alright. i was thinking to get asus p5k. thend decided against it coz the Gigabyte P35-DS3L is cheaper n more value. keep in mind i dont intend to do overclocking.  
 
after going through the forums. i found many pple having problems with it.
 
1-varoius issues with on-board sound (wont work in xp).
2-various ossues with bios updates.  
3-some windows xp installation issues with sata hard drives.
4- im feeling negative vibes about this board.  
 
so should i stick to the asus. or i should get this one? im asking coz this whole RMA thing takes time, n i cant live without a pc. lol. n im really saved my ass to buy new pc. so im scared.

I am also thinking about buying this board. You get problems with all boards really.
 
The on-board sound is awful, but so is 90% of other boards with on-board sound. So I wouldnt worry about it, and instead just buy a sound card. For me I have a SB2 ZR, so its all good.
 
Dont know too much about the sata harddrive problems, but I think alot of boards have problems as they need drivers prior to installing the OS. Correct me if im wrong.    
 
The IDE connector is also stupidly placed, but its nothing major.
 
Other than those few minor setbacks its amazing on a price/performance scale
 
Flawless comments from newegg users
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] g=4&Page=2

I liked the DS4 a little better. Its got firewire and more sata connectors and plus an additional PCIe but it doesnt run at 16x.

and it comes at the double price of the DS3L.

Buy it. I have a P35 DQ6 and I suspect they are based on the same BIOS. As far as loading the OS on SATA, I don't know for sure, but I suspect that most of the problems are with a PATA CD/DVD. Just buy a SATA DVD. If that's not the case then you would know, being as how you are more familiar with these complaints. I don't know if the audio chip is the same but I suspect it is. It works fine for me, although I'm only using two channel. I've updated my BIOS twice, I think, with no problems at all. I used the Q-flash and a floppy. Don't ever use the windows utility for a BIOS update no matter what mobo.

I haven't seen these DS3L problems, of coarse I haven't been looking for them. I have read alot of reviews that were positive. There are always issues with most mobo's, most are operator issues, but not always. I do as much research on a mobo before purchasing, including asking in different forums. Another idea is to look at the Abit IP35 mobo, which has about the same options as the DS3L.
$97 shipped - $20 MIR = $77!!!
ABIT IP35-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail  
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813127031

99.9% of the problems I have seen posted were user error. The other .1% appeared to be bad boards. The XP on board audio problem is the same for both boards. You have to go to Windows update and DL a patch for HD audio. You then go to the Realtek site and DL the appropriate drivers for best results.
 
You should also ignore the Crucial Ballistix fanboys. It is excellent ram, but can be finicky on Gigabyte boards. Stick with Corsair XMS2, or OCZ Platinum Rev. 2.0. Both work extremely well. Ballistix works well on ASUS boards as does the Corsair.
 
My DS3L has been running flawlessly since April, and posted on the first try. It ran XP for the first 2 weeks or so before being permanently switched to Linux. I do not do Windows any more.

ic, so ill need to install the patch for HD audio before hand. will it be hard to find?  
 
i checked the QVL list of gigabyte for the RAMS. n it tested with kingstone. so ill get kingstone. (coz i dont intend to overclock).
 
is it important to update the bios? i read the whole manual of how to update, using the q-flash n all. but is it important?
 
@lunyone. i saw the users rating in newegg. it seems the ratings gigabyte board got are better than Abit ones.

First, you need to take the comments on Newegg with a grain of salt. You need to get a feel, based on the post, whether the poster has a clue or not.
 
Update the BIOS if it repairs or gives you functionality that you need. Updating the BIOS can brick your mobo and should be given all due respect. Be careful... be very careful. I determined the first two updates for the DQ6 were worth the risk. You will have to make that determination on your own, base on the current BIOS revision and what they have to offer. As Far as ram, I don't know how much money you have but the Crucial Ballistix 2GB DDR2 800 has worked flawlessly on three DQ6 systems with OC to 3G/1333 divider @ 4:5 800. I don't know what the specs of your build is but the P35 gives a trouble free OC to 3G/1333 and if you don't employ it you are loosing out on the easiest OC in the history of computing. You could still achieve this with DDR2 667, but the price difference is very small.
 
