Asus P5Q vs P5Q-E vs Pro

[Rotax]

I'm tryin to figure out if the "-E" is worth it for the cooling setup alone?

130 vs 160 on Newegg.

I won't be running Xfire, nor plan on it anytime soon, so not a huge concern.

Mainly wondering if the heatpipe configuration on the -E is far superior in OCing ability?


Also I guess, while I'm here..

Is the 16 phase power vs 8 phase power (Deluxe edition) going to make or break my OCing efforts?

The deluxe is quite a bit spendier tho..


I have just been finding it tough to find much info/reviews for the P5Q, and not its siblings. I find quite a few for the -E and Deluxe.


Edit: Oh, and of course, now I find the Pro version which is 150...ugh lol Whats it got that I might need? Jesus... haha

 

[DCGMoo]

I've researched the differences quite a bit myself... as an Asus loyalist, I just bought a P5Q Deluxe after researching the various differences.

Crossfire is irrelevant with P45 anyway... P45 can only run Crossfire in 8x mode (PCI-e 1.1), while X38/X48 is the only solution for true PCI-e 2.0 16x Crossfire.

The big difference is the board layout, not the heatsink. Look very carefully at where things like power connectors are located. I completely eliminated the P5Q from comparison after looking at that. I plan to OC heavily... and I was very worried about cable management and air flow. You might not eliminate it... but you should examine it.

Use NewEgg's pictures of the board, and bring up the P5Q-E and the P5Q side-by-side. There's a lot different other than just the heatsink.

The P5Q Deluxe is basically the P5Q-E with a couple of minor added features. There's also some evidence to suggest the Deluxe is a easier overclocker than the -E, though I wouldn't stand behind that as there's not enough evidence. Plus, the retail box includes a better collection of accessories, including 6 SATA cables... so if you're low on cables or such, and would have to buy them anyway... you might consider the Deluxe.

That brings it down to the P5Q-E, and the P5Q Pro.

In that situation... you're talking about $10 for the NB heatsink, plus an improved board layout (I steered away from the Pro when I heard about people having troubles seating a 120mm tower-style heatsink). If you're not using a tower heatsink, and you don't plan on touching the NB voltages... the P5Q Pro will suffice just fine for you.

But unless you decide the plain P5Q is right for you (you may)... I recommend spending the extra $10 to move from Pro to -E. The heatsink alone is worth $10.

Moo.

 

[AmberClad]

Originally posted by: DCGMoo
That brings it down to the P5Q-E, and the P5Q Pro.

In that situation... you're talking about $10 for the NB heatsink, plus an improved board layout (I steered away from the Pro when I heard about people having troubles seating a 120mm tower-style heatsink). If you're not using a tower heatsink, and you don't plan on touching the NB voltages... the P5Q Pro will suffice just fine for you.

But unless you decide the plain P5Q is right for you (you may)... I recommend spending the extra $10 to move from Pro to -E. The heatsink alone is worth $10.

Moo.

I had no issues using a tower cooler with a Pro.

 

[Rotax]

Hmm I went with the Pro, I did later on notice the connector layout issues on the "normal" version.

I also went with the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 and bolt-thru kit.

I've read others say it can be tight on a P5Q board...but I'm comfy with modding a few pieces of aluminum fins to fit if need be. No biggy.

Thanks for the feedback none the less.


Also, I found the Ket BIOS for the Pro to add most of the Deluxe's "compatibility" updates and other memory features (not that I 100% understood all the changes/updates it introduces).

 

[BasementJack]

I have a Pro and an E, I kind of wish I had an E and a Deluxe!
One thing I found out about the deluxe that I didn't know when I made my decision, was...
that linux / expressgate software thing they advertise has to be installed on a hard drive on the Pro, and the E,
on the deluxe it comes preinstalled on the Rom (or some other form of on board SSD storage) - no hard drive required.
While I wouldn't plan on using it heavily, I would have spent the extra to try it out.
I think the expressgate would be a life saver if it were the only PC you had, and you needed to download drivers/bios to get it working!

 

[nomagic]

Originally posted by: DCGMoo
...P45 can only run Crossfire in 8x mode (PCI-e 1.1), while X38/X48 is the only solution for true PCI-e 2.0 16x Crossfire...

If you go to Intel's P45 Overvew Page, and download the product brief. You will find that the p45 chipset supports 2x8 Express 2.0 configuration. (aka. PCI-e 2.0)

I know you probably mistyped that. But we don't want anyone here to get misled, do we?

 

[OLpal]

Originally posted by: nomagic

Originally posted by: DCGMoo
...P45 can only run Crossfire in 8x mode (PCI-e 1.1), while X38/X48 is the only solution for true PCI-e 2.0 16x Crossfire...

If you go to Intel's P45 Overvew Page, and download the product brief. You will find that the p45 chipset supports 2x8 Express 2.0 configuration. (aka. PCI-e 2.0)

I know you probably mistyped that. But we don't want anyone here to get misled, do we?

Hey NoMagic. :thumbsup:
Along the lines of not wanting to mis-inform !!
I think the point DCGMoo was trying to make was.
P45 can only run Crossfire in 8x mode while X38/X48 is the only solution for true 16x Crossfire.
So a small slip on both.. No Harm / No Foul
Go to this link for test compare !!
http://www.tweaktown.com/artic...performance/index.html

Ol'Pal

 

[Murloc]

Originally posted by: nomagic

Originally posted by: DCGMoo
...P45 can only run Crossfire in 8x mode (PCI-e 1.1), while X38/X48 is the only solution for true PCI-e 2.0 16x Crossfire...

If you go to Intel's P45 Overvew Page, and download the product brief. You will find that the p45 chipset supports 2x8 Express 2.0 configuration. (aka. PCI-e 2.0)

I know you probably mistyped that. But we don't want anyone here to get misled, do we?

maybe not, because maybe a pci-ex 2.0 8x has the same speed as a pci-ex 1.1 16x.
Is it so or not?