Asus P5B Questions

[Bobsama]

Ok I was looking over at NewEgg and they were showing four different models of Asus P5B Motherboards...

ASUS P5B LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail ($126.99)
ASUS P5B-E LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail ($150.99)
ASUS P5B Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail ($179.99)
ASUS P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail ($194.99)

Now I understand the differance between the P5B Deluxe and the P5B Deluxe/WiFi-AP but what are the differances between the P5B, the P5B-E, and the P5B Deluxe?

What i need to know is the actual differances in value for overclocking? I need to know because I'm trying to decide for a budget build. I want to do the actual build with the E4300, the E6320 (4mb cache version), or the E6600 (after release of Allendale or when prices are cut 10%-30%). Any advice? I was going to go with either 667mhz or 800mhz memory.

 

[pignoli]

Well, the E and deluxe versions are supposedly better for overclocking and probably have more options geared towards it in the bios, but I'm at over 3ghz stable with my e6400 on a vanilla p5b. Memory: depends how much you want to overclock - if you want to take the fsb over 333mhz, it's worth getting the 800mhz stuff, if you're not going to go over 333 there's no point spedning the extra.

 

[kukito]

The P5B-E and above include the ICH8R southbridge with RAID support. The Deluxe models have two PCIe X16 slots for dual video cards with Crossfire support. Not sure about differences in overclocking potential.

 

[Bobsama]

I'm thinking of P5B-E motherboard and C2D E4300. Could I change the FSB:RAM ratio? I want to use DDR2 667 but overclock beyond a 333MHz FSB. E4300 is said to be made for overclocking... and its 800mhz FSB see a good boost to 1333FSB or more. It won't be much different then C2D E6300; both will be similar though the E4300's overclocking will be much better.

 

[shapkahead]

The P5B-E and above include the ICH8R southbridge with RAID support. The Deluxe models have two PCIe X16 slots for dual video cards with Crossfire support. Not sure about differences in overclocking potential.

I've posted this elsewhere, but I have to keep dispelling the myth since ASUS is delinquent in updating its ads. The P5B-E uses the ICH8 southbridge, not the ICH8R. I ordered the motherboard, fired it up, discovered the wrong southbridge chip, contacted ASUS, and returned the motherboard.

ASUS admitted that the boards are supposed to be manufactured with the ICH8. It's a misadvertisement that is all over the place--I haven't seen it correctly advertised anywhere.

My board was the first revision, but I don't believe they got honest for the second one, either.

My two bits: go for the P5N-E SLI. It's cheap and very overclockable, and it has plenty of features for a midrange board.

 

[kukito]

Thanks for the information. That is quite shocking since their own product page has not been corrected. This is a board that I would recommend to someone needing Intel Matrix RAID but not dual graphics. Amazing how something like this has not been addressed. I even checked the UK and Spain sites. All list the ICH8R. But since everything in this world seems to be upside down lately I have to trust you instead of ASUS.

 

[Bobsama]

I'll look at it... I don't think I'll use dual graphics unless when the DX10 cards come out that I buy a cheap GF 8200/8300 and use a GF 8600 or something. I don't have cash for a GF 8800 unless somehow I got a huge inheritance... which I doubt.

I don't know when I do my build... -_- either when I got enough cash or when I complain enough about not being able to get descent FPS or DX10 for the games I want to play. I'll get a new computer sometime... hopefully in the next few months.

What I don't like about P5N-E SLI is the onboard audio... i want a full 7.1 setup, though I will not pay out my ears for some X-Fi from Soundblaster; improvements in quality do not outweigh price. I'll wait for more nForce 650i boards with all the audio stuff on it...

Will Intel chipsets support the Physics stuff on next-gen videocards? I won't shell out $200 for some over-rated and under-used PPU, though once nVidia and ATI start using them, it'll be a bit more mainstream. I want a cheap card for PCI or PCI-e x1.


Right now I'm thinking Asus 5B-E.