Gigabyte X38-DQ6 vs Asus Maximus Formula - The Battle of the X38 Giants
Posted on Mon October 8 2007 3:34 am by
VRArchiver
The Intel X38 Express Chipset, codenamed the Bonetrail, is a chipset that many enthusiasts around the world were anticipating, with a supposed considerable performance gain over the P35 chipset. With a new wave of Intel X38 motherboards hitting the market, we test the flagship models of 2 leading motherboard makers, the Gigabyte X38-DQ6 and the ASUS Maximus Formula.
Read More »
You have to
register before you can post Comments.
Register for a VR-Zone Forum Membership now!
Comment by: G|an on 17-Oct-2007 2:37 am
 | Hmm dude post some sandra's on those rams Mhz to see whether ure straps are right
but here is mine now on 24/7 inside the case
X6800@4ghz 500x8 Coolit Freezone @ 1.6v
Asus Maximus Formula Special Edition
OCZ Titanium Alpha VX2 PC2-8000@ 1000mhz 4-4-4-12 2T+Crosair Dominator Airflowkit
XFX 8800gts +HR03plus+FM123@702/1728/2106
Silverstone OP1000
WD 80gb raid 0+1
Coolermaster Stacker 830
Sandra
http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?ac...post&id=311883
Superpi 32m
http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?ac...post&id=311882
Superpi 1m
http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?ac...post&id=311881
Passed OCCT 1 hour
Idle 44/46 for the past few hours on non-aircond room
Load 49-53
Arctic Mx2 brought those temps down by nearly 6C's!! compared to MX1 and AS5 on a 680 mobo
Damn Sian that my 680 mobo killed all my Team Rams
and my new geil Ultra plus PC2-1160 was defective.. |
Comment by: longsiew on 15-Oct-2007 11:44 am
 |
Quote:
Originally Posted by M0b1us
![View Post]()
|
Ya. I think the X38 mobos are 'optimised' for memory overclocking. Tried tow pairs of my D9 and both can do 650mhz easily |
Comment by: kvm on 15-Oct-2007 10:29 am
 |
Quote:
Originally Posted by lulu
![View Post]()
where's DFI X38!  |
Releasing in Nov. |
Comment by: spike007 on 15-Oct-2007 1:14 am
 |
Quote:
Originally Posted by M0b1us
![View Post]()
Nope bro. It fits well.....  |
Thanks |
Comment by: tonysee84 on 15-Oct-2007 12:50 am
Comment by: Banok FTW on 14-Oct-2007 7:15 pm
 |
Quote:
Originally Posted by floppy
![View Post]()
the HD2900XT is already PCIE 2.0 specced. it really depends, as the X38 seems to be able to clock better than the P35 (to be proven as BIOS matures), and future CF possiblity and the lingering future support for SLI, X38 might be a worthy investment if you are a hardcore enthusaist.
|
yeah but i'm not planning on sli-ing. so only point of a x38 for me would be for pcie2.0. I would like to see some reviews with say a 2900 on a x38 vs a on a p35 to see if pcie 2 makes any difference. it would have to be a big difference since you can get a p35 for £60, where the x38's are £140although they are brandnew its still alot more. |
Comment by: floppy on 14-Oct-2007 2:30 pm
 |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Banok FTW
![View Post]()
so is buying a x38 worth it over a p35?
I think we will have to wait till 8800 gt comes out and see some benchies on with pcie 2.0.
ima gona wait it out and see but atm predicting I will buy a p35 and 8800gt.
|
the HD2900XT is already PCIE 2.0 specced. it really depends, as the X38 seems to be able to clock better than the P35 (to be proven as BIOS matures), and future CF possiblity and the lingering future support for SLI, X38 might be a worthy investment if you are a hardcore enthusaist. |
Comment by: Banok FTW on 14-Oct-2007 8:26 am
| so is buying a x38 worth it over a p35?
