Asus P45 Question

[toronado97]

What's the difference between:

Asus P5Q
Asus P5Q Pro

There's a 30 dollar difference on Newegg between them and as I've been out of the loop hardware wise lately I'd like to know why. Are they functionally the same guts-wise? Will I get the same performance out of the P5Q as I would the Pro? I don't really care about extras like firewire etc, I just use this computer for gaming. Overclockability is a must, as is stability and reliability. I've had this Gigabyte for a little over a year and I've not been pleased with its performance so looking to give Asus a try. Thanks for any help.

 

[AmberClad]

The Pro has:

- 1 more PCIe x16 slot
- 1 additional slot overall
- better layout (look at where the ATX power plug is on the regular P5Q)
- standard width (the P5Q is a slim board, so it's a bit more crowded)

Up to you whether that's worth +$30.

 

[geokilla]

You can also think about the P5Q-E. The P5Q-E SEEMS to be a good board, however I'm not sure. Up here in Canada, the P5Q-E is priced higher than the P5Q Pro, but what extra features it has, I'm not exactly sure. The others can probably help you clarify that.

 

[toronado97]

Asus is so confusing lol. Here's our P45 board, and its 18 variants all priced slightly differently.

 

[iBPJohn]

While it might be confusing to some it's nice for people who know exactly what they are looking for so they don't have to pay for additional features that are not needed.

 

[longaadoc]

What is the difference between Pro and Delux? I was planning to buy delux as I am planning to OC my E8400 to 4 Ghz (in my first ever build!). However, newegg as a combo deal for ATI 4850 and P45 Pro for 277 after MIR. I am planning to pull a trigger on this but want to know your opinion and want to make sure I can OC E8400 to 4 Ghz.

I also heard that P45Pro has had some problems recognizing some RAMs. I am planning to buy G Skill 1000 so I can OC to 4 Ghz. Anyone has had any issues with this RAM and this mobo?

 

[AmberClad]

What the Deluxe has over the Pro:
- The Premium and the Deluxe have 16 power phases versus 8 for the rest of the P5Q line.
- 3 PCIe slots instead of 2
- 2 Ethernet ports
- some of the SATA connectors are right angle and all of them are along the right edge of the board, whereas the SATA ports on the Pro are all along the bottom edge

 

[GundamF91]

My advice, take a look at the photos of the board layout. You'll see

1) P5Q locations are pretty poor, it feels rather "cheap", which usually translates to the same care to the components used, and QC process.

2) Pro looks nice, has basically everything you need for a mainstream rig. If you get P5Q series, at least get the Pro, it seems to be a reasonable piece. You're only looking at about 15% price difference. But it is clearly a different design vs. E or Deluxe, the board layout is quite a bit different.

3) Next step up is E. Compare E to Deluxe's layout, and you'll see they're virtually identical. So other than power phase and maybe a few other things, you're getting a watered down Deluxe board. So if you want good performance, and for a price difference about 10%, I'd recommend E over Pro.

4) If you want long term durability, or you're running overclocked Quad, get the Deluxe. It has more features, and also the power regulation schemes seem very complete. It's about 20% more than E, so it's somewhat more expensive. I was going to run with E, but now that I'm running Quad overclocked, I got the Deluxe for better power regulation, which makes for a more stable platform.

I plan to keep this rig going for at least 2 years, skipping over Nehalem entirely. Even if I get Nehalem, at least this will keep running as some type of media PC. So I want to use top grade components that will last. Before this, I had AMD system with an Epox board, and it was never entirely stable, and eventually blew its capacitors. So it's more important to get high grade components on the board, rather than features or brand names, but they tend to go hand in hand.