ASUS Maximus Formula SE: X38 and DDR2 Unite!
by Rajinder Gill on November 9, 2007 7:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Overclocking Performance Comparison
Synthetic Graphics Performance
CPU Performance
Gaming Performance
Rendering Performance
File Compression Performance
The results are very close, with the Maximus just passing the DFI board in 3D benchmarks, but only by minimum values that are nothing to crow about. With figures this close, it is fair to say the margin of error between benchmarks and even variance in XP installations (when we take user systems into account) could easily reverse the overall standings. For single graphics card use, a top-end P35 based motherboard is perfectly capable of providing almost identical benchmarking figures and in some cases surpassing the X38 boards at this time.
However, we have seen significant improvements in memory performance with each succeeding BIOS release so there may be hope for the X38 chipset to distance itself from the P35 in DDR2 performance. Our take is that we might end up seeing a 1%~3% overall difference at most. Probably just enough for the suppliers to start replacing their high-end P35 motherboards with the X38 variants in order to eliminate product overlap. While this is not bad, it is a disappointment to us after the early hype surrounding the chipset. In fact, our A0 X38 silicon based reference board still performs better that the retail boards but not by much now.
We must emphasize that the DFI board is actually more "stable" at 465FSB; also DDR2-1120 is a little easier to reach with more attractively priced memory modules. Had we used the lower 1:1 divider on the Maximus, the scores would have been reversed. In truth, using the 1:1 divider on either board should only reduce scores by around 1-2% maximum, making some of the cheaper DDR2-1000 capable modules a wise purchase for a workstation or gaming PC. ASUS is currently working on a BIOS release that improves overclocking and we will report any performance changes shortly.
Synthetic Graphics Performance
CPU Performance
Gaming Performance
Rendering Performance
File Compression Performance
The results are very close, with the Maximus just passing the DFI board in 3D benchmarks, but only by minimum values that are nothing to crow about. With figures this close, it is fair to say the margin of error between benchmarks and even variance in XP installations (when we take user systems into account) could easily reverse the overall standings. For single graphics card use, a top-end P35 based motherboard is perfectly capable of providing almost identical benchmarking figures and in some cases surpassing the X38 boards at this time.
However, we have seen significant improvements in memory performance with each succeeding BIOS release so there may be hope for the X38 chipset to distance itself from the P35 in DDR2 performance. Our take is that we might end up seeing a 1%~3% overall difference at most. Probably just enough for the suppliers to start replacing their high-end P35 motherboards with the X38 variants in order to eliminate product overlap. While this is not bad, it is a disappointment to us after the early hype surrounding the chipset. In fact, our A0 X38 silicon based reference board still performs better that the retail boards but not by much now.
We must emphasize that the DFI board is actually more "stable" at 465FSB; also DDR2-1120 is a little easier to reach with more attractively priced memory modules. Had we used the lower 1:1 divider on the Maximus, the scores would have been reversed. In truth, using the 1:1 divider on either board should only reduce scores by around 1-2% maximum, making some of the cheaper DDR2-1000 capable modules a wise purchase for a workstation or gaming PC. ASUS is currently working on a BIOS release that improves overclocking and we will report any performance changes shortly.
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mbf - Friday, November 9, 2007 - link
...handle DDR2 ECC memory? I for one would like to know. ASUS seems to be of two (or possibly more) minds on the matter stating conflicting information all around the product pages for their respective X38 board offerings. Then again, the P5W DH Deluxe still seems like a smart choice, considering the very small performance delta between the i975x and later chipsets. Also, ASUS claims Penryn support for several of their "mature" offerings, including the P5W DH Deluxe.AnnihilatorX - Friday, November 9, 2007 - link
Personally I would recommend everyone including enthusiasts to not to buy over-priced performance RAMs.And of course looking at price at the moment to choose DDR2 over DDR3
A low latency low frequency RAM are potentially *much* cheaper than a high frequency one. The performance discrepancy is at most 5% which relates to perhaps 2-3FPS in a game. This has probably the lowest cost-to-performance ratio of a system component.
steve4717 - Sunday, May 16, 2010 - link
when will the new bios be ready, and i exspect it, this time to make it possible so it can see, ddr2 1066 at long last.nleksan - Wednesday, November 28, 2012 - link
I have been looking for a motherboard for a recently acquired (given to me free of charge) set of somewhat older but almost entirely unused (i.e. no more than 100hrs use on anything, most have around 20-40hrs; came from 9 different full-or-partial PC's) hardware including:- Core2Duo E8600 (under 20hrs use, known to run stable at 4.5Ghz on air, 4.9Ghz on water)
- 4x2GB G.Skill DDR2-1066/1150 4-4-4-9
- 4x1GB OCZ DDR2-1066 4-4-4-12
- 3x 250GB Samsung Spinpoint SATA3Gbps HDD's
- 2x 150GB WD VR SATA3Gbps 10krpm HDD's
- 1x WD WD800BB 80GB SATA3Gbps HDD
- 4x WD2500JB 250GB SATA HDD's
- 3x WD Caviar Blue 320GB (AAKS) SATA3Gbps HDD's (repurposed for new X79 build)
- 2x Seagate 7200.7 160GB E-IDE HDD's
- 3x Hitachi Deskstar 320GB SATA3Gbps HDD's
- Enermax 690W High-Efficiency PSU
- Antec SOHO Server Case with 8x3.5" bays/5x5.25" bays (fits a Xigmatek 4x3.5-in-3x5.25 with 120x25mm fan converter nicely, for a total of 12xHDD's) and ripe for some heavy modifications
OR
- Thermaltake XASER V Limited Edition with 5x3.5" bays + 6x5.25" bays
OR
- Buy a new sub-$100 case for this (Rosewill ThorV2 would be nice for price, Antec 1100/1200/P283
- DD Maze6 CPU Block
- 2x DD Maze6 GPU Blocks
- 3x Swiftech MCW82 GPU Blocks
- Laing DDC3.25 + 2x Laing D5 Vario Pumps
- Swiftech MCRES-Rev2
- HWL Black Ice GTX 360 rad
- HWL Black Ice GTS 280 rad
- 4x Misc 120-240 Rads
- 11x Delta Fans (7x 120x38mm 2200-4500rpm up to 133cfm 14.25mmH2O, 4x 120x25 2400-4800rpm up to 155cfm 15.2mmH2O)
- 5x NIDEC Fans (120x38mm 0.98amps 11.5-13.2V, up to 4250rpm 151cfm 22.32mmH2O)
- >50x Misc 80x15/25/38mm, 92x25/38mm, 120x12/25/38mm, 140x25mm Fans
I have been looking for two things: a Motherboard and a GPU (or pair of GPU's), and while this will be a Home Server/Media Server, it will also function as a F@H box. I am thinking that 2x 9800GTX+'s or 2x GTX260 216core's in SLI would suffice, but perhaps not? I don't know much about the C2D/C2Q era MB's/GPU's....
I have been looking at the following boards:
- Asus P5Q Premium (huge amount of connections, would allow 4x GPU's for F@H or 3xGPU + 1x RAID Card)
- Asus Maximus Extreme
- Asus Rampage Extreme
For GPU's, I've been really considering the following, from lowest cost to highest:
- 2-3x 8800GTS 512MB (G92)
- 3x 8800GTX's
- 2-3x 9800GT's
- 2-3x 9800GTX+'s
- 2x 9800GTX2's
- 2-3x GTX260(216core)-to-GTX295's
- 2-3x GTX460's-to-GTX480's
Anyone remember enough about this older hardware to help me out?