Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L

[nbaptista007]

What you think of this board?The seller told me was OK,not so good if I was a gamer or if I wanted to do overclock,but for Net,iTunes and watch dvd´s is ok!
http://www.gigabyte.com.pt/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2611
Or should I buy a better model,like Asus P5K?

[jdrom17]

If you are actually going to use the onboard graphics and not a stand-alone video card, then its an okay motherboard.

If you have a video card already, then you'd want to look at the ASUS P5K series or Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3 series.

[nbaptista007]

Well,I have an Asus 8500 GT ,so I want to keep the video card!What is the problem of disable the on board on the Bios and use the 8500 GT instead?

[jdrom17]

Well,I have an Asus 8500 GT ,so I want to keep the video card!What is the problem of disable the on board on the Bios and use the 8500 GT instead?
Well to me that's wasteful. You still have a northbridge chipset which has the integrated graphics in it as well. You can get a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L for under $100USD which uses the much better P35 chipset and has no integrated graphics.

[nbaptista007]

OK,thank you!Indeed you are right.I think the seller was trying just to make another sale!Board,processor ,more ram!:curse:

[AKHandyman]

You gotta watch out for those computer sales men, they can be downright sneaky ... :p

[jdrom17]

OK,thank you!Indeed you are right.I think the seller was trying just to make another sale!Board,processor ,more ram!:curse:
I would never take a seller's advice. I'd rather take the advice of people on forums like this since they are more honest and don't really care how much money you spend as they aren't profiting from it.

[nbaptista007]

If you have a video card already, then you'd want to look at the ASUS P5K series or Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3 series.
However,if I decide I want a dual core processor,should I get a Gigabyte or Asus board?The Asus P5K(120 Euros) costs more 10% than the Gigabyte P35(100 Euros),but I have no idea about Gigabyte quality.I know I can trust on Asus,but I am not sure about Gigabyte! :-
I know that Abit,DFI,Asus are reliable...AsRock,for example is a low cost brand!

[jdrom17]

However,if I decide I want a dual core processor,should I get a Gigabyte or Asus board?The Asus P5K(120 Euros) costs more 10% than the Gigabyte P35(100 Euros),but I have no idea about Gigabyte quality.I know I can trust on Asus,but I am not sure about Gigabyte! :-
I know that Abit,DFI,Asus are reliable...AsRock,for example is a low cost brand!
The Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L does NOT have RAID support, it still has SATA2 though, just no RAID. I believe all the P5K boards have RAID.

Build quality wise, they are probably pretty equal. Many people have the DS3L and many people have the P5K. They will both support dual and quad core processors so that really isn't an issue.

[nbaptista007]

OK,Gigabyte P35 is my choice!And the processor?A friend of mine told me that Dual Core was too weak for this kind of board
http://www.intel.com/support/pt/processors/pentiumdualcore/sb/cs-026774.htm
I can get it for less than 80 Euros,but a Intel Core 2 Duo 4500 or 4600 might do the job,no?I remenber you I´ve an AMD 3200+ ,so to change it must be a better one!:yeah?:

[jdrom17]

I'd go for the E2180 or E4400. They both run at 2.0GHz, the only difference is the cache which brings a good amount of performance if you can afford it.
E2180 has 1MB and the E4400 has 2MB.

I'd also grab an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro if you can to use instead of the stock Intel cooler. This should allow you to easily overclock either processor to get some additional speed for free :)

[nbaptista007]

And what about the chipset G31?I know that P35 is better for overclock,but I can get this board for a good price!
http://www.asus.com.tw/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=563&l4=0&model=1808&modelmenu=1
Asus P5K PL. well,is a P5K too,and is recent!
I´m not a player,so I´m not looking after extreme perfomance,just stability!:woot:

[jdrom17]

And what about the chipset G31?I know that P35 is better for overclock,but I can get this board for a good price!
http://www.asus.com.tw/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=563&l4=0&model=1808&modelmenu=1
Asus P5K PL. well,is a P5K too,and is recent!
I´m not a player,so I´m not looking after extreme perfomance,just stability!:woot:
Never read anything on that board so I don't know. I'd stick to P35 chipset still though. And Core 2s overclock rather easily so you should definitely consider it, even just a small amount.

