Intel P35: Intel's Mainstream Chipset Grows Up
by Gary Key & Wesley Fink on May 21, 2007 3:45 PM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
G33 Express Chipset - June 4th
Since G33 will typically be embraced by OEMs rather than by AT readers, we did not test the one motherboard available at G33 launch. However, some of you will be interested in the block diagram of G33 for details of what is included in the chipset.
G33 will become the new OEM favorite, but the on-board Media Accelerator 3100 Graphics does not mean the chipset is stripped. The chipset can support either DDR2 or DDR3 memory, and an x16 PCIe slot is fully supported. Thanks to ICH9 G33 also supports twelve USB 2.0 ports, High Definition Audio, six serial ATA ports, an eSATA external SATA port, optional Gigabit LAN, and six PCIe x1 slots/lanes. Optional features include support for Intel Matrix Storage, Intel Turbo Memory (Robson), and Intel Quiet System technology.
G33 supports Intel Fast Memory Access coupled with the integrated Graphics, and Intel claims this will improve graphics and memory performance from 6% to 20% compared to the current 945G chipset. Keep in mind that 945G uses GMA 950 while G33 uses GMA X3100, so compared with G965 the differences may not be as great. Still, G33 is the entry-level IGP solution and it does represent an improvement over the previous entry-level 945G.
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Wesley Fink - Monday, May 21, 2007 - link
Early boards will be expensive, just like always. The prices will likely drop to the same levels as current P965 boards they replace, with a broad range for P35 boards from basic to "Asus Commando" level gaming boards. It is too early to be discouraged.Comdrpopnfresh - Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - link
I'm willing to bet we'll see them replacing the older boards quickly too. If intel and other manufacturers really want DDR3 to go through, you'll see DDR2 boards disappearing quickly. Its like what happened to s939. Basically the same chips were used for AM2, but the boards and chips quickly dried up and disappeared. The same can be said or PCI-e. In the beginning there wasn't much of a real world benefit, just the theoretical bandwidth increase. Because developments in AGP ceased, we might never know if the switch was necessary.Comdrpopnfresh - Monday, May 21, 2007 - link
If something other than NAND flash could be used, it would be very interesting to see a pci-e 1x board that can house DDR2 memory for use in turbo memory. That way, when people upgrade their ~35 boards to DDR3 when performance and price changes, the DDR2 can be used further. This would make a lot of sense too, because unlike Gigabyte's i-RAM device and logical ramdrives, the high speed, low latency properties of RAM could be used for turbo memory as a way around the 8gb limit of RAM on these cards. And since they are not used for storage, merely access, no redundancy on power supply is needed as with the i-RAM. Someone should start development on this...Comdrpopnfresh - Monday, May 21, 2007 - link
Why would the TDP on the P35 higher if it has no integrated video? Will third-party manufactures implement their own SLI into the P35 given that the reference model only had on x16 pci-e slot? Also, when can we expect to see pci-e2 and more than 4 dimm slots on intel mobos?yacoub - Monday, May 21, 2007 - link
Including a jumper to change the strap setting for the fsb is a nice feature on the MSi board. A little disappointed in the memory comparison test that that board had the lowest bandwidth and most latency. Is that something BIOS updates can improve or is that generally hardware (i.e. board design related)?Gary Key - Monday, May 21, 2007 - link
It is all BIOS tuning in regards to the MSI board. Our first results with the board had the memory performance being equal to the 945P boards. Two BIOS releases later and the improvements have been remarkable. I think MSI is about two BIOS spins behind ASUS and Gigabyte now. Gigabyte finally caught up but ASUS still has the better feature set and options in my opinion.michal1980 - Monday, May 21, 2007 - link
hardocp, seems to take a 180 different outlook on these boards. so werid.skaterdude - Monday, May 21, 2007 - link
What's so weird? Kyle is an extension of AMD's marketing department. He has not cared for Intel in a very long time, at least since he was caught cheating on some Intel benchmarks and was hung out to dry for it. Personally, it is alright to have a favorite company to root for but to do so in such an open and bias way is wrong if you are not running a company specific website. I would not have an issue at all if it was called HardAMD, at least you know what you are viewing is not tainted by free trips, booze, products, and general hostility against a company.
Back on subject....The P35 is a nice upgrade and it may not set the world on fire but it appears Intel listened and improved on a chipset they could have let ride for a lot longer. DDR3 will be interesting and at least the kinks will be worked out by the time X38 and the new processors get here. If I had not already bought a 965 board then P35 would have been the one. I am still miffed about not having a native IDE port as JMicron just plain sucks most of the time.
strikeback03 - Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - link
the P35 does not have native IDE either, and why use an IDE drive anyway?Spoelie - Monday, May 21, 2007 - link
ahum, AMD biased? After reading some of their recent gpu reviews, I thought it was the other way around... Check yourselfanyway, not a worthy upgrade, but a worthy new board. Which is what you could reasonably expect.