P5B deluxe or something better

[leftfoot]

Well I had reserved myself to the idea that the ASUS P5B deluxe is the board of choice for me:

1. Stable
2. OC'able to no end
3. SLI support - according to the sticky in motherboards section it doesn't :Q
4. Heat Sinked to no end

... that was until I came across a review, here, of the EVGA 680i and that chipset in comparison to others out there at the moment. Now my major concerns are:

1. Is the p965 chipset going to be out-of-date soon rather than later
2. While the 965 at nongaming uses is superior to the 860i in gaming frame rates are lacking (according to the review)
3. Is the EVGA board STILL to buggy even with a lifetime warranty (if you register it with EVGA)
4. Is quadcore support going to better on one than the other
5. Which will have lower MB temps if I move this rig into a HTPC case
6. Are there more things I am not even considering that should be when looking at a MB

 

[gvayl]

I'd like some answers too...same boat as you are leftfoot

 

[dmcowen674]

Slashdot has this on their front page today like it is breaking news although it seems the board has been out since February???

Anyway I have always been an ASUS / AMD / NVidia fan when I put PC's together.

I am not thrilled AMD bought ATI.

I haven't put a machine together since 2003 and it's getting close to time to upgrade my desktop which is an ASUS A7N8X-X with a XP 3200 and unlocked Nvidia 6800.

I am considering the MB below unless there is an AMD better and reasonably priced???

4-6-2007 Hybrid NVIDIA Chipset Motherboards Launched

"Filling the price gap between the high-end nForce 680i SLI and more affordable 650i SLI chipsets, without sacrificing any advanced features, motherboard manufacturer Asus has created a hybrid motherboard chipset in cooperation with NVIDIA, dubbed the "Dual X16 SLI". Designed for the Intel platform, the chipset combination employed on the P5N32-E SLI Plus motherboard offers true, dual PCI Express x16 electrical connections for graphics, dual Gig-E LAN support and a slew of other features found on high-end 680i boards.

HotHardware pits the P5N32-E SLI Plus up against an nForce 680i SLI to see if Asus' hybrid chipset approach truly offers all of the performance of the more expensive 680i SLI for a fraction of the cost."

 

[Geraldo8022]

I haven't put a machine together since 2003
dmcown674

wow, you and I must be the only two people who come to this forum that can say that. I live in a remote area and until not too long ago I only had dialup, so I feel I had no reason to get a new machine. They finally brought dsl up this road and soon I will have 3.0 m.
I need a new machine too and since I don't imagine playing games is there any reason I would want SLI? I do want to have a HTPC and a really nice display.
I have been looking at the MSI version of the 650. That or the Gigabyte DS.
2003, the years go by quick, don't they?

 

[leftfoot]

Great article there dmcowen674. A quote from that article, " the P5N32-E SLI Plus weighs in at about $180. That's a hefty price for a motherboard, that is until you realize that you're basically getting a nForce 680i SLI." The cheapest that I have found the SLI plus is like 220 and that does not allow for the upgraded ram speeds that the 680i has.

Should I just consider the 680i instead or is it still unstable?

Any SLI plus owners out there on this forum? Any thoughts?

Hey and even if your not so good with the whole posting thing please vote

 

[leftfoot]

WaHoo, finally a difference in the voting! 3 to 2. Still been reading Maximum PC and the forums. Of course the EVGA forums have a slight bias and that lifetime warranty does sound nice. But the other side is if I have to keep tearing down my rig, moving that HUGE Zalman cooler (no boos or hisses please, for 33 dollars, new, I couldn't pass it up), and sending the board in for RMA.

Is that a legit concern? Has anyone actually had to do that on any of these boards?

Anybody got a 100 dollar Newegg GC that they want to give to me so I can just buy the ASUS Striker and get this over with...?