ASUS P5E3 Deluxe (WiFi-AP @n)

The Intel X38 Express Chipset supports new technologies such as 1333 MHz System Bus speed, next-generation 45nm dual- and quad-core processors, and DDR3 memory to deliver increased system bandwidth and improved performance. This chipset also supports the PCI Express 2.0 interface to deliver two fully capable PCI x16 slots for maximum performance when operating in Crossfire mode.

In order to support the latest DDR2 and DDR3 memory types, the Memory Controller Hub (MCH) features wider buses that support Dual-Channel DDR2 at 533/677/800MHz, while official DDR3 memory support goes as high as 1333MHz. ASUS also supports native DDR3-1800 memory with the P5E3 Deluxe through overclocking. While the X38 chipset does support both DDR2 and DDR3 memory, only one type can be used at once and most motherboards will support one or the other, in this case the P5E3 Deluxe exclusively supports DDR3. Continue reading

Gigabyte X38T-DQ6

The Gigabyte X38T-DQ6 features the Intel X38 chipset along with the ICH9R south bridge chip. This means like all X38 motherboards, the X38T-DQ6 supports all 90nm/65nm LGA775 processors along with the Wolfdale and Yorkfield 45nm processors. This motherboard is also quad-core ready and can support a maximum of 8GB DDR3-1600 memory in dual-channel mode with Intel XMP support. One of the key features of the ICH9R south bridge is the Intel Matrix Storage Technology, which offers RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, RAID 5 and RAID 10 support on all six SATA (3.0Gbps) ports.

Other key chipset features include dual PCI Express 2.0 x16 ports, six PCI Express x1 ports, Gigabit LAN, twelve USB 2.0 ports and HD Audio. The X38T-DQ6 features four DDR3 memory DIMM slots with official support for 800/1066/1333/1600 memory and even 1800MHz memory via overclocking. The board features two PCIe x16 slots along with three of the possible six PCIe x1 slots. The other PCIe x1 lanes are dedicated to the onboard network controllers and an additional storage controller. Continue reading