List your complete specs and let's take a look, or post a link to the thread if you already have one.  

u make me cry, im noob in overclocking. and im on budget. but here is my system that i thought of. (keep in mind that im not living in USA, so the currency exchange will make a difference for price. 1USD=3.5RM
 
Quad Core Q6600 - 940RM
Gigabyte P35-DS3L - 355RM
2 x Kingstone value rams 1GB - 2*90 = 180RM
Western D Sata harddisk 250GB 8MB cache - 220RM
Sony DVDWR - 120RM
8800GT (or the new ATI. lets ssume the nvidia for now) - 900RM
PSU any tier three from http://www.tomswiki.com/page/Tiere [...] ngs?t=anon that has 550W - 300 to 350RM
Casing no idea. but something in range of 100-200RM
LCD 19 inch range of -600/700RM.
 
taking account most expensive total is 3965 - (sigh my budget is 3500. i saved for almost 4 months now.)
 
n i looked for   Crucial Ballistix 2GB DDR2 800 prices, i couldnt find any in major shops in here (malaysia). if u wanna look up tho i know im being greedy u can check the components/price list in here http://images.lowyat.net/pricelist/pczone.pdf
 

It all looks good. What is that Kingston RAM model exactly. You should at least get the 667 so that you can OC to 1333FSB and get the free OC to 3G. I assume you are going with the stock cooler, not my favorite but since you are already over budget it will do. Just be sure you mount it outside the case and be careful that all of the pins lock in into the mobo firmly. You might even pick up some arctic silver 5, wipe off the stock thermal material and apply the AS5.

sorry, i forgot to mention that in the ram. it is kingstone value rams ddr2 667.
 
can i OC value rams to 1333FSB without burning them out? AND. can i OC CPU with stock fans? or ill need to buy cpu can (in range 10-20USD)
 
BTW, i wont be the one puting the components to gether. ill let the shop to put everything. yes, i have put components by myself. but again shop pple build endless pcs. so i think they will do it better than me anyways.

I see you said the RAM is on the list, then it's good. It will allow an OC to 3G/1333 no problem.
 
The stock heatsink is another story. $20.00 USD doesn't buy you much. You might go with the stock HS for budget purposes and maybe OC to 2.8 and check the temps under load. If it appears to be running cool enough you can go higher. Then later pick up a nice HS.
 
A lot depends on how well your case expels the hot air and what the room temp is. You should be able to leave the speed step enabled and remain stable with an OC at or below 3G, this will help cooling when you are not stressing the CPU. In games this will probably not kick in and your CPU will be running at the x9 multiplier and will get hotter. You just need to get CoreTemp and use it to monitor the temps while running Prime95 25.5. This will let you know if the OC is too high to be effectively cooled by the stock HS given the other parameters mentioned earlier.  
 
Also, you may be able to lower the CPU voltage (Vcore) after you get a stable OC. I lowered mine from 1.3 to 1.275 and dropped about 11C under load. That's a lot.
 
If your ambient (room) temps are too high, there is no law that says you have to OC. You will still have plenty of power. Check temps and keep the CPU relatively cool, and wait to get an aftermarket HS.

i read the the guide to C2Q overclocking. BUT yet i dont understand ur 3G/1333. what does it mean? i know 3G means 3Ghz cpu speed. which is 9 x 333Mhz. but what do u mean with that 1333?

1333 is the effective front side bus 333 quad pumped - 333 core clock x 4 = 1332 (1333)

The ram will actually be running 667  333 double pumped - 333 core clock x 2 = 666 (667) running 1:1

last question. will the mobo overclock the processor without frying itself? i mean the north bridge? this will be first time overclock. so bare with me. n will the mobo handle the overclocking overall?

never mind. i have found the answer in different threads.

I can't tell you about the p35, but I got the ga-p31-ds3l and it's crap.  
1) The audio drivers found on the cd were NOT correct. Nor were those found on the Gigabyte website. I had to go to the chip manufacturer's (Realtek) website and get those instead...installed without a flaw.
2) The hard drive access mode should NEVER be set to AUTO. My two hard drives (one 500GB Sata and one 300GB Pata) were SCRAMBLED and I could not read my data off them after a few minutes' usage. I had to use a specialized software to recover data from them, and the software told me to change the disk access mode because the detected disk physical parameters were different from the actual ones. You need to set LBA for drives larger than 120 GB.
3) PCI won't work on my board. Period. That's a defective motherboard but everyone wold tell you to check the power supply, update the bios, and other confusing advice just to avoid admitting the simple truth.
4) Gigabyte tech support is CRAP. They answer your emails typically in seven days and the answers are so generic and useless and preformatted.

[quotemsg=1743248,18,299536]2) The hard drive access mode should NEVER be set to AUTO. My two hard drives (one 500GB Sata and one 300GB Pata) were SCRAMBLED and I could not read my data off them after a few minutes' usage. I had to use a specialized software to recover data from them, and the software told me to change the disk access mode because the detected disk physical parameters were different from the actual ones. You need to set LBA for drives larger than 120 GB.
 
what is this LBA thing? i never heard of it.