[Kizo]

Hi all.
I am building an Intel based system for a friend and, as the thread title says, I am a little unsure as to which motherboard would be better. So I sould like to ask for an opinion from you guys. The motherboards are: Asus P5Q Pro and Gigabyte EP45-DS3R. They are roughly the same price here. No OC is intended in near future.

I would like to ask which one do you think would be better and why?
Thanks in advance.

P.S. Just for info, rest of the specs are:
CPU: Intel Q9450
PSU: CoolerMaster Real Power 620W Modular
Case: CoolerMaster 690
Graphics: Sapphire HD4850 ( xfire planned in future with another HD4850 )
CPU Cooler: Asus Triton 77
RAM: 2x2GB Micron Value

[temeteus82]

I would get the Asus's mobo, it does have some features that could be a bit better what Gigabyte offers ...

[Judas]

they both look relatively the same.... i'd be more inclined to get the gigabyte board due to it's outstanding support and stability.

But the Asus board does seem to pack a few extras with it....

one thing that has caught my eye is the Realtek ALC1200 series onboard audio solution. I YET to have played with this audio chipset, obviously it's "saposed" to be better then the ALC889a that i've preferred for the last year or so.

Asus isn't "ALL THAT CLEAR" on the ALC1200 and i cannot find anythign related to it on the official realtek site which kinda scares me as that means there isn't an official driver out for it aside from that which asus provides... (which i hate using motherboard manufacturers own drivers, the reference are always top choice)

[Kizo]

Hi, temeteus and Judas, thanks for the reply.
By the specs and features, they do really look very similar, that is why I am so unsure.
I am interested in your opinion about the stability and build quality of the vendors, maybe that will help me decide. (I have never used any mobo from them before) They are well known, but I would like to know how they compare against each other.
I have also heard from a friend that Gigabyte has a good support. Does anyone know something about Asus support ?

Edit: about the sound card, all I have been able to find is that ALC1200 is similar to ALC889A in terms of performance. I get what you're saying though, there are no official Realtek drivers, so you depend on Asus basically.

[Judas]

well being it's such a new chip... we may just see a realtek official driver pop out in the next driver release... i don't know... But the Realtek Chips are a top end performer in both speed and quality imo.

As for the board decisions.

Typically Gigabyte has been my most stable, and flexible board i've ever used... while they don't have a history of being the ultimate top performer (sometimes they are but generally they average out as being pretty damn good), they have some pretty damn good backup methods if something goes wrong, there hasn't been many cases where i've been overclocking and unable to boot again without reseting the cmos...

Asus, has given me grief though occasionally.... sometimes it's a win, sometimes it's a lose. Both are damn good manufacturers. Personally i'd jump for the Gigabyte board as it's proven to have what i know works. The Asus board wouldbe something i'd like to jump for if i wanna take a little bit more of a chance.

[Kizo]

Ok, I found something new.
The Asus board has 8-phase voltage regulator modules, and the Gigabyte's are 6-phase. How important is this ?

[cozumel]

I think Gigabyte beats Asus on reliability.

That's just my opinion though. Some of the guys who work in stores may come here and rip this thought to shreds...

[Kizo]

Originally Posted by cozumel

I think Gigabyte beats Asus on reliability.

That's just my opinion though. Some of the guys who work in stores may come here and rip this thought to shreds...

lol, cozumel.
I value everyones opinion. Thanks.

[PangingJr]

i pretty much know about how Gigabyte's boards and its BIOS work in general.
i would say if the users are not too tech savvy and just wanting a good and stable motherboard, the Gigabyte board has a better chance to beat the Asus one.

i use P5Q Deluxe and know of a couple of friends who's also using P5Q Deluxe and P5Q-E's,
when running our system's CPU, either dual- or quad-core processors at default, none of the boards will give us stable in Prime95, SuperPi and other stress testing programs.
this is only until you understand what you are dealing with, it didn't take long for me to understand how to deal with my own board's BIOS setting,
even if i'm not overclocking, the settings that belongs to overclock parameter of the board's BIOS is still required to be changed.

[Judas]

additional phases of power usually produces a bit more stability...

but it's more for overclocking then just stock settings...



I just placed an order for a P5Q-SE Asus board. As these are now my Standard Build motherboards. They don't have Raid, but otherwise they are nearly the same as the board as the p5q pro.

When i get it down here and setup i'll post my thoughts on it.

The system will be setup with the following:

Asus P5Q SE
Intel Q6600 Quad Core intel
4gb OCZ 1066mhz Kit (2x2gb)
HD3870 512mb ATI Radeon
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500gb 32mb cache SATA2
LG BR/HD-DVD Reader, DVD-DL-RW SATA drive
Coolermaster 500watt Power Supply
Windows Vista x64 Home Premium



For myself I personally would likely get the gigabyte board.. but i'm not sure.. i'll see how this asus board does. (i'll like have it down either later this week or by the weekend)

[PangingJr]

Originally Posted by Judas

additional phases of power usually produces a bit more stability...

not quite Judas.
while the system board voltages settings (VTT, NB, PLL, VDimm, and etc) are at Auto's, actually, there's already pretty much overvolt.

this (below) is an example of the overvoltage values, and the value on each boards and each version of BIOS can be different.



but that's not the problem about the board i mentioned above, which is about it's not stable while running the system processor at its default clock,
in my case, with my P5Q Deluxe i required to manually enter CPU GTLref, just can't leave this setting on Auto's.

