Abit and Asus questions

[jrg70]

Hello all.

I'm looking at putting together a new system form the ground up and I think I've narrowed it down to 2-3 motherboards.

Asus P4P800 deluxe
Abit IC7-Max 3

Both seem to be pretty equal in features. The Oates cooling on the Abit board sounds pretty cool. The [H] review was pretty fired up on it. People seem to think Asus boards are more stable then Abit.

One other thing. I've noticed some IC7-G Max 2 advance boards for sale, but they are not listed on the Abit site. What is that board? It lists for much cheaper than the Max 3.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Lazn_Work]

Both Asus and Abit are excellent MFG's either should serve you fine.

The Max2 is the older version of the IC7G, it is without the OTES and has a parallel port. (or is it serial port? wichever one Abit had to 86 to fit the OTES fan) Also it's Silicon Image SATA RAID controller only has 2 ports, compared to the 4 of the Max3's Otherwise almost identical boards. (I have a Max2)

==>lazn

 

[jrg70]

Thanks for the reply. I've been going back and forth between the Max 3 and P4C800-E board. Every time I think I've decided something else swings me around again. I have a few other questions:

The Abit board has active cooling on the northbridge, the Asus doesn't. Is that any big deal at all? Or does it really only have an impact if I start to push some serious overclocking?
added: Now that I look a little closer, it looks like the "-E" version has active cooling, and the "non -E" does not. Am I right about that?

Does the Oates cooling really mean much of anything either, or is it kind of a gimmick? (Even if it is a gimmick, it does seem pretty nice, but maybe not worth the price.)

If I were not going to OC al all, would one board be a better choice than the other?

Thanks again for the help.

 

[digitalman]

If I were not going to OC al all, would one board be a better choice than the other?

Thanks again for the help.

if you don't want to OC then get an Intel mobo with the features you want.

 

[DiscoStu]

if you don't want to OC then get an Intel mobo with the features you want.

agreed.

Though I have a MAX-2 and have been very happy with it. The northbridge fan may make a small difference in over clocking though the passive solution will be more then adequete. Good luck with whatever you decide.