Asus Motherboard Differences

[dmarkell]

Hello,

I am currently looking at building a new gaming computer and have chosen all the parts, except for the motherboard. I have narrowed it down to 3 and was wondering if anyone could tell me the differences because they all seem very similar but the price ranges quite a bit. First of all here are the components I will be putting in to it:

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K Quad-Core Socket LGA1155, 3.40Ghz, 8MB L3

GPU: : Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6970 2GB GDDR5

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1000GB (1TB) SATA3 7200RPM 64MB Cache

RAM: Corsair XMS3 Classic 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1333MHz CL9 DIMMs

PSU: : Corsair HX Series CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX EPS12V Power Supply

Sound Card: None, if there is sound integration in the motherboard.

Case: Antec DF-35 Dark Fleet Mid Tower Gaming Case


So the motherboards in question are:

Asus P8P67 Pro (Rev.3.0) Socket 1155 Intel P67 Chipset CrossfireX/SLI Dual-Channel DDR3 2133(O.C.)/1866(O.C.)/1600/1333Mhz 3x PCI-Express 2.0 x16 GigaLAN 8-CH High Definition Audio 4x SATA 6.0Gb/s 4x SATA 3.0Gb/s 4x USB 3.0 ATX - ~$185.00

Asus P8P67 WS Revolution (Rev. 3.0) Socket 1155 Intel P67 Chipset Dual-Channel DDR3 2200/2000/1800 MHz 4xPCI-Express 2.0 GLAN 8-CH High Definition Audio 4x SATA 3.0Gb/s 4x SATA 6.0Gb/s 14x USB 2.0 2x USB 3.0 ATX - ~$270.00

Asus Maximus IV Extreme (REV 3.0) Socket 1155 Intel P67 Express Chipset Support 3-Way SLI/CrossFireX Dual-Channel Dual-Channel DDR3 1866(O.C.)/2133(O.C.)/2200(O.C.)/1600/1333 MHz 4xPCI-Express 2.0 x16 1xPCI-Express 2.0 x4 Dual GigaLAN 8 CH High Definition Audio 4x SATAII 6.0Gb/s 4x SATA3.0Gb/s 6xUSB3.0 ATX - ~$350.00

So, like I said, they all seem pretty similar to me but very a lot in price so if someone could let me know what the differences, advantages/disadvantages are and what you might suggest for the specs I have listed above.


Thanks!

 

[Leaps-from-Shadows]

The answer comes down to a simple question -- are you using one monitor or a huge multi-monitor super gaming setup?

If one monitor, get the Pro. That's a great board and there's no need to spend the extra money.

The more expensive boards assume you'll be using multiple graphics cards in CrossFire or SLI and connecting them to a multi-monitor setup. They have extra PCIe lanes needed for that kind of configuration.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

For 3 cards in SLI / CF, get the Asus Maximus Extreme

For 2 cards in x16 x16 SLI / CF get the WS Revolution

For 2 cards in x8 x8 SLI / CF get the Pro.

Another consideration, if ya looking for the features in the P8P67 Deluxe, the WS Revolution adds x16 x16 for just $20, it would be a no brainer.

So, you are probably asking .... do I need x16 x16. I draw the line at the 560 Ti / 6950 ..... for any card of lesser performance, I wouldn't even think about x16 x16. Looking at the article here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/p67-gaming-3-way-sli-three-card-crossfire,2910-7.html

We see that with AA on, the x16 x16 board scores a 99 fps at 1920 x 1200 compared to the 91 on the x8 x8 board ..... however w/ AA off, (and who would do that ?), the x8 x8 board does better. As I said above, if you are building a $2k system with the P8P67 Pro cause ya want the extra features on the MoBo ..... then spending $20 or 1% more is a no brainer.

If ya not looking for those extra features of the Deluxe, and the P8P67 Pro otherwise suits ya needs, at $85, a 4% increase in system cost is a bit more of a consideration. I use the the Pro in systems generally up to about $1350 or so....after that, I been using the WS....of course, it's the person I'm building it fo who makes the final decision.

 

[dmarkell]

For some extra info, I will only be using a 1 monitor setup. Right now I plan to only put in the one graphics card. But I do plan to put in a second 6970.

Thanks for the responses, they were quite helpful!

Is AA Anti-Aliasing? And so basically it comes down to how many graphics cards I intend to have in there? If I plan to have two 6970s (which I do), then I would need the Revolution because it supports x16 x16 correct? If I was planning to only use 1 card then the pro/deluxe would be fine for x16? And if I had the pro/deluxe and I did put two 6970s in, then they would only be on x8 x8, in which case I would be taking a performance hit?

 

[dmarkell]

Best answer selected by dmarkell.