AB9 QuadGT or P5B Deluce Wifi?

[Mutley]

Ok, I'm finally getting round to building a new PC...mine is no longer able to cope.
I'm starting from scratch, and having to come up to speed on chipsets, motherboards, CPUs etc etc.

I'm tempted by the nV 680i chipset, but I've not read anything thats really impressed me yet, especially for the price. Just to be clear, I want a chipset/motherboard that will run Core 2 (probably E6600), be stable, and quiet, and provides for an 'amateur' level of overclocking - nothing massively aggressive.

So, Intel's 965 and 975 look more interesting. The 965 is newer, but the 975x has more features...but from what I've read the 965 may be the better choice at the moment, but I don't really know what I'm talking about....

Bottom line, my two motherboard choices (at the moment) are:

Abit AB9 QuadGT (£112 from Scan)

or
Asus P5B Deluxe Wifi AP (£122 from Scan)

Which would YOU choose or would you choose something different? I'm leaning toward the Abit at the moment - I've read a number of negative comments recently about Asus build quality..

Your wisdom and advice greatly appreciated.

Mut.

[Clunk]

For a definite answer, you need someone who has got both.

I can vouch for the P5B though. As far as build quality goes, the two that I have had, have been good, apart from the heatpipe cooler things.

Both of these boards have the god awful jmicron controller, and you would be wise to get yourself a sata optical drive and turn off the jmicron controller in the bios.

Not had any problems really, the bioses are good and stable, it recovers well from a bad overclock without having to reset the cmos, does pretty high fsb.

Onboard sound is crap, as is the wifi (well, it is average at best).

[Agent]

Im getting the GT myself this week. The more I read about it, the more I want it.
It hardly has any issues, is very stable and overclocks like mad.

[Clunk]

It hardly has any issues, is very stable and overclocks like mad.

Unlike the stinking commando Bah Humbug.

[Blitzen]

Im getting the GT myself this week. The more I read about it, the more I want it.
It hardly has any issues, is very stable and overclocks like mad.

I ordered mine this afternoon
What jmicron btw?

[Mutley]

Unlike the stinking commando Bah Humbug.

Yeah, I read you had a few, er, "problems" with Commandos...
I have to say I was initially thinking about one of these, but I've read many posts regarding poor quality, and noises.

What puzzles me is that all the reviews I've read have been glowing, and none mention poor build issues. I can only think they've been lucky, or the samples they've tested were hand-picked by Asus before hand (surely not??! Nobody would be that cynical... umm, yeah).

Or that people such as yourself are in the minority and have been unlucky?

[Clunk]

Yep, its an odd one, seems to be hit and miss on those. Supershanks has one from the same batch as mine have been from, and his is fine. Saying that though, there are numerous threads with people with the same problems (and others) dotted about on various forums, so I do think that it isnt really bad luck, just bad quality control.

Regarding the reviews, it is doubtful that they would have had it long enough to notice some of the problems, and I'll bet that a few sites are guaranteed more boards from Asus if they go easy on the current model.

Anyway, the problems seem to be mainly on the ones from the Chinese factory, make of that what you will

[Dreaming]

I can vouch for the P5B though. As far as build quality goes, the two that I have had, have been good, apart from the heatpipe cooler things.

Both of these boards have the god awful jmicron controller, and you would be wise to get yourself a sata optical drive and turn off the jmicron controller in the bios.

I have the P5W which is the sister motherboard of the P5B, except it's the 975 chipset, can also say I think it's fantastically well built and implemented. One question though - what's this about the jmicron controller? I've already turned it off in the bios, but do have an IDE optical drive (it still works though).

[Mutley]

So what would be the reason to pick the 975 over the 965 in this case? I've read lots of good things about the P5B...I think its a similar price to the P5W.

[excalibur2]

Ok, I'm finally getting round to building a new PC...mine is no longer able to cope.
I'm starting from scratch, and having to come up to speed on chipsets, motherboards, CPUs etc etc.

I'm tempted by the nV 680i chipset, but I've not read anything thats really impressed me yet, especially for the price. Just to be clear, I want a chipset/motherboard that will run Core 2 (probably E6600), be stable, and quiet, and provides for an 'amateur' level of overclocking - nothing massively aggressive.

So, Intel's 965 and 975 look more interesting. The 965 is newer, but the 975x has more features...but from what I've read the 965 may be the better choice at the moment, but I don't really know what I'm talking about....

Bottom line, my two motherboard choices (at the moment) are:

Abit AB9 QuadGT (£112 from Scan)

or
Asus P5B Deluxe Wifi AP (£122 from Scan)

Which would YOU choose or would you choose something different? I'm leaning toward the Abit at the moment - I've read a number of negative comments recently about Asus build quality..

Your wisdom and advice greatly appreciated.

Mut.

I'm in the same boat as you in choosing but have added the new D3P ver3.3 on my list.....I've got new P180, corsair PSU and sata HD waiting since Xmas to be filled with goodies, but am forcing myself to finally decide in about April/May.

Did think of getting a plain old DS3 with 4300 to play with in the meantime but.....................................

[Mutley]

Yes, I have the P180 on my list as well...can't decide which PSU though, thinking of a Seasonic or Enermax at the mo. And then which Conroe, 6400 or 6600? Probably the 6600..

But apart from the motherboard, the biggest question is: silver or black P180!!??

I can't decide!

Is that the Gigabyte D3P you mean? Not even considered that - why would it be an option alongside the Asus and Abit?

[excalibur2]

Yes, I have the P180 on my list as well...can't decide which PSU though, thinking of a Seasonic or Enermax at the mo. And then which Conroe, 6400 or 6600? Probably the 6600..

But apart from the motherboard, the biggest question is: silver or black P180!!??

I can't decide!

Is that the Gigabyte D3P you mean? Not even considered that - why would it be an option alongside the Asus and Abit?

Black P180 seems to go cheaper seen it for £67 + vat.

The old DS3 came second in a motherboard shootout, 1st was P5B deluxe, the new DS3P ver 3.3 has a changed layout and quad ready and is cheaper than the P5B. But I've been stung twice by jumping in early with motherboards in the past, and would like the dust to settle....so far it seems the P5B is the most "settled" one.

[Clunk]

^^ I have had a DS3 and I have to say that it was much worse than even the commando for build quality, it was actually flimsy, and cheap feeling (was 110 at the time as well), that said, it was an early version, so maybe the new ones are a bit better.

[Mutley]

So basically it still comes down to Abit or Asus. Getting a warmer fuzzy feeling about the Asus I have to say.

Any voters for the Abit?

Excaliber, where did you see the P180 for 67?

[daza]

I'll say the abit as I'm getting one on Wednesday and its newer than the asus but there both great boards and you'll be fine with either.

[Martin87]

i don't no what people think about the Asus P5B Premium Vista edition, but ive seen it on there site and i think it looks really good, although i have not seen on any UK sites e.g scan for prices yet (lee @ scan is on to that for me though) im interested in what others think of it!

Here's the link for it,

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1...58&modelmenu=1

However if i had to bye today it would be the Asus P5B for me Mutley