Intel P35 or Intel 975X

[Dunwa]

I'm in a bit of a quandary at the moment. I'm going to build a HTPC and use one of the Shuttle barebones (..it's the only on that will fit in the cabinet.)

There are two models on the market :

SD39P2 : €419
SP35P2 Pro : €391

Putting aside the fancy gadgets (Finger print recognition etc.) the only difference I can se between the SD35 and SD39 is the Intel P35 Express board on the SD35 and the Intel 975X on the SD39.

So what would be your recommendation ?

 

[booyaka]

The Intel P35 is the slightly newer chipset and supports more of the newer cpu's that are being released.

It's also cheaper!! - personally go with the P35 chipset one. Not much in it really and in all likelyhood will make little/no difference for a media centre other than support more of the higher end cpu's\ram.

 

[Spinke]

Go for the P35, new chipset with (slightly) increased performance and improved featureset. No point buying old tech .

 

[Tejstar]

I agree, go for the P35 then you'll also be able to upgrade to the upcoming Penryn CPU's later on down the line.

 

[Dunwa]

P35 it is then, thanks for the advice. I was just confused as to how the newer model with more features could be cheaper

 

[Tejstar]

The Intel 975X chipset is meant to be the for the high-end enthusiast market.

 

[Dunwa]

Just when I thought it was clear they now announce a new model the SX38P2 Pro, based on the X38 Motherboard.

So how does that compare to the P35 ?

 

[Tejstar]

They will feature support for PCI-E 2.0 for extra bandwidth and also support dual x16 PCI-E. These, like the P35, will support Intel's upcoming Penryn CPUs. The prices though look like they will be quite expensive when they make an appearance at the end of the month.

 

[sibeer]

The 35 is basically the replacement for the 965 mainstream Intel chipset. the 38 is mroe of a replacement for the 975. In the real world most users will not notice any difference between any of these chipsets with the current Core2Duo lineup.