I think we will have to wait till 8800 gt comes out and see some benchies on with pcie 2.0.
ima gona wait it out and see but atm predicting I will buy a p35 and 8800gt. |
Comment by: M0b1us on 12-Oct-2007 12:59 am
 |
Quote:
Originally Posted by spyboy48
![View Post]()
If I were to upgrade, I may as well upgrade from 6750 to Q6600, that is much better choice but I will wait until December for a much greater heights... 
But I love my cool 6750 at the moment for now. |
That's not a good choice 
Upgrade to Penryn......THAT'S GOOD CHOICE....... |
Comment by: M0b1us on 12-Oct-2007 12:44 am
Comment by: M0b1us on 12-Oct-2007 12:41 am
Comment by: M0b1us on 12-Oct-2007 12:32 am
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by spike007
![View Post]()
May I know which CPU heatsink you are using for this board? I guess the size of Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme with 120mm fan might limit the space for a Dominator RAM Fan....
|
Nope bro. It fits well..... |
Comment by: M0b1us on 12-Oct-2007 12:32 am
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by floppy
![View Post]()
were u the one who won the board?
|
not me, it's andreX_X. I'm the one who won 8600GTS.....but the VGA haven't arrived yet 
Btw, I can get this board earlier because I won another Gigabyte competition.....and they sent me this mobo as a prize |
Comment by: Svan on 11-Oct-2007 7:49 pm
 |
Quote:
Originally Posted by spyboy48
![View Post]()
Performance isn't that great and $100 more and is on par with P35 Dq6. If I were to upgrade, I may as well upgrade from 6750 to Q6600, that is much better choice but I will wait until December for a much greater heights...
But I love my cool 6750 at the moment for now. |
Yeah but why is it we buy the X38, PCIe2.0 support, hopefully higher OC, higher speeds.. |
Comment by: spyboy48 on 11-Oct-2007 7:21 pm
 |
Quote:
Originally Posted by M0b1us
![View Post]()
Try the new BIOS and set the performance to "Extreme" on the X38-DQ6.....and you'll get very great performance on this board |
Performance isn't that great and $100 more and is on par with P35 Dq6. If I were to upgrade, I may as well upgrade from 6750 to Q6600, that is much better choice but I will wait until December for a much greater heights...
But I love my cool 6750 at the moment for now. |
Comment by: floppy on 11-Oct-2007 1:33 pm
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by G|an
![View Post]()
hmm want to ask something.. to TS
did u take out the maximus heatpipes??
heard that the word secret means ES if its written on the X38 heatsink
|
it is that case for all intel chipsets. |
Comment by: longsiew on 11-Oct-2007 10:39 am
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by lulu
![View Post]()
where's DFI X38! |
Delay Forever For Intel |
Comment by: lulu on 11-Oct-2007 2:44 am
 | where's DFI X38! |
Comment by: G|an on 11-Oct-2007 2:21 am
| hmm want to ask something.. to TS
did u take out the maximus heatpipes??
heard that the word secret means ES if its written on the X38 heatsink |
Comment by: Dr_ARCHer on 10-Oct-2007 8:38 am
 |
Quote:
Originally Posted by spike007
![View Post]()
May I know which CPU heatsink you are using for this board? I guess the size of Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme with 120mm fan might limit the space for a Dominator RAM Fan....
|
The orientation of the Ultra-120 / IFX would affect the RAM slot. If you set the HSF such that the fan is blowing backwards, then you probably have a wee bit more room on the RAM slots. In my case though, I am using the Torture Rack and the fan exhaust is on the right side rather than the back. As such, I orientate the IFX to blow towards the right. The IFX has dimensions of L146.2mm x W124mm x H161mm (the Ultra-120 Extreme has dimensions of L63.44 x W132mm x H160.5mm). If the fan for the HSF is blowing backwards, the IFX would need only 124mm of space (the Ultra-120 would need about 99mm space if one use a 35mm thick fan, or 89mm for a 25mm thick fan). On the other hand, if the fan for the HSF is blowing sideways, the IFX would need 146mm of space (the Ultra-120 would need 132mm of space). |
Comment by: Dr_ARCHer on 10-Oct-2007 8:27 am
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by M0b1us
![View Post]()
I still can put my Corsair Dominator RAM Fan on my X38 DQ6 and it doesn'y touch any component on the VGA PCB.
