Coming from the P5K Deluxe, you do lose a couple of features, and have a few less connectors, but what is on the board is better set out (side facing SATA and IDE connectors for starters).
The heatsink and pipes are massive - so if you are wanting a large aftermarket cooler, you might want to measure it up first, because even the stock Q6600 HSF only has a couple of mm clearance on top and bottom.
In terms of performance, with same setup, i gained 359 on 3dm06 just from 16/16PCIE for starters, on a single card, i couldnt say how much would be gained.
Overclocking seems to have pretty comprehensive options, nothing missing from the deluxe P35 board there, and the capabilities are good also - the Xtreme Systems team i beleieve recently got just over 29K 3DM06 off of the P5E3 which is the same board but with DDR3 support. http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=163074 of course that was LN2 for the CPU and video cards. (2900XT - should I order some LN2?)
My verdict (if it means anything) if you want extra features, go for a deluxe board ($350AUD+) but if you want an X38 board that offers quality of manufacturing, comprehensive setup options, DDR2 support and exeptional performance at a reasonable price ($280AUD) then go for the P5E.
I have some pics I will post.
Getting ready to work - everything apart and old board sitting to be scrapped (when I say old - I mean its about what... 6 weeks?)
The P5E and P5K-Deluxe side by side... I thought the P5K had a pretty huge heatsink, but the P5E puts it to shame... although the way the airflow moves, I cant help but think it would be better if the fins were horizontal rather than vertical?
Droool...
Doesnt leave much room in there hey?
And i took these pics on the same day, so i couldn't help but post one when theyre in the same folder
If you wont be running dual cards, then a P35 board will be a cost effective and well performing board.
The P5K will apparently support 45nm CPU, such as QX9650, and the deluxe will set you back as much as the P5E vanilla, but come with a load more features... the main reason I went for the X38 was for crossfire.. i needed 2 full speed PCIe slots.. the P5K-Deluxe comes with 1 full speed PCIe so will be fine as you say you only want to run 1 card.
I havent had much experience with any of the other recommended boards in that thread so I cant say too much more, but I would recommend.. when it comes to buying components - ask people what they like, get down some model numbers and then google for reviews... most good tech sites will thrash a piece of hardware more than you or I ever will, and as they deal with lots of hardware, can more accurately compare them.
The MoBo temp will sit pretty steady around 31-33* (being that its summer here at the moment, and the outside temps are around 38-40* half the time) room ambient would be in the high 20's.
The CPU temps get pretty close to 65* on stock cooling, which is why I refuse to raise the voltage at all to get further than 3.2
Also, I only run this setup for benching, for everyday use I run the CPU at 2.67Ghz and the XTs at stock speed (thats more than enough for most tasks)
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