MBO/CPU Upgrade Suggestion/Help

Hello folks. Whenever i need something answered i know to who to turn to.....to you guys ofc

So here is the deal. I'm currently using this:

gigabyte p35-ds4
e6750@ 3.4ghz
6gb corsair ram (3x 2gb)
xfx 9800gtx
620w corsair psu

friend of mine is upgrading his pc so i'm gonna sell my mobo & my proc to him

So now i need to buy a new mbo and a new cpu to go with.

Reading the forums and the reviews i know i want a ix48 based motherboard.

Here are the ones that caught my eye

Asus P5e Deluxe ix48
Asus Rampage Formula ix48

i was also looking at the gigabyte ix48 dq6 one but i kinda didnt like it....and it has the same bios as my mobo and thats a big minus for me, i'm picky

So what is the real difference between these 2 mobos except the price ofc?
The p5e deluxe is about 400$ here in croatia and rampage formula is almost 500$. What do i get for the extra 100$ and is it really worth it?

I'm gonna get the E8400 proc to go with the mobo...but just for the sake of it, i'm gonna list the prices so i can shock you

E8400 - 242$
Q6600 - 260$

I'm mainly gonna play games so i think that i should go e8400, am i right?

One last & brief question....in the near future (3 weeks or something) i'm thinking of getting 2x 4870 and get them in CF ofc....so is my 620w corsair gonna die trying to boot up or can it take that kinda heat? If i need to buy a new one, any suggestions?

Phew....sorry for loads of questions but my wallet wants to be empty again so i need the answers

Feel free to suggest any other mobo, proc that you think i should go with.

Thanx for reading the post people & thank you in advance for helping me out.

To make thing short....


Asus Maximus Formula x38
Asus Rampage Formula x48
Asus p5e Deluxe x48


please tell me which one to buy please

and also...is my 620w hx corsair gonna manage with 2x 4870 in crossfire or should i get a new psu aswell?


thx peeps.

what resolution are you running?
do you really need 4870s in CF?

i'd go with the Rampage, E8400 and if you want to CF go with 4850s

i'm running 1680*1050 on 22" lcd monitor. