I have gone to Asus' website and printed out the spec's, reviewed them and honestly other then the audio (which is minimal) I can't tell the difference between these boards. Am I missing something or do mobo manufactureres spend money on building and marketing a board that is almost identical to one in their own product-line.

How do you choose between the two if they are almost identical in every way (please skip the audio). I guess I would ask which one is better suited for a E8400 with an upgrade-path to Q9550.

You might want to consider an X38 board for those processors, but if you aren't in the market for one, then any P5K would be fine. "Premium" and "Deluxe" often have better options for overclocking as well as a better heatpipe cooling system on the board. Look at pictures to check for those differences as well. If you can afford a premium or deluxe P5K, then just spend a little extra for the maximus formula or something similar, like a P5E.

Just remember that all of these boards will require a bios update to even be able to boot up with an E8400 or Q9550. I had to borrow a friend's processor to flash my mobo before installing my E8400, but it was well worth it.

For that price I'd rather stick with a Abit IP35 Pro.

just be aware that the IP35 has had issues with the E8400, but they should have a stable bios version soon.

Hey Mike, I had a link about this very thing, but I'm thinking it's on another computer I have. It may sat nite before I can check. I'll send you a PM.

PM sent.