Asus P5E3 vs. Asus Maximus Extreme

Hello. I'm looking around for a new motherboard to go in my new build
and am interested in two Asus boards:

- Asus P5E3 (£111)
- Asus Maximus Extreme (£177)

However, having looked on the Dabs website (which is where I got the
prices from) the only things the more expensive model has over the
chepaer model are:

- 1 extra eSATA port
- SMBIOS 2.4 support instead of SMBIOS 2.3
- "2-Phase DDR3" (whatever that is)
- ASUS COP EX
- ASUS CPU Level Up
- ASUS Crosslinx Technology

I'm no overclocker, so am I going to miss any of these features if I
decide to spend the money on a better CPU?

Kind Regards,

Matt

Matt wrote:
> Hello. I'm looking around for a new motherboard to go in my new build
> and am interested in two Asus boards:
>
> - Asus P5E3 (£111)
> - Asus Maximus Extreme (£177)
>
> However, having looked on the Dabs website (which is where I got the
> prices from) the only things the more expensive model has over the
> chepaer model are:
>
> - 1 extra eSATA port
> - SMBIOS 2.4 support instead of SMBIOS 2.3
> - "2-Phase DDR3" (whatever that is)
> - ASUS COP EX
> - ASUS CPU Level Up
> - ASUS Crosslinx Technology
>
> I'm no overclocker, so am I going to miss any of these features if I
> decide to spend the money on a better CPU?
>
> Kind Regards,
>
> Matt
>
>

One issue I see, is the Maximus Extreme is larger than the ATX standard
for motherboards, of 12"x9.6". So you may have to search for a case
big enough to hold it. It is an inch wider than normal, and the corner
mounting hole, on the right hand end of the board, as a result are
no longer in the corners. I guess that is to make room for the chunk of
metal over the Southbridge. The Maximus Extreme also has hose barbs, for
the optional connection of water cooling, to the chipset.

I'd check the Newegg reviews, and vip.asus.com, for more info on the
respective boards.

http://vip.asus.com/forum/topic.aspx...Language=en-us
http://vip.asus.com/forum/topic.aspx...Language=en-us

Paul

Also, are their any other motherboarss around the £110 mark that I
should be considering? I'm aware Asus boards are popular with
overclockers. However, as I am not an overclocker would I be paying a
premuim for features I wouldn't use?

Kind Regards,

Matt

Matt wrote:
> Also, are their any other motherboarss around the £110 mark that I
> should be considering? I'm aware Asus boards are popular with
> overclockers. However, as I am not an overclocker would I be paying a
> premuim for features I wouldn't use?
>
> Kind Regards,
>
> Matt
>

P5E3 is X38 chipset, and offers two fully wired PCI Express video
slots. You could look for P35 chipset as an alternative, like
P5K3. P5K3 looks like it has the same Vcore setup, for powering
the processor. Both boards only have PS/2 keyboard plug, and no
PS/2 mouse plug (an issue only if you are using a KVM).

To some extent, the higher end boards are supporting better
potential video capabilities. X38 would be for Crossfire, with
two ATI cards in tandem. Nvidia SLI chipsets would handle two
Nvidia cards in tandem. If you don't need those kinds of gamer
features, and can live with one video card (driving up to two
monitors), you have a lot more options.

P35 or P45 should be cheaper than X38, X48, or some high end
Nvidia SLI chipset. And as long as the Vcore setup looks
good, and the reviews look good, that should be a good
enough solution. Some models are differentiated, by having
a Firewire connector on the back, or other I/O enhancements,
and that accounts for the small dollar spread between some
of the models. But not all the pricing differences are
rational. And the junky additions of the super high end
boards, adds nothing to the computing experience. Who
wants a motherboard that mocks you with "CPU Init" on a
tiny LCD display, when a cheaper board posts every time
and never complains ?

The reason I picked the P35 or the P45, is there can be
much older chipsets (P965), but the maximum FSB might be
lower on those. A lot of processors are FSB1333 now, which
is a reason to try to use a more current chipset. Boards
seem to reach FSB2000 or so, as an upper limit on overclock,
but you've already mentioned you're not an overclocker.
And that gives you some idea how much headroom, for normal
operation, that these chipsets have.

X38 and X48 have ECC capability, but the feature is not
well supported (i.e. is missing from motherboard adverts,
may not support DDR3, may not actually be working). If you
are interested in enhanced memory error detection, it is
an uphill struggle. The last time I looked, I don't think
I could find any DDR3 with ECC. Only DDR2 had ECC, and the
sticks weren't that fast. So one of the selling features
of those chipsets, is the addition of ECC, but in general,
the motherboard makers haven't gone out of their way to
promote it, or make it work. P35 and P45 don't have ECC
as an option, so you're saved from even thinking about it.

Paul

JR Weiss wrote:
> "Paul" <> wrote...
>> Matt wrote:
>>> Also, are their any other motherboarss around the £110 mark that I
>>> should be considering? I'm aware Asus boards are popular with
>>> overclockers. However, as I am not an overclocker would I be paying a
>>> premuim for features I wouldn't use?
>
>> P5E3 is X38 chipset, and offers two fully wired PCI Express video
>> slots. You could look for P35 chipset as an alternative, like
>> P5K3. P5K3 looks like it has the same Vcore setup, for powering
>> the processor. Both boards only have PS/2 keyboard plug, and no
>> PS/2 mouse plug (an issue only if you are using a KVM).
> . . .
>
>> P35 or P45 should be cheaper than X38, X48, or some high end
>> Nvidia SLI chipset. And as long as the Vcore setup looks
>> good, and the reviews look good, that should be a good
>> enough solution. Some models are differentiated, by having
>> a Firewire connector on the back, or other I/O enhancements,
>> and that accounts for the small dollar spread between some
>> of the models. But not all the pricing differences are
>> rational. And the junky additions of the super high end
>> boards, adds nothing to the computing experience. Who
>> wants a motherboard that mocks you with "CPU Init" on a
>> tiny LCD display, when a cheaper board posts every time
>> and never complains ?
>>
>> The reason I picked the P35 or the P45, is there can be
>> much older chipsets (P965), but the maximum FSB might be
>> lower on those. A lot of processors are FSB1333 now, which
>> is a reason to try to use a more current chipset. Boards
>> seem to reach FSB2000 or so, as an upper limit on overclock,
>> but you've already mentioned you're not an overclocker.
>> And that gives you some idea how much headroom, for normal
>> operation, that these chipsets have.
> . . .
>
> MoBo brands are subject to personal preference. for sure. If you're not tied to
> Asus, look at the Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4
> (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16813128336), which is a
> very nice MoBo for a lower price. If you need the WiFi, a good Wireless-N card
> like the D-Link DWA-556
> (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833127218) will bring
> them to about the same price. I have 1 rig with a P35-DS4 and 1 with an
> X48-DS4; the D-Link card is in the X48 rig.
>
> The X38 chipset was very short-lived, and was replaced by the X48. If you go to
> the older P35 chipset, you may have problems with future (or even some current)
> CPUs at full capability, since not all of them will support the newer 45nm CPUs
> and their higher supported bus speeds. You will also get only 1 full-speed
> PCIe-16x slot, because the P35 chipset was limited to 1 16x and 1 4x/8x slot (in
> a 16x footprint).
>
> First decide what features you HAVE TO have. Then find out what MoBos are
> available that have all those, and choose from price, extra features, and
> personal preferences.
>
>
I recently purchased the Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L board and it worked fine
with the E8400 CPU I installed in it. At $84 it is much less than the
£110 figure the OP was looking at.