Which is better....Asus CUSL2 or Intel D815EEA???

[jamesbond007]

Hello, everyone. I am building a new computer with an Intel Pentium III 1Ghz CPU, 512MB Crucial PC133 CAS2 SDRAM, In-Win IQ-500 case.....it's going to be fully loaded with the SBLive! Platinum 5.1, Kenwood 72x CDROM, Pioneer 105S Slot Load DVDROM....you get the point. Well, I was wondering which motherboard is the better of the two, as being fast as well as very stable. I plan on running only Windows 2000 on this machine. I have read many reviews on both boards, as saying they are both very stable. I like the name of Intel as being on both the CPU and motherboard, but I know Asus has speed. They are both pretty stable, as I've read. Has anyone had experience on either boards or both?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Zipperhead]

go with the asus-best boards out there!

 

[Vegito]

CUSL2.. the board is soo good, I order my third one last week... all fully loaded 512mb but cas3 crucial not 2... 2 850 and 1 933, scsi everything, very sweet system.. no problems with it...

 

[SaturnX]

Well if you want to overclock or have complete control go with the Asus, otherwise if you don't want to Overclock and have the motherboard determine everything for you, will little customization, then go with Intel. I currently run an Intel SE440BX-2 motherboard, and well setup could be done by anyone, but the lack of settings does upset me, as I'm stuck with a PII 400 which I can't OC.

--Mark

 

[Supradude]

Tharyn is right, if you want options and more tweakability, go with the Asus, but if your planning on running nothing but a stock component stable system, the intel products are tuned for stability @ a loss of peak performance...

 

[jamesbond007]

Hmmm....this leaves me at a difficult fork in the road. I want total stability, but awesome performance. I don't plan to overclock at all. I just want my RAM at 133Mhz, CPU at 1Ghz, and to top it off, a 133Mhz bus. I currently run an AMD 1Ghz, Asus A7V, 512MB PC133 Crucial, Asus V7700 Deluxe, etc. I HATE Asus's tech support...man they piss me off. I mean, I sent them 4 emails because I had a hell of a time with getting my A7V to run stable. Also, my V7700 Deluxe was great until I started adding components. They should put a warning on there to watch your power with the damn card. I had problems up the @$$ and freeze ups like you wouldn't believe. As of right now, this system runs Windows 2000 Pro pretty damn good. I still get occasional lock ups, but it isn't too bad. Not to mention, I had to install Win2k, AGP updates, BIOS updates and software updates like there's no tomorrow to get it where I am right now. I am very satisfied with my setup right now, but it's going to my brother who's goin' off to college, so I need myself a new machine that is more stable, since this is basically a chace to start over.

Anyhoo! How much of a performance loss is the Intel over the Asus? Is it like one of those over-rated performance losses, where I'll lose a whopping 5-10fps in Q3?? How about business performance? I run Excel, Word, Dreamweaver a lot, too. I mainly use this machine for light gaming, but mostly business/Internet. I just want the best stability with top performance. Can the Intel give me that? By the way, I was thinking of getting the Intel motherboard with the LAN features built in, to save on PCI slots (D815EEAL, I think) . Thank you everyone for your help and assistance thus far.

 

[jamesbond007]

I think I am going to go with Intel, and give that a try. I guess stability is more important to me than performance. Light gaming shouldn't be any trouble. I play Quake 3, Unreal Tournement, GTA2, NFSx, and that's about it. You guys have two weeks to yet convince me to go with Asus, since I'm not buying it yet for a while Thank you for your assistance thus far......

 

[neverdone]

Hello, i would like to try and assist u in your decision between the 2 boards. The asus board offers you a more "complete" setup option through the bios. The intel board bios is very generic, no real provisions to tweak anything (stability). I own both boards and havent had a problem with either one. They are both VERY picky about ram (the asus being worse than the intel) As far as speed i would like to say that there is no measurable difference between the two (with untweaked settings on the asus). I get 140-150fps with both boards in Q3 (geforce gts). Anyhow, i really do need to get rid of one of the boards so if your interested shoot me an email and maybe we can work something out. Or if you just have more questions feel free to ask. The intel board is the D815eeaaL and the Asus is the CUSL2-C (no onboard video or sound). They are both like new with all original packaging, cables and disks.

 

[jamesbond007]

Sorry, but I'm not really interested in purchasing used electronics...I guess I'm picky. But thanks for the offer. I will ask my friends tomorrow in school. I do have one question for you.....what I/O panel do you use to support the NIC that is above the USB ports? I am getting the InWin IQ-500 full tower case for this machine. I don't know if it has the I/O panel to support the NIC or not. What did you do/get?

 

[AndyHui]

Ultimately, I think you will be better off going with the ASUS board. In the very few situations where the board may become unstable is if it is overclocked to extreme speeds. Since the Intel board does not give you the option of overclocking, you are never going to be in this situation, so by default the board will be defined as stable.

The ASUS board also gives you the option of running all 3 DIMM slots at 133MHz....the Intel one won't. With all the extra options that the ASUS board offers, you will be able to really make your system run to the best of its capabilities. ASUS has one of the best track records with BIOS, and just about always manages to come up with something new at least once a month.

In addition, apart from the large user base and knowledge here on the AT forums, the CUSL2 family of boards has a whole website dedicated to it at CUSL2.com. If you EVER have any problems with a CUSL2 or CUSL2-C board, you can visit either one of these and get good advice. Intel's support is a little clumsy if you ask me.

 

[Mem]

I really don`t see what the problem is with the Asus CUSL2,it`s is one of the most stable boards out there,plus you have the Asus name which means quality,great Bios updates etc,for overclocking or stability it`s a great board.

 

[jamesbond007]

Yeah, a friend convinced me

Thanks for all of the info.

 

[senior guy]

The only stability problems that may arise from using a CUSL2 would likely be your own doing, which you could undo.

But don't be misled by the CUSL2's 3 DIMM slots. While it is true you can populate all 3 with PC133MHz, you are still limited to a maximum of 512MB by the i815 chipset!

 

[Vegito]

but all i815 mobo has 512mb limit whether its Asus or Intel..

 

[senior guy]

forcesho~ That's just what I said. In addition, I was just saying that even though the CUSL2 provides one more DIMM slot than the Intel board (which may be handy if you have small size sticks), it doesn't extend that 512MB limit.