GIGABYTE P67A-UD7-B3 or ASUS Maximus IV Extreme B3

[Sperm_Inside]

Hello there,

So 1 of these 2 boards is going to be mine, then I will wait for i7 2600K to arrive to my country.

I've seen/read reviews on both, but I'm leaning more toward the ASUS, especially cause of the EFI bios since there aren't too many differences between the 2 boards.


However, the GB board just arrived in my country and the shipment is most likely going to be wiped out in a day or 2, should I get it now and forget about ASUS or wait for the Maximus 4 B3 to arrive?


Also, let me know if there is any reason why I should or shouldn't get either of them.

 

[ortoklaz]

They are both great MB's and can't go wrong here ..the only major difference i can see is UEFI bios,other than that both are flagship mobos and offer similar options and lets not forget the MSI Big Bang Xpower,if you looking for multiple GPU configuration all of the above will do great

 

[Sperm_Inside]

Thanks for the reply, there is also the "weird position" of the USB3 front panel header in the Maximus which makes it too far from the USB3 front panel connector.

And the cost difference between these 2 MBs is pretty big in my country, the GB board is a confirmed 396$ in my country while the Asus is going to be at least 465$ when it arrives (and the price might go up cause it hasn't been confirmed yet)...

The decision would have been much easier if they both were available to me right now (despite the price difference in that case), but only GB is, while the Asus is going to take about a month to arrive and that's not even a confirmed date, so I could wait a month and not get the ASUS board and by that time the GB board would be sold out as well, so I would end up with non of them.

But then again, the UEFI bios is totally worth it, damn you GB, why the hell didn't you get something like it..

 

[ortoklaz]

I think Gigabyte took the wait and see approach on this one and at list show up, unlike EVGA (UEFI are not really bios as mention by some Asus rep.)
but yeah if you looking for P67 platform this two are top tier
P.S sorry for the typo , I was going to mention second gen. MSI Big Bang Marshal and not XPower

 

[Sperm_Inside]

Yeah, GB usually does that, have you heard any news about UD9? All I could find is pictures about it from last year (which also said it was supposed to get released at the end of 2010 and no info at all, not even on their site, maybe they are waiting to implement something like UEFI in it? I would just hate the idea of buying the UD7 now to see UD9 released a while later with the one thing I mostly want (UEFI) which isn't in UD7.

MSI boards have always had a bad rep here in Egypt, also in the last couple of years I never seen their previous flagship boards in my market, only their Nvidia cards hold a good rep (especially the GTX580 Twin Frozr II) which I might get if not Galaxy Acrtic ~I asked about that in another thread today, join the discussion there if you could ~.

 

[ortoklaz]

how long you plan on keeping this new build and how many GPU's?

 

[ortoklaz]

ok..i read your OP in the other thread..if you plan on no more then SLI (two cards) and single monitor why not the other models available , the difference between x8/x8 and x16/x16 is around 2~3 % in FPS,the advantage of Maximus IV is x8/x16/x16 for TRI SLI

 

[Bigmac80]

Both are very good probably the best motherboards. But if i was to choose i'd go with the Asus Maximus because of the the new bios. I think gigabyte is still using the old style bios. But you can't go wrong with both.

 

[Sperm_Inside]

how long you plan on keeping this new build and how many GPU's?

Not less than 2 years, more would be better, also planning on using 2 GPUs but for now going to stick with 1.

I put a certain budget for this build which I'm never going to do 1 as big as it again, my current pc cost was around 900$ when I got it last year (it's AMD/AMD setup, I wish I never left the dark side), the new build ranges from 2500-3400$ (including case and monitor, not sure on LCD 120Hz with 3D or LED without 3D yet).

ok..i read your OP in the other thread..if you plan on no more then SLI (two cards) and single monitor why not the other models available , the difference between x8/x8 and x16/x16 is around 2~3 % in FPS,the advantage of Maximus IV is x8/x16/x16 for TRI SLI

I didn't choose them for that, I know there is barely any difference between x8/x8 and x16/x16, I chose these boards cause of the size of the GTX580, Galaxy and Asus 580 models take 3 expansion slots.

Both are very good probably the best motherboards. But if i was to choose i'd go with the Asus Maximus because of the the new bios. I think gigabyte is still using the old style bios. But you can't go wrong with both.

The bios is the only thing that forced me to make this thread xD)

 

[ortoklaz]

I was in the similar situation this year (want it to upgrade really bad) i opted not to go for top end mainstream ,specially with the new extreme socket/platform around the corner and got very nice and capable set up for the fraction of the price and "maybe" will upgrade in a year or two ,thrust me once you see the new enthusiast platform,you will be aching to have one.Save your money..you can get sweet MB and single top of the line GPU and SSD for now,good luck

Edit; with all the money you save ,you can get super nice LC set up and pick up the GPU of your choice instead one of the behemoth cards you trying to get

 

[Sperm_Inside]

Well, to tell the truth, I'm 1 of those who ache for the next big thing (although I never had the previous big thing in the 1st place), however I never really had the resources to do it at the time and I just accepted what I already had, but also at the same time I'm sick and tired of upgrading a whole chunk of my pc every year, from a low-end pc to med-end, then a year later a low-end to med-end and so on.. I just want to get something that would last a couple of years without worrying about upgrading anything major, I'm okay with additional HDDs or Ram, but every year I usually need to upgrade the MB, CPU and GPU which usually means the PSU as well. That's a whole lot of money wasted every year on something that lasts a year.

I just want 2 years to pass by without spending any serious money on upgrades, you know what I mean?

