Asus Sandy Bridge motherboards--what are the major differences?? Which one for me?

[x26]

Hi;

I'm trying to choose the best asus 1155 mb for myself.
For the last 12 years of building I usually get the Deluxe version even though I rarely use most of the Features.--I rather have them and not need it vs need them and not have it--(the same reason i own weapons..lol)

Asus has really baffled me with so many versions of Motherboards lately.

I need:

1) Reliability/build quality
2) Not Finicky--Like my first Fiance'..
3)Gamer
4) May get into Music and Video recording with it--Maybe some photography.
5) sli or that stuff don't think i'll ever need/use.
6) May use RAID in the Future.
7) Don't mind buying more than I need as long as additional Problems are not created.

Thank you in advance.

 

[stahlhart]

I think it's just a matter of setting a budget for the purchase, deciding which features are the most important, and then narrowing down your options from there.

Any reviews I've seen on 1155 boards when they've been compared alongside one another don't appear to show more than negligible differences in performance. Probably the the most noticable difference of any was Gigabyte's missing UEFI, but then you've already settled on Asus so that's not an issue for you.

 

[ed29a]

Someone wrote up the features of most SB motherboards here.

 

[x26]

Thanks so far--Please keep answers coming.

 

[x26]

I think it's just a matter of setting a budget for the purchase, deciding which features are the most important, and then narrowing down your options from there.

Any reviews I've seen on 1155 boards when they've been compared alongside one another don't appear to show more than negligible differences in performance. Probably the the most noticable difference of any was Gigabyte's missing UEFI, but then you've already settled on Asus so that's not an issue for you.

+1--I'm not worried about Performance at all(for last10 years most are w/o big differences)--Just:

*Stability
*Reliablity
*Ease of Use/NOT FINICKY!!--Works with everything else; Memory, Video Cards,PSU, Cases, etc.

 

[Zap]

1) Reliability/build quality
2) Not Finicky--Like my first Fiance'..
3)Gamer
4) May get into Music and Video recording with it--Maybe some photography.
5) sli or that stuff don't think i'll ever need/use.
6) May use RAID in the Future.
7) Don't mind buying more than I need as long as additional Problems are not created.

1) All the Asus boards should be the same for this. With that being said, they give a 5 year warranty to their Sabertooth model (versus 3 year?) and claim to use higher quality components.

2) Should be fine. I think even their cheapest P67 board has their MemOK feature to work with any memory.

3) Any will work.

4) Any will work.

5) Ok.

6) I think they all have RAID.

7) Ok.

Here are the first few Asus P67 ATX boards, starting from the lowest end. Not 100% sure I'm right, but should be roughly correct. It is pretty linear through the Deluxe version, and then there is a lot of differentiation after that.

P8P67 LE
lowest end board, no overclocking in BIOS/UEFI

P8P67
take LE and add Bluetooth and overclocking in BIOS/UEFI

P8P67 Pro
take the "vanilla" (previous one) and use an Intel NIC instead of Realtek, plus add SLI support (8x8 instead of 16x4 PCIe lane slots)

Sabertooth P67
similar feature set to the P8P67 Pro but with a different PCB design, "TUF" meaning super duper durable military spec components, longer warranty, Intel LAN, no Bluetooth (yes, NO), SLI support and of course the heatsink over the whole motherboard which I admit looks pretty swanky

P8P67 Evo
take Pro and add second NIC

P8P67 Deluxe
take Evo and add front drive bay USB ports, slightly better Realtek audio chip

P8P67 WS Revolution
Nvidia NF200 gives more PCIe lanes per slot (still goes down to 16 at CPU though), dual Intel NICs, possibly better heatsinks, removes Bluetooth, has USB ports (not headers) directly on motherboard for some reason, is considered a "workstation" board and not a normal enthusiast or gamer board

Maximus IV Extreme
super duper enthusiast board from their ROG (Republic of Gamers) series with voltage measuring points, wireless Bluetooth monitoring and overclocking (from your Apple device no less), larger than ATX size, doesn't specify but looks as if it uses some PCIe lane multiplier like the NF200 (very likely since it supports 3-way SLI), ROG Connect (is that some plug-in accessory?), TEN WHOLE USB 3.0 ports, dual Intel NICs and a kitchen sink

 

[x26]

Thanks ZAP and all!! ^^^

You Truly live up to your name(Super)

Thanks!

 

[Lightflash]

Only weird thing I had with the MIVE I bought from MC was a totally missing pin, but then again that could have been a return that they just boxed up and put back on the shelf. If they had another MIVE, I would have bought it in a heartbeat due to juts the massive amount of options available and the resale value compared to some other boards.