Trying to decide... Asus P6T SE or MSI X58 Pro-E (for $60 less)?

[Xpred]

I'm having an extremely hard time deciding between the two motherboards. At my local Fry's, they're having two different deals:

i7 930 + MSI X58 Pro-E for $320 AR.

or

i7 930 + ASUS P6T SE for $380 AR.

I went ahead and bought the MSI X58 Pro-E because it seemed to be economically favorable, but I am not sure if I want to return this mobo and get a different one.

I don't plan on OCing or anything. I just want stock settings w/ stock cooling. I have been trying to analyze the two. It seems the main disadvantage for the MSI is their OC support, and high IOH northbridge temperatures. The ASUS seems to have a few more USB ports and better support, overall.

I'm just not sure which one to go with. What do you guys think? Is the extra $60 worth it?

 

[Gillbot]

I'm having an extremely hard time deciding between the two motherboards. At my local Fry's, they're having two different deals:

i7 930 + MSI X58 Pro-E for $320 AR.

or

i7 930 + ASUS P6T SE for $380 AR.

I went ahead and bought the MSI X58 Pro-E because it seemed to be economically favorable, but I am not sure if I want to return this mobo and get a different one.

I don't plan on OCing or anything. I just want stock settings w/ stock cooling. I have been trying to analyze the two. It seems the main disadvantage for the MSI is their OC support, and high IOH northbridge temperatures. The ASUS seems to have a few more USB ports and better support, overall.

I'm just not sure which one to go with. What do you guys think? Is the extra $60 worth it?

if all you want is stock, why bother spending that much on a board?

 

[Xpred]

Thanks for the quick reply!

I will most definitely just leave everything at stock settings for now. Whether I choose to OC or not in the future, I just wanted a stable and decent board. After all, the motherboard is the "mother board" of the computer.

I've used Asus, Abit, and Gigabyte boards in the past. This is the first time using an MSI, and the reviews seem to be decent, although not entirely great. I just hope I don't get a bad product, that's all. I wanted to see if anyone had any input regarding the two (or possibly another board in the same price range). It seems like a lot of people favor ASUS over MSI. I hope I don't get a terrible board that everyone dislikes. :-(

 

[Jd007]

Just so you know, some MSI X58 Pro-E boards have badly seated northbridge heatsinks. The X58 IOH would idle at ~70C and go up to 80C-90C on load. Performance wise it is a good board though. If you do get the high temps, just re-seat the heatsink with better thermal compound and it will be fine.

Another good board is the Gigabyte X58A-UD3R.

 

[Gillbot]

Just so you know, some MSI X58 Pro-E boards have badly seated northbridge heatsinks. The X58 IOH would idle at ~70C and go up to 80C-90C on load. Performance wise it is a good board though. If you do get the high temps, just re-seat the heatsink with better thermal compound and it will be fine.

Another good board is the Gigabyte X58A-UD3R.

I do that with every board I get regardless of the manufacturer.

Honestly, you may be better off getting a lower end board if all you plan to do is run stock, then if you want to OC later, either upgrade the mobo or perhaps both. By then, there may be much better parts available.

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

I have the MSI X58 PRO and it's great. With the MSI you can SLI or Crossfire and you get better onboard audio for $60 less.

 

[Xpred]

Thank you guys for the reply. I'm still torn between the two. What I had in mind was a cheaper budget, and obviously the X58 Pro-E met my expectations with the price point.

However, I also realize that I want a system that will be solid for the days to come. I didn't think twice that maybe the MSI is not as high-quality as the ASUS. Certainly, I don't want to risk a piece of hardware that isn't of decent quality when the price is marginally different. At $60, if ASUS proves to be the better choice, I'd certainly go for it. It seems like even if I don't OC, the hot northbridge could prove to be an issue, eh?

That is why I'm having such a hard time deciding, heh. I like to finalize all my builds with a peace of mind knowing that the money was worth it. I've been told if I wanted to build a system, I better build a damn great one. So, I just am still not sure if that MSI board is of good workmanship or not. At first, I would leave everything at stock settings (cooling wise). No need for any OC'ing. However, I could certainly OC in the future, but if the MSI board proves to be too poor, it would be a hassle to change motherboards in the future...