But I have to thank you for reminding me of the whole "I want it big" nightmare which never ends, I might consider picking up a lower grade Asus board in that case (I already read different reviews about all their P67 boards).

I also have to know, don't you like the 580? or what did you mean exactly?

 

[ortoklaz]

Well, to tell the truth, I'm 1 of those who ache for the next big thing (although I never had the previous big thing in the 1st place), however I never really had the resources to do it at the time and I just accepted what I already had, but also at the same time I'm sick and tired of upgrading a whole chunk of my pc every year, from a low-end pc to med-end, then a year later a low-end to med-end and so on.. I just want to get something that would last a couple of years without worrying about upgrading anything major, I'm okay with additional HDDs or Ram, but every year I usually need to upgrade the MB, CPU and GPU which usually means the PSU as well. That's a whole lot of money wasted every year on something that lasts a year.

I just want 2 years to pass by without spending any serious money on upgrades, you know what I mean?

But I have to thank you for reminding me of the whole "I want it big" nightmare which never ends, I might consider picking up a lower grade Asus board in that case (I already read different reviews about all their P67 boards).

I also have to know, don't you like the 580? or what did you mean exactly?

that is exactly what I'm saying ,the P67 will be med-end in about 6~7 months..why you want to go all out right now?
the price of the new second gen. Intel CPU's is just about right as of now, which make sense for only light upgrade,
if you choose 25K/200$ MB (best bang for your buck) ..you will only take 400$ hit and still be on top of the game .This not the best time for "future proof build"
as for 580..two thumbs up,what i meant to say ..some of this cards come with super size heatsinks and make it difficult to
pic the MB,that's when LC comes handy (you can invest here and all other components but don't go crazy on CPU/MB for now)

 

[Sperm_Inside]

I see what you mean now, thanks, but then again, I guess there is no running away from yearly upgrades -.- .

About LC, I really really don't want to go into that route, 1 mistake or malfunction would fry the whole thing, plus the LC options here in Egypt are mostly limited/outdated, because enthusiasts over here prefer high-end air coolers so the companies in our market get products according to the high demands.

If I decide to pick a lower grade Asus with 2 pcie instead, I would most likely get the MSI Twin Frozr II version of GTX580, since it only takes 2 expansion slots which would allow me to SLI it later or add a physx card instead (I love eye candy, 1 of the few reasons why I'm switching back to Intel/Nvidia).

Either way, even after I settle with any of them, I'm still unable to decide a monitor (which I mentioned in my other thread)

 

[asantesoul]

if your gonna upgrade now, get the maximus iv extreme...it is robust! It actually has everything you could possibly need...I've owned both the UD7 and maximus.. and while they are both great boards...the maximus shines with me for the additional features..but, honestly...the UD7 is still a good board to go with..and despite the 1155 socket being mainstream, these two boards that put in work! The M4E has the NF200 chip to allow for the 16x bandwidth as far as I know.. Additionally, the mainstream P67 chipset will be getting Ivy bridge 22nm processors towards the end of the year..so, there's some room for growth

 

[ortoklaz]

all this mainstream/enthusiast crap is just marketing skim by Intel and the way to suck you dry, thanks to the P67 fiasco now you get the opportunity to get IB for the same socket and yes.."some room" for growth

 

[Sperm_Inside]

Doesn't that apply to any or at least most boards with the P67 chipset?

 

[asantesoul]

get a maximus and be happy ! I assure you..you will feel like a million bucks

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply, there is also the "weird position" of the USB3 front panel header in the Maximus which makes it too far from the USB3 front panel connector.

And the cost difference between these 2 MBs is pretty big in my country, the GB board is a confirmed 396$ in my country while the Asus is going to be at least 465$ when it arrives (and the price might go up cause it hasn't been confirmed yet)...

The decision would have been much easier if they both were available to me right now (despite the price difference in that case), but only GB is, while the Asus is going to take about a month to arrive and that's not even a confirmed date, so I could wait a month and not get the ASUS board and by that time the GB board would be sold out as well, so I would end up with non of them.

But then again, the UEFI bios is totally worth it, damn you GB, why the hell didn't you get something like it..

Nothing fancy here. UEFI BIOS feature is nothing but a cosmetic feature of the Asus motherboard. I been using an Asus Maximus IV Extreme with B3 Stepping for about 2 weeks now & so far is very satisfied of the motherboard's performance. The UEFI BIOS feature won't make your PC overclock better. It's just something better to look at than the traditional BIOS setting.

I been a Gigabyte motherboard user prior upgrading to Sandy Bridge. I choose the Asus Maximus IV Extreme motherboard for I think it covers everything when overclocking. It got an 8-phase CPU power, a 3-phase Memory power as well as an add-on 12 volts GPU power via Molex connector.

Gigabyte is a strong contender too. It got 24 power phases for the CPU. The Ultra Durable feature is very nice. The motherboard also looks cooler than the Asus motherboard. It overclocks well so much like the Asus motherboard. Between the two in benchmark performance, the Asus motherboard wins but by a very slight margin that it's not really that significant.

If I were you, you get what's readily available now rather than waiting. That means getting the Gigabyte motherboard now.

 

[Sperm_Inside]

I know they are pretty much alike, sometimes 1 has the top hands over the other, that's why I didn't ask about differences in features, cause at the end, this thread was about whether I should wait a month or more for something that might or might not arrive in time or something that is already available and will run out fast.

Thanks Cheaptrick.

 

[pyjamas]

BANG I'M SOLD................MAXIMUS IV EXTREME IT IS!!!!!!! for me anyway.