Decision: Which Mobo!!

[jojo29]

Ok, this is my first post here, and it's a question. First a bit of History. I've only built one other system, and it was a pretty great build back in 2004. It was built literally a couple months before sockets 949/775 were first released, as well as the introduction of PCI-Express. Here is that rig, which is my current rig:

AMD Athlon 64 3200
Asus K8V SE Deluxe
2 GB Corsair DDR
ATI Sapphire X1600 Pro
Western Digital 250GB Hard Drive
Asus 450W Power Supply

Ok, now, i've been building a new system piece by piece, this is sorta a hobby in that i've liked building these systems so far ( helped a few friends out along the way) but, im a tight budget, so getting the latest is not always the case for me. I can get the greatest of the current just not the greatest of the latest. Also, i know Nehalems are out and and Corei7 Mobos are out. The problem with me picking those up are: Price. Also, I don't want to wait 4 more months to finish this project off as i feel that this system will last me quite a long time, in terms of gaming. Sure i won't have the highest of the high frame rates and/or benchmarks, but i m pretty sure i will be able to run x game at pretty high settings and smooth as butter frame rates ( am i wrong? is this system setup not that great? let me know!)

Also, i feel this setup will allow me great versaitility in that, if im cpu choked, i can upgrade to a 9870 quad core later when those are cheap, and still run x game. I could be wrong, but thats the game that is system building is when to dive in, and once you do, go all the way..

What i mean by that is, yes i can splurge on some parts, but i can't on others if it doesn't make sense. Anyways without further adieu, this is what i have planned so far (** Indicate what i've bought)

Intel Core2Duo E8500 3.1GHz** ( I will go quad when the 9870?? the quad core @ 3.0Ghz?? comes down in price )
Antec Nine Hundred**
Seagate 750GB Hard Drive**
Samsung DVD/CD Drive**
G.Skill 2 GB DRR-1066 ( x 2 for 4 GB total)**
Windows Vista Home Premium**
ATI 4870 1GB
Antec 650W NeoPower Modular PSU**

Of course this system will be used for gaming. As you can see only 2 parts remain: The Video Card and the Motherboard. The video card is set in stone. My problem comes into which of these two motherboards to pick up.

Asus Maximus II: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131319
or

Asus P5Q Premium: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131326

Now, i've had my eye on the P5Q Premium for quite some time, it has an extensive feature set, looks good. But then i stumbled across the Maximus II and it has a similiar feature set, minus a few features, but is said to tailor to the gamer crowd.

Now, im just wondering, since these boards are about $10 apart ( aside from special rebates ) which one would be the better buy? I've had my eye on the P5Q. Is the difference between these two boards neglible?

I guess here are additinal parameters: Which one has better OC software ( well built in ones anyways) Which OCs better and which runs more stable? Or is the difference so small it doesnt matter and just pick up the cheaper one?? Which system can run Crossfire with both cards @ x16

All these questions are whats stopping me from completing my system! Help !

 

[Suprfire]

I heard Pro > Premium
So in this case

Maximus.

 

[jojo29]

Cool

 

[kirbyrj]

I'd probably go with the Maximus. I had the original X38 Maximus and it was a great board. I'm using a P5Q Pro now, and that's also a great board. I haven't heard too much about the Deluxe, but it's obviously based on the same P45 chipset that the others are on just with the features. I guess it comes down to what features you're interested in using.

 

[Zero82z]

The Premium is cheaper, so I would go with that. As you get into the high-end range of motherboards, the rate of diminishing returns gets a lot higher. There isn't much of a benefit to going with the Maximus II, so you may as well save the cash. In fact, I would even recommend you go with a cheaper board like the ASUS P5Q Pro or Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P, unless there's some specific feature that you want from one of the other two boards.

 

[jxaznxk]

Asus Maximus II i would go for but the for the price i dont really think its much of a difference from the premium but either way u get a good deal but u really dont need such a good motherboad unless u plan on ocing like crazy.

 

[kirbyrj]

Asus Maximus II i would go for but the for the price i dont really think its much of a difference from the premium but either way u get a good deal but u really dont need such a good motherboad unless u plan on ocing like crazy.

I'm not sure they would OC significantly better than the UD3P or the P5Q Pro anyway. Probably not double the price worth of extra OCing.