What is also strange is that both boards are priced at the same range MSRP--around $180-190. However, Fry's is selling the MSI mobo for even less when they're both starting price the same too! What gives? Is the MSI really that inferior or perhaps Fry's just feels like selling MSI at a lower price.... even though they both have their pros and cons (like Waiting mentioned, better on board audio....but lower RAM speed for the MSI)

Hmmm....

 

[Zap]

The MSI board will be fine at stock speeds. Heck, any board will be.

MSI & Fry's

Fry's used to do sweet deals with ECS motherboards BITD, until it came out that an executive was embezzling and ECS was connected with that. So, Fry's dumped ECS as a supplier and MSI seemed to have stepped up to help with deals.

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Thank you guys for the reply. I'm still torn between the two. What I had in mind was a cheaper budget, and obviously the X58 Pro-E met my expectations with the price point.

However, I also realize that I want a system that will be solid for the days to come. I didn't think twice that maybe the MSI is not as high-quality as the ASUS. Certainly, I don't want to risk a piece of hardware that isn't of decent quality when the price is marginally different. At $60, if ASUS proves to be the better choice, I'd certainly go for it. It seems like even if I don't OC, the hot northbridge could prove to be an issue, eh?

That is why I'm having such a hard time deciding, heh. I like to finalize all my builds with a peace of mind knowing that the money was worth it. I've been told if I wanted to build a system, I better build a damn great one. So, I just am still not sure if that MSI board is of good workmanship or not. At first, I would leave everything at stock settings (cooling wise). No need for any OC'ing. However, I could certainly OC in the future, but if the MSI board proves to be too poor, it would be a hassle to change motherboards in the future...

What is also strange is that both boards are priced at the same range MSRP--around $180-190. However, Fry's is selling the MSI mobo for even less when they're both starting price the same too! What gives? Is the MSI really that inferior or perhaps Fry's just feels like selling MSI at a lower price.... even though they both have their pros and cons (like Waiting mentioned, better on board audio....but lower RAM speed for the MSI)

Hmmm....

Here is a review for the PRO-E:

In terms of performance the MSI X58 Pro-E was able to hang with the more expensive Asus P6T Deluxe motherboard throughout our testing. Additionally, when overclocking the X58 Pro-E did not hold back, delivering a staggering 4.0GHz overclock with our Core i7 965 Extreme Edition processor.
In an effort to make overclocking easy, the X58 Pro-E includes a feature called “Easy OC Switch”, though we found this to be rather pointless. What we did enjoy was the BIOS setup which holds a wealth of information, not to mention adjustable settings. MSI also provides the ability to save up to four BIOS configurations, which is another overclocking friendly feature.
For the most part the layout and design of the X58 Pro-E was good, though we did encounter a problem with the ATX power connector and DIMM slots when using memory modules with oversized heatsinks. This is not a huge issue, but something users should be aware of beforehand.
All in all, the MSI X58 Pro-E offers solid stability, a fantastic BIOS, phenomenal tuning potential and excellent performance. But most importantly it brings further value to the Core i7 platform in the way of savings compared to other strictly enthusiast-oriented options.

http://www.techspot.com/review/168-msi-x58-pro-e/

 

[Xpred]

Thanks again for that link. Indeed, I was checking out that review with TomsHardware's analysis of the sub $200 X58 boards. With that in mind, I like the other features of this board (better sound as you mentioned). I guess when it comes down to what's still tickling in my mind...the only thing that I guess truly worries me is the high northbridge temperature. Everyone has told me it's going to be an issue. Since I don't plan on adding any fans or messing around with any paste or resinking the heatsinks, I just feel that component may be detrimental. Perhaps I'm overanalyzing this, but I don't want my board to overheat or anything...

 

[joetekubi]

I got the MSI X58 PRO-E with an i7 930 recently when Frys had a combo special.
I like the board a lot, but the Northbridge was running 81C at idle. I pulled it off, cleaned off the old gummy stuff, and lberally smeared high-quality TIM. Now the Northbridge is running at 70C idle - still a bit high for my comfort. Found a nice Scythe chip fan at NewEgg for $6, and that should fix it for me in a few days.

HTH,
-joe