[Kizo]

Well, that's a bit concerning, PangingJr. But only a little bit, since I don't beleive that Asus would advertise it if it is something that causes instability.
I think that I will research a bit more, and wait for Judas's impressions on P5Q SE.
After that I'm going to tell my friend what I found, and let HIM decide.
I dont want to be blamed if he doesn't like anything. (or if something burns)

If anyone else has any opinions, please speak them up. Thanks

[Judas]

The more phases incorporated results in a more finely managed and sustainable power supply to the socket and therefore the CPU itself. The use of multi-phase power management has recently made the transition from not only being incorporated in the CPU power supply but also the memory power supply. Until recently, manufacturers would design the memory with a single phase power management system. Since the recent Bearlake-based R.O.G. motherboards, ASUS has been implementing a two phase power management system. As a result, overclockers have been able to obtain higher memory frequency overclocks and maintain tighter timings at higher frequencies, as well as utilise lower voltage requirements.

the article is older mind you...

but essentially the more phases the more stable the system can possibly run, but it's mostly a promotion for better stability while overclocking... Of course having extra phases without overclocking is going to produce better results (marginally depending on a number of factors obviously)

But would i be concerned about 6 vs 8 phases? no. Not unless i was pushing the envelope.

As for the stability issues with the stock settings on the cpu.... I guess i'll find out when i get the package to see if it affects the SE version or not. What i do know is that previous Asus boards similare specs, but different features can produce wildly different results.

[PangingJr]

Originally Posted by Kizo

Well, that's a bit concerning, PangingJr. But only a little bit, since I don't beleive that Asus would advertise it if it is something that causes instability.
I think that I will research a bit more, and wait for Judas's impressions on P5Q SE.
After that I'm going to tell my friend what I found, and let HIM decide.
I dont want to be blamed if he doesn't like anything. (or if something burns)

If anyone else has any opinions, please speak them up. Thanks

oh i'm impressed with my asus board, and still do, it will go long time ago otherwise. lol.
i just answering something to Judas on the qouted message.

[RoyBatty]

The BIOS updates from ASUS sometimes break more things than they fix, so it's a little adventure every time you flash a new version. But the board (I have a P5Q Deluxe) is nice and stable, even at default clocks
The only problem is that I can't get the EPU 6-engine working.

[PangingJr]

mine was stable with the EPU thing when i tried it,
but EPU or not, the only problem is i cannot set all settings to Auto's (and just set Vdimm like it's supposed to be) and get a Prime95 or even a SuperPi 32 MB runs stable for the system that the processor is not overclocking. otherwise, the system always seems to run fine and i won't notice that it's not stable.
this also happens with my friends boards as well, and on all BIOS versions.
in short, the board is quite stable, both default clock and overclocked, but only after i manually changed some overclock parameter setting in BIOS's.

and because i use this board as in an overclocking right from the beginning of use, the friends too,
so personally i don't consider that as a real problem with this board, i kinda think this board was born to overclock.

however, if you want to find if there is any real problem with the board that you want to buy, for asus, you can usually find quite an info at the asus' own forums,
but you will also find so many newbie problems as well, so you will have to figure it out by yourself that which ones are the real problem to you.

[Kizo]

Hi,
I'm bringing this older thread up because my friend finally got his system.
There were some stock problems with both mobos, eventually we got our hands on the Gigabyte one. Thanks again to everyone for all the help.

Also I wanted to post some pictures of the system.
The final specs are:
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R
CPU: Intel Q9550 2.83GHz (OC to 3.2GHz with Gigabyte BIOS preset)
PSU: CoolerMaster Real Power 620W Modular
Case: CoolerMaster 690
Graphics: Sapphire HD4850 with custom cooler (extremely effective, I might add, OC to 660/2200, temps 45 idle, 65 max load)
CPU Cooler: Asus Triton 77 (Noctua NT-H1 CPU paste(AWESOME))
RAM: 2x2GB DDR2 800 A-Data Value (runs OC'd on 895MHz 5-5-5 )
HDD: 2 x 320GB Seagate Baracuda 7200.11 in RAID
Mouse/KB: Logitech Cordless Desktop 3200 Laser

[Judas]

nice

[kris23]

nice!

[Kizo]

Thanks.
We were trying to keep the cables as restrained as possible.

P.S. Crysis (non Warhead) @ 1680x1050 Very High, no AA - 23-24 FPS avg :P