P5B vs. P5KC

[shawngoldw]

My current system uses a P5B. I have 2gb of corsairs xms2 pc6400 ram, a core 2 duo e6400, an asus EN8800GT and a 250gb seagate barracuda. Right now I have the option of switching my P5B with a P5KC we have in the house. But I don't know if it's worth it. I'm not worried about having to reformat my computer, but from a purely hardware based perspective is it worth it? Any help would be great.

 

[Trialsking]

I have a somewhat similar system. The P5B really sucks for overclocking. I cant get mine past 2.63 on my e6300. Also when I added more RAM, I could not get my system to boot for like 2 days. If you want to overclock the P5B is not the board, but if you are running stock, not really a reason to switch.

 

[cmashwin]

Hi.. I am currently using the P5KC.... Its main advantage is to run both DDR2 and DDR3.. (separately ofcourse)... It overclocks very well.. and it has taken my 6600 quad to 3.6 on air!! although its right now at 3.2... Its overall a very ncie board... Got almost everything except wifi!!... I would recommend it anyday!!

 

[shawngoldw]

thanks, on the P5B you can't SLI because there is only one PCI-E slot but the P5KC has 2 but it is meant for crossfire. So I wouldn't be able to run... say... 2 8800gt's on it, correct? I really like the idea of the 2 ddr3 slots, it leaves me more room for upgrading. It is also capable of penryn? I think that's what its called anyway. I heard it will be able to support the new intel penryn cpus, whatever they may be. I'm leaning towards switching so I can have more room for upgrades. If anyone has any info that could tip the scale either way that would be great.

 

[dragonsprayer]

it will swap no problem

 

[enewmen]

I will worry more about the 8800GT. It may run slow in the P5B.
I am am having some strange PCIe BIOS problem.
I have no trouble overclocking the P5B. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE EXCELLENT DDR2 1066 and a very high-end cooler. Then you can get 3.2 to 3.6 easy.

The P5B doesn't SLI, only crossfire. Not a problem is you only use 1 card anyway.

The P5B can run a Yorkfield with a BIOS upgrade. If your 8800GT is running fast already then NO need to upgrade the motherboard.

 

[shawngoldw]

Well I don't have my 8800gt yet. I ordered it a bit a go and it was supposed to arrive either late last week or early this week, so I don't really know how well it would run. I'll look into it, problems like that are reason enough to switch.

 

[chiadog]

A minor consideration is that P5KC uses a Realtek audio chip versus the ADI on the P5B serie.