CPU/Mobo G31 or a G41 ?

Superbad

Superbad

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One of my friends motherboard conked off. It was a branded acer with 2gb ram 7300gs and intel E2180
The prices for gigabyte g31 and asus g41 is around 2300.
I dont know the price of gigabyte g41 though.
Of the two which one would be better?
From the specifications there is nothing to suggest any great difference.
If there is any difference please let me know.
Thanks in advance :)
 
The Intel G41 chipset integrated Intel GMA X4500 GPU, compared to its G31 predecessor, not only improves 3D performance, but also supports Direct X 10, OpenGL 2.0 and other graphical standards for total gaming support. Additionally, the G41 chipset also supports faster hardware decoding, which decreases the loading on the CPU, and can run all current forms of HD movies. The Intel G41 also equips Intel Clear Video technology which improves the playback quality and level of detail for a better home theater experience.

G41 compared to previous generation’s specs

Intel® G41 chipset

Intel® G31 chipset
RAM support

DDR2 & DDR3

DDR2
Graphics tech support

DirectX 10

DirectX 9
Display ports

D-Sub, HDMI, DV I& Display Port

D-Sub
Movie media enhancement

Yes

No
Independent picture quality enhancement

Intel® Clear Video

No
 
but he has a graphic card expertvision 7300gso.
So do i suggest him to do away with the graphic card or considering the graphic card which one of them would better.
so if the graphic card is to be used g31 because it is cheaper
or the asus one posted by one of the user at prime quoted for 2300 would be better? since difference is negligible right?

aditya_reds said:
Prime Abgb: Purchased on thursday
Motherboard ASUS P5QPL AM 2300
Click to expand...
 
I got a gigabyte g41 recently for one of my cousin.

G41-2600/-

G31-2400/-

OT

which processor should i put on this mobo for casual usage.The processor should be vfm and overclockable.
 
So the asus g41 mentioned should do fine if bought from prime since one can avoid the services of rashi when buying from prime abgb right?
 
well i am not buying it for me. but my friend wants something which would cost least to him.
So thought of giving him a better chipset at around at about the same price of gigabyte g 31
also he wont be overclocking the processor since acer has packed in an FSP 250W power supply.
G31 overclocks well than G 41 is what i have learned from some forums i searched on google.
some users suggested to buy G41 to a G31 if the user watches HD porn :rofl:
 
I am able to reach 3.6 GHz on my e5400+G41 combo very easily so I will sugest to go for Gigabyte G41 board. Gigabyte G41 ES2L and E5400 is the best bet for LGA775 VFM solution.
 
read my E8200 OC thread and if any time you plan to go above 340 FSB G41 is not what you want. As it has a FSB wall at 340 and with certain modification you can go up to 350 MAX. I have used both on them.

multiply E5400 multiplier with 340 and see what max you can reach, if you are fine with that buy it, you want more get G31.

regarding display you'll not notice any difference at all and so with sound too.

RAM though G41 supports up to 8 gb, i supports that in 2 dimm only, so you have to install two 4 GB sticks which are way too costly.

One thing to consider if you are buying gigabyte G31 ES2l board is that it supports x8, 1.0 pcix only. But its not G31 limitation as My Intel G31 board was 1.1.

I hope this will help you decide.
 
ggt said:
well i am not buying it for me. but my friend wants something which would cost least to him.

So thought of giving him a better chipset at around at about the same price of gigabyte g 31

also he wont be overclocking the processor since acer has packed in an FSP 250W power supply.

G31 overclocks well than G 41 is what i have learned from some forums i searched on google.

some users suggested to buy G41 to a G31 if the user watches HD porn :rofl:
Click to expand...
Actually G41 cannot decode full HD, it has X4500... but G43 & above can which has X4500HD. This shouldn't be a problem though 'coz E5400 has sufficient juice for Full HD decoding... So do not worry about it... ;)

If you are more inclined towards half HD then every desktop cpu out there is more than capable now... & you are right that g31 interestingly OC's slightly more than g41 with lower power consumption. But g41 has Full x16 support + Gigabit LAN on almost every board. (though these are not priority & so is OC). On a tight budget better get g31 only...

Intel GMA - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Since you have a card- anything is ok. Get the cheaper one then. :)

Else those on onboard may benefit from the X4500, DX10 onboard gfx on the G41. :)

The G41 seems to have a newer/different Ethernet controller (LAN) and audio chipset- which may (or may not) be better.

The newer Revs of both the mobos, not sure if available in India, have the 'on/off charge' feature and maybe some other improvements.

A Gigabyte G41 DDR2 was 2.3K odd at Lammy when bought some weeks back and was paired with an E5400 that costed 2.8K approx.

There is a Gigabyte G41 DDR3 model too and that is few hundreds more pricier iirc.
 
Ya but the friend already has a intel E2180.
So any limitation with regard to compability to that cpu ?
He does not want to upgrade the cpu,just the motherboard though.
Regarding g31 running at 8x well my gigabyte g31 runs at 16x for my HD4670 so that should not be a problem i guess.
 
BIKeINSTEIN said:
The newer Revs of both the mobos, not sure if available in India, have the 'on/off charge' feature and maybe some other improvements.
Click to expand...

That on/off feature could be enabled in older version as well through BIOS update...
 
So according to preference he should opt for a gigabyte g41 es2l at 2.3k. Else buy a gigabyte g31 es2l right?
So i am now not suggesting him an asus to him :).
 
ggt said:
Ya but the friend already has a intel E2180.
So any limitation with regard to compability to that cpu ?
He does not want to upgrade the cpu,just the motherboard though.
Regarding g31 running at 8x well my gigabyte g31 runs at 16x for my HD4670 so that should not be a problem i guess.
Click to expand...
check motherboard official page for supported processor list also notice whether the processor is supported from initial BIOS or is included with some BIOS update.

regarding G31 and x8/x16, it depends from board to board as I already said, my intel was x16 though gigabyte is surly X8.
 
adi_vastava said:
check motherboard official page for supported processor list also notice whether the processor is supported from initial BIOS or is included with some BIOS update.

regarding G31 and x8/x16, it depends from board to board as I already said, my intel was x16 though gigabyte is surly X8.
Click to expand...
Not sure of what your are saying about running at 8x. Will post a gpu-z screenshot to confirm you that my g31 works at 16x.

EDIT: here it is

2r3w5ma.png


FYI i use a GIGABYTE G31 board and this was what i got on GPU-Z above.
 
^^ I could be wrong as I never used g31m-es2l personally but I researched on it before buying g41m-es2l and when I compared them on gigabyte site GIGABYTE - Product - Motherboard - Comparison Sheet. They mentioned that g31 X16 actually is X8.

can you just move your mouse over text in Bus Interface at GPUZ, it will show a tool tip 1, 1.1 or 2.0, can you see what it states there?
 
Well it states it as x16 v1.1.
Even though the 2.0 bandwidth concerns on a graphic card which are better than HD 4870 or GTX 280.that should be the least of the concerns. My friend owns a 7300gso.
 
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