Asus P5Q Deluxe or Asus Maximus Formula II

[imported_Klump]

Hi guys. I'm planning to buy a new mobo and a new processor. The processor I don't have doubts and I will buy the Intel Core2Duo E8500 and the motherboard I really like the design of the Maximus Formula II P45...but I have a few doubts because the other P5Q Deluxe which is a very good and solid board by the reviews I've seen, but the design it's not so good as the other one. So my question is if it's worth the performance to change for the P5Q Deluxe or to change for another board with the X48 chipset which I really didn't want to go, because the benefits are not as extreme as it is for me to buy a board with that chipset.
Thanks

 

[secretanchitman]

stick with the P5Q Deluxe...the maximus isnt worth the price premium, especially when the P5Q is already doing excellently in benchmarks/speed.

 

[Chronoshock]

At the moment the price difference is ~190 for the deluxe and ~260 for the m2f. It's really not 70 bucks better

 

[GundamF91]

Go with Deluxe. I have it and it works out great. The MaxII has same layout, but with more elaborate OC options, and possibly better heat sinks. But unless you just need to do OC to the edge, Deluxe will serve fine.

 

[The Odorous One]

I would consider the P5Q-E too, $40-50 cheaper. The only thing the Deluxe offers over the E is 16 phase power (vs 8 phase) and ExpressGate SSD (vs ExpressGate on the HD).

Board differences here (scroll down):http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=548

 

[imported_Klump]

Damn...it's going to be a difficult choice...why the hell Asus invented this Maximus Formula II with this nice looking layout. I really would like to OC but not to the very edge so the P5Q is the best for me which btw is much more cheaper to get and it has excellent reviews...so why the hell does my mind always goes for the MF2? :'( geeez

 

[Chronoshock]

To help allay your fears on the OCability of the D5Q Deluxe, you should read the thread on it at XS: http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...a2c8d&t=189437&page=76
It's a very solid board for OCing, and it'll only get better with more bios revisions.

 

[imported_Klump]

Excelent OC capabilities...i guess i'll go for this board and i'll take advantage of the board being cheaper and buy myself a Thermalright Ultra-120 extreme to help me achieve higher OC
Thanks Chronoshock.

 

[sgrinavi]

I just started to tweak my P5E Deluxe and am very impressed. I flashed the BIOS to the Maximus Formula, set the FSB to 400, jacked up the CPU voltage to 1.425 and my Q6600 went right to 3.6 without any further tweaks. It took me a week to do that on my p35 board...

Not bad for $219...

 

[secretanchitman]

Originally posted by: Klump
Excelent OC capabilities...i guess i'll go for this board and i'll take advantage of the board being cheaper and buy myself a Thermalright Ultra-120 extreme to help me achieve higher OC
Thanks Chronoshock.

nice choice on the cpu cooler! i use the same one with a noctua 120mm fan and its a perfect combination: quiet and blows out a ton of air.

one issue with the thermalright, the heatpipes on it will touch the motherboard heatsink on the bottom, but it'll still fit just fine though.