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Bit of Friday night madness, I ordered the new board off eBuyer and it arrived Saturday morning. Switch over was painless and no need to re-install Vista. A few points
Pros
1) The overclocking options look more varied. But only needed to change the same settings to get my Q6600 to 3.2Ghz.
2) There doesn't seem to be any Vdroop - both CPU-id and AI-Suite report near stable readings as per the volatage set in the bios. Odd as I haven't changed the "load line calibration" setting and I though vdroop was meant to be by design as per Intel specs.
3) The fan control for CPU and chassis fans is much better. You can change the settings in AI-Suite without a reboot and for the CPU fan you can customise how the speed rises with temperature.
Cons
4) EPU-6 engine is rubbish. Doesn't actually run at all if the system is overclocked.
5) Express Gate is a waste of space. No support for Wi-Fi, so can't connect to anything. I guess this is understandable as there are no drivers. Can't install your own programs or use the flash for anything else (eg, ReadyBoost which may have been marginally more useful).
All in all - no reason to upgrade. Pretty much as per most reviews so far. Still thought you might want to hear from some sap who actually did
Pros
1) The overclocking options look more varied. But only needed to change the same settings to get my Q6600 to 3.2Ghz.
2) There doesn't seem to be any Vdroop - both CPU-id and AI-Suite report near stable readings as per the volatage set in the bios. Odd as I haven't changed the "load line calibration" setting and I though vdroop was meant to be by design as per Intel specs.
3) The fan control for CPU and chassis fans is much better. You can change the settings in AI-Suite without a reboot and for the CPU fan you can customise how the speed rises with temperature.
Cons
4) EPU-6 engine is rubbish. Doesn't actually run at all if the system is overclocked.
5) Express Gate is a waste of space. No support for Wi-Fi, so can't connect to anything. I guess this is understandable as there are no drivers. Can't install your own programs or use the flash for anything else (eg, ReadyBoost which may have been marginally more useful).
All in all - no reason to upgrade. Pretty much as per most reviews so far. Still thought you might want to hear from some sap who actually did