Which Asus P5 model?

[ktchong]

I am comparing the different Asus P5 motherboards and wondering which model would provide the best quality and performance for my budget. The Asus P5 mobo series have so many models that they are confusing.

I plan to build a PC with an Intel E8500 or E8600 within the next month or so. I will upgrade to a Core 2 Quad Q9000-series CPU when it becomes affordable. I will just pull out the E8500/E8600, plug in a new Q chip and then reinstall Windows. Core i7 chips are too pricey right now and in the near future.

I have already decided that I want an Antec Skeleton Tower Case, so the motherboard has to be an ATX.

I've read that it's pointless to use DDR3 RAM for E8500/E8600. However, as I plan to upgrade to Q9000s in the future, I wonder if getting a DDR3-compatible motherboard is advisable.

I plan to start with 4GB RAM (2 x 2GB,) and later upgrade to 8GB. So the motherboard should have 4 DIMM slots.

I will have two hard drive and one (or maybe two but unlikely) DVD-RW drive. I plan to add one video card and later upgrade to dual cards, plus a sound card, and a network card.

I want to avoid ATI video cards because their drivers gave me too much grief in the past. Which means the motherboard should support nVidia SLI.

In addition to those devices, the motherboard should have at least two more slots for future expansion, but it is very unlikely I will need more than two extra slots.

I do not overclock. I never overclock. So a motherboard that is build for overclocking is fairly pointless for my purpose.

My budget for the motherboard is around $150 to $200, definitely do NOT want to go over $250. That's Newegg price. I'll be buying it from Newegg or wherever is cheaper. However, I will be buying everything at once from Newegg with free shipping, so it's unlikely anywhere else could be cheaper.

Durability is of utmost importance. I want my PC to last a while, for at least five years. So the motherboard should be somewhat "future proof" and "upgradable".

Here are my criteria for the motherboard again:

1. ATX
   Supports Intel E8500/E8600 and 9000s
   4 DIMM slots
   Supports 2 hard drives and 2 DVD-RW
   Support SLI
   Four or more expansion slots (for sound card, network card, two extra devices,) but no more than 5 or 6
   Preferably around $150 to $200, but definitely not more than $250.
   Durability and quality are more important than overclocking performance (which is useless for me.)

I have always used Intel motherboard in the past, and I have been extremely happy with original Intel products. The last time I built a PC was back in 2001. This is the first time I will be buying a non-Intel board. People have been saying that ASUS builds better Intel motherboard than Intel does, so I'd like to give ASUS a try.

So, please recommend the right Asus P5 mobo(s). Obviously I want the best and latest P5 board for my money. Thanks!

 

[PCTC2]

DDR3-1600 is getting pretty cheap nowadays (6GB for $100) so it's not too bad of a deal.

If you want SLI for a Skt 775, the only board I can suggest is the eVGA 790i FTW. The 780i has had problems, but you could get an eVGA 750i FTW for a cheaper board. The Asus Striker II Extreme is a rather buggy board. eVGA is great for Customer Support, RMA, and BIOS support. The 790i supports only DDR3. The 750i supports DDR2. The 780i is a 680i with an NF200 bridge chip.

However, E8X00/Q9X00 series is not "futureproof". You can only upgrade graphics and RAM. Socket 775 is being phased out by the end of the year with Skt 1156 and 1366 (Core i5 and i7 respectively). No parts are futureproof and current i7 motherboards will probably be phased out by the end of 2010 probably with the advent of octo-cores and new power VRM specs. If you really want a lot of upgrade room, wait for i5 before the end of this year, or grab an i7 now with a cheap X58 board. Plus, SLI is not really an upgrade path, and it's always better to just sell your old card and go with the newest card. 99% of the time (exclude GF8->GF9 and GF8 -> GTX2X0).