Asus P5B variants with ICH8R - which one?

I've decided on an Asus P5B for an upcoming Q6600 build as I'm unlikely to upgrade many of the components in the future. I want internal raid & firewire, so that means I need one of the variants that uses ICH8R rather than ICH8.

I had settled on the P5B-Plus but it's proving hard to find stock.

Can anyone suggest an alternative P5B?

Does the P5B-Plus (vista ed) merely add a few features I could ignore or does it have any active disadvantages over the regular P5B-Plus (aside from a generally higher price)?

How about the P5B-E? This one has me puzzled as there seems to be virtually no differences from the P5B-Plus, to the point I don't understand why it exists as a separate model.

:help:

Also, if you happen to know of stock & a decent price somewhere, I'd appreciate that info too.

why not get a P5K variant?

I'd be happy to if you can find one around £80 which includes ICH9R (assuming ICH9 doesn't support internal raid & ICH9R does, as per the ICH8 naming convention). Any suggestions?

http://www.ginger6.com/asus-skt775-p...b-p-28913.html (supposedly have an Ok rep)
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Compo...26555&context=
http://www.it247.com/Product/621-P5B..._ATX_iP965.htm

How about an abit IP35 or Gigabyte P35-DS3P instead?

Wow, thanks :)

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Originally Posted by BUFF

http://www.ginger6.com/asus-skt775-p...b-p-28913.html (supposedly have an Ok rep)

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Cool. Mind if I ask how you found this one? I'm usually pretty good at searching so when I get beaten I'm keen to steal other people's strategies.

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http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Compo...26555&context=

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That's pretty cheap for the Vista edition, £83; Scan's price is about £20 more. Cheers.

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http://www.it247.com/Product/621-P5B..._ATX_iP965.htm

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That one I had found - no stock (marked as ordered upon request).

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How about an abit IP35 or Gigabyte P35-DS3P instead?

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I ought to consider them. Heard the latter mentioned quite a lot. Any idea how they both overclock?

Froogle ... :D

I'm sure that it247 was reporting stock when I checked :confused:

Tbh they all clock pretty close to each other but the abit & Gigabytes use less power & hence run cooler than the P5K.

I decided to go through all the P5K variants. Seems all but the cheapest three use ICH9R rather than ICH9. So that means any aside from P5K, P5K-SE & P5KC. Of the rest I think P5KR is the cheapest. Unfortunately it's again hard to find.

Scan's cheapest is the P5K-E Wifi at £105 which is over my budget & has features I don't need.

LambdaTek offer the P5KR at £79, but no stock until an estimated 21 August. At least that suggests the P5KR would be an option if I could find one.

The Gigabyte P35-DS3P you suggest looks to be a good candidate, is easy to find & at about £86 I could stretch to it. Though aside from all the good stuff I've read about the Asus boards, I was looking forward to the customised boot logo :embarrassed:

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Originally Posted by BUFF

Froogle ... :D

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Interesting, never really bothered with it - will have to have a look. Ta.

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Tbh they all clock pretty close to each other but the abit & Gigabytes use less power & hence run cooler than the P5K.

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I didn't know that. Right, I'm seriously considering the Gigabyte then. Better go over some detailed specs. Thanks again :)