I'm building a box with a Gigabyte mobo, a cheap one. I just can't decide between the older G31 chipset versus the G41. Both boards seem to be identical otherwise. I plan to stick a E5200 in there. Will I notice a real difference between the two? Is the G31 considered obsolete? The dollar difference is $12 between the two boards, but the G31 board has been around longer and has a more established reputation.
The only real difference I can see between the two is the G31 has a max RAM of 4GB, while the G41 can take 8GB. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_chipsets
I checked out that article and it seems the G41 supports DDR3. The motherboard however does not, so I guess there's no reason not to save money and go with the G31.
Well, the memory controller for pre-Nehalem processors are on the motherboard, so if the chipset supports it but the memory controller on the motherboard doesn't ... then, it doesn't make any difference. deltatux
Uh it doesn't say the G41 supports the Pentiums either, but I'm not sure as it's Wikipedia's info. Oh & the G41 has GMA X4500 graphics as opposed to GMA X3100 graphics. Can you link the two boards that would help. Assuming the G41 supports that processor then I'd go with that one. 12 dollars is a small price to pay if you can decode some HD video.
I think you're thinking of the Netburst processor. The E5200 is a Core processor and not a Netburst processor so it should work. deltatux
