CPU/Mobo Mobo help: ASUS P5Q vs. EP45-UD3R

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Enzofreak550

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Okay, I have narrowed my motherboard search down to 2 boards.
The Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard or the ASUS P5Q LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard.

I'm looking for:
1. Reliability (A motherboard is no good if it quits working after 6 months, is it?)
2. Onboard sound
3. PCI-E 2.0 slots

I don't care about:
1. Manufacturer's addons (5 second startup express gate, etc...)

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Also, what would be a reccommended video card to go with either motherboard?
My GPU budget is $175 USD.

Thanks in advance for the help, everyone.
 
my vote goes for gigabyte

i was going to buy the same one until i saw the biostar tpower i45 which had crossfire for the same amount , but reliability wise you won't go wrong with the gigabyte
 
I would go for Gigabyte over Asus. But also check out Biostar. I got the Tpower since a year now and not 1 issue with it.

Everyone has the sense to get reliable stuff, but after all its electronics :lol:

Onboard sound is almost the same in the range of motherboards you are looking at. Some motherboards like Asus Rampage, Maximus etc have provided SupremeFX sound cards, but i dont think they fit your budget.

A GTX250 or a crossfire with Ati HD 4770 would do justice to your budget.
 
I have the Gigabyte EP45-UD3R board since about 3 months, it is very solid and trouble free, never had a system lockup. I dont overclock so cannot comment on this. I like the way the BIOS updates from a pendrive with just one key press. I had checked out the ASUS P5Q when I got my board and rejected it only because of the location of the power connector.

I also had the Biostar TPI45 in mind but I was told by the supplier that there are some issues with it - most porobably that is all B.S. but I was really taken up by the UD3R board - in my eyes it stood out from all the other boards in its price range. The only grouch I have with the UD3R is the layout of the SATA connectors, would have preffered it if they were laid out along the edge. The SCCF heat sinks do not fit on the UD3R board.
 
i've had the Asus P5Q fr quiet some time and so far no issues wtsoever with it.. works like a champ.. bootup is fast if u keep expressgate disabled(who uses it newyz?? :bleh: ) and so far no problems with it.. however there's two issues u might wanna consider
1) sccf may or may not fit.. i was told by well.. eazy i think :S tht it'll probably be too big.. u might wanna ask arnd before you buy.. i've not done ne overclocking wtsoever as this rig is going to my dad's office.. so rite no no aftermarket cooler on it..
2) that dumb power connector positioning :@ ruins the entire cable management thing :@
on a side note.. i dn't knw wt software gigabyte provides.. bt the software tht came with the asus board is excellent and well.. u get somethng for everything.. from easy overclocking and powersaving to temperature and voltage monitors.. i knw u said u dnt care abt this.. bt i felt it was gud enuf to deserve a mention.. :hap2:
 
I’m using ASUS P5Q-pro for around an year and have faces absolutely no issues with it.

I’m was able to push the FSB on board to > 500 to get my Q9550 to 4.3 Ghz.

BIOS update is a piece of cake with Windows Utility or USB Pen drive right through BIOS.

On top of that, if you’re extreme o/c er you can use Ket’s modified BIOS from here : Modded ASUS P5Q/Pro/Deluxe/Premium BIOS - XtremeSystems Forums

I’m using Ket’s BIOS and they’re double efficient than real one.

Finally, a Gigabyte user will praise Giga and ASUS user will praise ASUS unless

they’ve been bugged of with some serious issue.

My advise, go with the board which is cheapest of both and provide good after sale service.

P.S : SCCF fits but you need to bend the northbridge heatsink's fin to about half centimeter.
 
Why not biostar i45? Are you even going to overclock?

Express gate is crap. Besides Express gate comes on the onboard SSD chip only on p5q deluxe- not on lower end models. For lower models, you will need to install it in a partition on the hard drive. Bet they didn't tell you this in the advertisements did they? That power saving thing works only if the system is on automatic settings. Its not that useful.
 
The only thing I do not like about the Biostar TPI45 is the location of the IDE connector, if you use an IDE drive then the IDE cable will travel across the MoBo and over the SATA connector and will make for untidy cable management. Prefer boards with a IDE connector on edge of board. I had examined a lot of boards and read a lot of reviews before I settled on the Gigabyte EP45-UD3R
 
ummm.. asus is pretty clear tht ssd is only on p5q delux.. bt nehow.. the power saving seems to work pretty well with the given software.. it underclocks the proccy and lowers voltages (says so in the software.. doesnt say exactly how much) Works pretty well fr wt it says.. i would say both are good boards and as many people suggeset so's the biostar one.. do let us knw wt u picked out :D
 
^^ I have p5q deluxe and the power saver works only when you have not overclocked the system and the rest of the settings like EIST and cie are enabled at default. I doubt it saves significant amount of power.

If you are not going to overclock, the board is pretty wasted. Doesn't make sense spending so much amount on a board and not using its true hardware potential.
 
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