Difference between D945GCPE and D945GCNL Intel Desktop Boards and Download Drivers
Intel motherboards, D945GCPE and D945GCNL are currently the two top selling motherboards in Bangalore. D945GCPE costs Rs.2600($64) whereas D945GCNL costs Rs.3050($75) as on 10th June 2008. When I asked the difference between these two motherboards, the salesman told that you can add extra graphics card in D945GCNL and thats why it costs Rs.450($11) more. Though it's true as D945GCNL has two extra PCI Express slots where you can install extra graphics cards, it's not the only difference. In fact, there are few more major differences. Let's go one by one.
Audio:
D945GCPE has Realtek* ALC662 audio codec, whereas D945GCNL has RealTek RTL888* audio codec. D945GCPE's Realtek* ALC662 is a four Channel Audio (2 + 2) whereas D945GCNL's RealTek RTL888* is a 6-channel (5.1) audio subsystem using the Realtek ALC888* audio codec.
LAN Support:
D945GCPE has (10/100 Mbps)RTL8101E-GR*, whereas D945GCNL has RealTek Gigabit (10/100/1000 Mbps)RTL8111B-GR*.
PCI Express Slots:
D945GCPE does not have any additional PCI Express Slots. D945GCNL has one PCI Express x16 and one PCI Express x1 slot.
SATA:
This is one major drawback of D945GCPE motherboard. D945GCPE has only two SATA ports whereas D945GCNL has four SATA ports.
FSB Support:
D945GCNL does not have support for processors with 533 MHz FSB and supports only 1066 MHz and 800 MHz. D945GCPE supports all three, 1066/800/533 MHz.
So in the final analysis, D945GCNL is a better motherboard and cost effective too compared to D945GCPE. Just for extra Rs.450, it gives so many new features.
Drivers for Intel D945GCPE motherboard:
You can download the drivers(Graphics Driver, Audio Driver, LAN Driver, and Intel Chipset Driver) for Windows XP Professional from the below link:
Windows XP Drivers for D945GCPE
You can also download the latest BIOS update from the same link.
Drivers for Intel D945GCNL motherboard:
You can download the drivers(Graphics Driver, Audio Driver, LAN Driver, and Intel Chipset Driver) for Windows XP Professional from the below link:
Windows XP Drivers for D945GCNL
You can also download the latest BIOS update from the same link.
Pretty comprehensive. Thanks for posting.