|
Would it be possible to show a pic? Did you clip your RAM fan onto the Dominator RAMs or to the clips on the RAM slot? |
Comment by: larrylaw on 10-Oct-2007 7:22 am
 |
Quote:
Originally Posted by M0b1us
![View Post]()
I still can put my Corsair Dominator RAM Fan on my X38 DQ6 and it doesn'y touch any component on the VGA PCB.
|
thanks .. then maybe there is a chance to put the OCZ ram cooler.. hehe.
and yeah the layout this time is really near to the VGA pcb..
thermal extreme 120 should be able to fit in. |
Comment by: spike007 on 10-Oct-2007 3:28 am
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by M0b1us
![View Post]()
I still can put my Corsair Dominator RAM Fan on my X38 DQ6 and it doesn'y touch any component on the VGA PCB.
|
May I know which CPU heatsink you are using for this board? I guess the size of Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme with 120mm fan might limit the space for a Dominator RAM Fan.... |
Comment by: floppy on 10-Oct-2007 12:15 am
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by M0b1us
![View Post]()
I still can put my Corsair Dominator RAM Fan on my X38 DQ6 and it doesn'y touch any component on the VGA PCB.
|
were u the one who won the board? |
Comment by: M0b1us on 09-Oct-2007 11:46 pm
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by larrylaw
![View Post]()
but just wanna ask about the cooler for rams.. really cannot put ram cooler like OCZ ones?
|
I still can put my Corsair Dominator RAM Fan on my X38 DQ6 and it doesn'y touch any component on the VGA PCB. |
Comment by: larrylaw on 09-Oct-2007 11:24 pm
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr_ARCHer
![View Post]()
I don't have the Maximus, but I have the X38-DQ6. Looking at the pictures of the Maximums and comparing that to the X38-DQ6, I think the Maximums has slightly better layout.
a) On the X38-DQ6, the RAM slots are a bit too near to the CPU. The distance of the RAM slots from the CPU for the Maximums seems wider, thus allowing for a big HSF without interfering with the RAM.
b) On the X38-DQ6, the RAM slots are too near to the first PCIe slot. If you have a long card e.g. 8800GTX, you will find it difficult removing RAM as the side clip does not have space. The Maximus seems to have a bit more room. Adding a RAM fan to the X38-DQ6 is almost impossible (you need to clip the fan onto the RAM rather than onto the RAM slot clip).
c) X38-DQ6 requires you to short the CMOS pins to clear the CMOS, which is a bit of a hassle. Maximus uses a CMOS switch. My preference is the one used in the Striker Extreme board... a push-button reset switch with LED light.
d) X38-DQ6 does not have an on-board on/off switch or a reset switch. I think the Maximus has both (see 1st photo on Page 2).
e) X38-DQ6 onboard headers for USB/1394 does not have a outer socket cover, unlike the Maximus. If you trying to connect USB/1394 cables to the onboard headers, it is easier to do it on the Maximus.
|
thanks for the details.. i haven't get mine .. jan then get haha. but just wanna ask about the cooler for rams.. really cannot put ram cooler like OCZ ones? |
Comment by: M0b1us on 09-Oct-2007 10:37 pm
| Try the new BIOS and set the performance to "Extreme" on the X38-DQ6.....and you'll get very great performance on this board |
Comment by: maverick317 on 09-Oct-2007 5:31 pm
 | DDR3? Kinda ex for the mainstream user atm |
Comment by: ayankga.ID on 09-Oct-2007 4:42 pm
 | X38T is better...with ddr3 support |
Comment by: ayankga.ID on 09-Oct-2007 4:42 pm
| X38T is better... |
Post Comments
More >>