[nbaptista007]

And Core 2s overclock rather easily so you should definitely consider it, even just a small amount.

Yes,indeed!I´ve been talkink with a friend of mine that has a 2160 and he told me with a good board is very easy to increase the speed of this processor because of the low cache ! He told me that a P35 board gives more stability to the OC!He argues that 4500 and 8400 are not so easy to overclock,because of the higher cache!I don´t know if is it true or not!

[jdrom17]

Yes,indeed!I´ve been talkink with a friend of mine that has a 2160 and he told me with a good board is very easy to increase the speed of this processor because of the low cache ! He told me that a P35 board gives more stability to the OC!He argues that 4500 and 8400 are not so easy to overclock,because of the higher cache!I don´t know if is it true or not!
True for the 4500 perhaps, but not for the 8400. The 8400 is based on new 45nm technology so thus it runs cooler meaning you can OC higher.

The E2200 and E4500 would be better to compare though as they both run at 2.2GHz stock, just the difference in cache sizes.

[Zefram]

And what about the chipset G31?I know that P35 is better for overclock,but I can get this board for a good price!
http://www.asus.com.tw/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=563&l4=0&model=1808&modelmenu=1
Asus P5K PL. well,is a P5K too,and is recent!
I´m not a player,so I´m not looking after extreme perfomance,just stability!:woot:

G31 is an Intel chipset with build-in graphics.

Avoid it if you dont intend to use the on-board graphics ;)


Yes,indeed!I´ve been talkink with a friend of mine that has a 2160 and he told me with a good board is very easy to increase the speed of this processor because of the low cache ! He told me that a P35 board gives more stability to the OC!He argues that 4500 and 8400 are not so easy to overclock,because of the higher cache!I don´t know if is it true or not!
That was an issue on AMD K8 processor, as for C2d's, the cache size have less impact on the overclocking results.
8400 is based on the newer 45nm cores, plus bigger 6MB cache. A definite must-have if you had enough fund, that's it :D

[nbaptista007]

8400 is based on the newer 45nm cores, plus bigger 6MB cache. A definite must-have if you had enough fund, that's it :D
For my needs , I just need a 2200 or a 4500!:-0)
I´m not a player,neither a enthusiast,I just want a stable system and some perfomance,and why not do processor OC ?

[nbaptista007]

Well,I´ve bought the Gigabyte board!:-0)
Now I just need a processor and ram!:fighty:
Is it TwinMos all right for OC?

[nbaptista007]

Well,I´m buying E 21800 processor!It use less cache than E 4500,but I´m in a budget,cause I´ve got to buy processor,ram and board...:scared:

[nbaptista007]

Does the stock cooler support an overall increase of 10 or 20% increase on Mhz frequencies?I mean,it runs at 2.0Ghz and I want it to run at 2.4 Ghz!

[jdrom17]

Does the stock cooler support an overall increase of 10 or 20% increase on Mhz frequencies?I mean,it runs at 2.0Ghz and I want it to run at 2.4 Ghz!
It should I guess, depends on your case cooling though. You might want to consider an Arctic Freezer 7 Pro. They're only like $30 and work much better than the Intel one.

[Zefram]

Does the stock cooler support an overall increase of 10 or 20% increase on Mhz frequencies?I mean,it runs at 2.0Ghz and I want it to run at 2.4 Ghz!

I think that would be easy to reach....... giving that your motherboard chipset is kept cold (good casing airflow would help)

I think that cpu would go to >2.8Ghz on the stock cooler. Its base 2Ghz Core/800Mhz FSB would help it attain high-clockspeed. Since you buy a 1066MHz-FSB motherboard, overclocking the CPU to 1066mhz FSB (266mhz X4) would resulted in the CPU running at 2660Mhz (266mhz X 10 - CPU Multiplier).

Sorry if that is too technical, the point here is, you could get 2660Mhz without much problem ;)