Konklusion
Intel’s P35 ligner umiddelbart en succes på linje med P965 og umiddelbart er der heller ikke meget, der skiller de to fra hinanden. Løfter om højere FSB og forbedret headroom for overclockerne er naturligvis lovende, men generelt er der ikke den store grund til at gå efter P35, hvis man allerede sidder med et P965 bundkort – dertil er der simpelthen for lidt nyt.
Muligheden for eSATA og de ekstra SATA og USB-porte tæller positivt. Det samme gør supporten for dual-GPU løsninger. Vi glæder os til at teste Rapid Recovery funktionen og se om Turbo Memory nu for alvor gør sit indtog på desktoppen også.
Man savner dog features som WLAN understøttelse i chipsettet og de rygtede 10Gbit LAN ser også ud til at have været forsvundet undervejs i processen. Begge dele er dog rygtet i ICH10, der vil komme på markedet om et års tid. Her vil LPT porten og PS/2 portene også få deres endeligt, men til gengæld loves der en rigtig hardware-firewall – noget som NVIDIA uden held forsøgte med deres ActiveArmor i nForce3 og nForce4 generationerne.
Alt i alt er P35 et lovende produkt, hvor de mest spændende bliver hvor hurtigt DDR3 vil overtage fra DDR2. Og så at se NVIDIA’s og ATI’s modsvar – for slet ikke at snakke om X-udgaven af chipsettet…
UK Summary
The Intel P35appears to be a success of the likes of the P965 chipset, though in practicality, the two seems pretty close to one another. Promises of higher FSB frequency and improved headroom for overclockers are promising indeed. Still, it is difficult to recommend a change from a working P965 motherboard, to a P35 one.
The eSATA and extra SATA and USB connections are appreciated. So are dual-GPU solutions. I look forward to testing the Rapid Recovery function, and to try to find out whether Turbo Memory is something for consumers to take notice of.
Some features would really differentiate this chipset from its predecessor, such as WLAN support imbedded in the chipset, or the rumored 10Gbit LAN. Both might make an appearance with the ICH10 though, which should appear within a year. The LPT and PS/2 support should finally come to an end as well. Promises of hardware based firewall is present as well, something that NVIDIA has tried with little success with their ActiveArmor technology in their nForce3 and nForce4 chipsets.
Ultimately P35 is a chipset to look forward to. Of particular interest should be the time it will take DDR3 to take over market leadership from DDR2. Other things to look forward to are NVIDIA’s and ATI’s upcoming offerings, as well as the X edition of the Intel chipset.