HELP: choosing between ASUS P5B Delux and ASUS P5N32-E SLI

[Gorgon]

Hello. I've ordered a MSI 975x Platinum PowerUp edition but I'm thinking about overclocking and so I was considering ordering one of these two motherboards instead:

ASUS P5B Delux

ASUS P5N32-E SLI

The first one has great reviews and seems like an excelent option, but P5N32-E SLI has a 680i chipset and supposedly great overclocking capability too. I wont be using SLI, but the chipset may make it worthwhile.

Opinions would be extremely welcome.

 

[IcY18]

Asus P5B Deluxe overclocks just as well as the 680i and will save you a few dollars to get either better ram/cpu/ or graphics card.
The absolute only reason to get the 680i is if your going to be doing SLi, but then you're talking major dollars of investment.

 

[IcY18]

that board also costs $260, once again there is absolutely no point in buying either the Xpress 3200 or 680i chipset boards unless you plan on going SLi or crossfire respectively. but once again sli/xfire is a waste of money 90% of the time. so the best bet is to go for a p5b deluxe...

 

[Gorgon]

What about the Asus Commando?

Notice also that I'm having an E6600 (high multipler CPU), so shouldn't a 975 or 680i chipset be better? Also I don't want to pay very high preices, so thats why I mentioned the P5N32-E SLI.

Thanks

 

[Gorgon]

OK, I just ordered the ASUS P5B Delux instead of the MSI one. Thanks for all your imput.

 

[IcY18]

the asus p5b deluxe has been a more than capable board for numerous core 2 duo's, just because there is more expensive products that oc just a little bit better that doesn't warrant you to pay extra for it...remember its more about bang for your buck...and in either case your going to get to oc a e6600 to the same levels on a 680i or p5b

 

[IcY18]

what extra features does the xpress 3200 have that makes it almost $100 more than the asus p5b deluxe

 

[Gorgon]

I have to agree with IcY18 on this one. What I want is bang for the buck. I'm not going to overclock too much, just push the e6600 to 3.0 or 3.2 ghz maximum. The P965 is a more recent chip than the older 975x, and even beying marketed at an inferior level to the 975x chip its actually better in many aspects. My doubt was if the rd600 or 680i was really worth the extra buck, but I don't think so in my case. I don't need SLI/Crossfire.

The P5B Deluxe seems just what I need and I even saved some bucks from the MSI Platinum.

These are the items I ordered (except the change from the MSI to the ASUS):

Motherboard: ASUS P5B Deluxe

CPU: Core 2 Duo E6600

CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX

RAM: Corsair 2x1GB DDR2 800 XMS2 Twin2X2048-6400C4 EPP (4-4-4-12)

PSU: OCZ GameXstream 700W

HD: 2x Seagate Barracuda 120 GB 7200.9 SATA NCQ 8MB cache

Optical Drive: LG GSA H12N Super-Multi 18x Dual Layer

Case: Antec Nine Hundred

Monitor: LG L204WT (20.1'' Widescreen, 1680x1050)

Keyboard: Timber Wolf (Wolf Claw II)

Mouse: Logitech B85 UltraX

Speakers: Logitech X-230 (2.1)

Thanks for your imput.

 

[Inshali]

Gorgon if I may ask a question ?
on the 2 120 hdds are 60+ each and 8 catch wouldnt it be cheaper to go with a seagate 250 ,16 catch for 80$ ? just a thought

 

[IcY18]

Right cause the differences aren't significant enough to know off hand...

 

[Inshali]

I agree, or a 320gig for about $90 with 16mb cache, but if you guys wait, hybrid drives are on the horizon with 128mb cache and up

yes but the 64.000$ question is when and how much they will be and will we even have them main stream this yr?

 

[Gorgon]

The reason why I went for two 120GB instead of a big drive for the same price or cheaper was simply that I don't need much space. Its just for a few games (and I'm picky about what I play), for my university work (word, excel, stuff like that), and a few downloads. I was actually going to buy just oneHD 120 GB but I prefer to have another hard drive so that I can install another OS or simply to backup data in case I need to format the drive. So 240 MB in two separate HDs are better for me than just one 240 GB HD even if it actually comes cheaper. Also, I coudn't find 16 mb cache versions, so thats why I went for the 8 MB ones. Anyway, I woudn't pay more than 10 euros for the difference anyway.