P5B-Deluxe vs. Other Options

[TBSN]

Ok, sorry for the bad pun. I thought I had everything figured out as to what mobo to get for a e6400 allendale build, but several things I've read have made me reconsider...

I thought that the Asus P5B-D would be a great board to get, but now I'm not so sure.

THIS AnandTech review says that the board will not OC to FSB speeds higher than 400, and that it's not as stable as the 975x chipset boards, like the ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe...

(From the Article)
"Frankly, at the same price we could never recommend this 965 motherboard over the better performing, better-featured and better-overclocking 975X model."

Basically, because I'm still learning how all this works, I've gotten very confused. If I wanted to build a C2D computer with decent OC'ing and one VidCard, what would be a good choice?

 

[imported_richardf]

The article also states: "The ASUS board is generally stable, but it could still benefit from a few more rounds of BIOS refinement. In fact, all of the 965 boards were less polished and mature than their 975X counterparts".

Considering how old this review is I wouldn't put much faith into it. The current BIOS for the P5B-D is 0804. The board they reviewed had a pretty early BIOS.

As far as overclocking is concerned I really don't have anything to say because I'm not into that sorta thing. Maybe some others can comment on that. I can say that the P5B-D is a good board and I'm very happy with mine.

 

[SniperWulf]

i'd retype this... but since i'm being a lazy bastage, read my post in this thread:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=29&threadid=1967547&enterthread=y

 

[TBSN]

So does the P5B-D hold any advantages over the 975x-based boards like the P5W-DH?

 

[imported_richardf]

To be honest I don't know of any really killer advantages the P5B Deluxe has over P5W-DH but here are some of the reasons why I went with the P5B:

P5W costs more and is and older model.
P5W has ICH7R southbridge, P5B has ICH8R.
975X doesn't support DDR2 800 natively (965P does).
P5B has this cool power LED thing on the mobo.
965P doesn't support PATA natively (yes, I consider this an advantage).

There's probably other stuff I'm forgetting but no matter which one you decide to get there will be pluses and minuses to consider. Good luck!