards and the entire board needs to have good cooling otherwise it heats up quick and those things can pop. Other then that the DFI boards are excellent and have some of the most comprehensive BIOS options on the market. They are very finicky on RAM, as Screwbie said, and I've found they tend to like Kingston the best for whatever reason.

[Carl Martin]

I really am leaning toward the Abit. Like I said, mine has been excellent.

Just wondering, what are Intel boards like? I never read anything about them.

Carl

[Stormcrow]

Intel branded boards are usually very basic, like something you'd expect from Dell or HP but with more of a BIOS. They also don't tend to like being pushed very far, I see them being used more for OEM support or people that just slap a rig together and don't bother with the advanced settings.

[onebxr]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

Intel branded boards are usually very basic, like something you'd expect from Dell or HP but with more of a BIOS. They also don't tend to like being pushed very far, I see them being used more for OEM support or people that just slap a rig together and don't bother with the advanced settings.

but from what I have been reading, intel is putting out some of the most stable boards as of now.
-1

[Stormcrow]

You would think they would since it's their own chipsets their using. I've never used an Intel branded board, but through the grapevine I've heard their more akin to OEM boards but then again I'll be the first to tell you most of the crap I read should be taken with plenty of grains of salt.

[Carl Martin]

Decided to go with the Abit. It's a brand I trust and right now I don't feel very adventurous. Thanks for your input.

Carl

[halutzparilla]

have you considered the P35 Series of Abit on Egg...

[Carl Martin]

I think you mean the same one I ordered. Cf. my initial post.

Carl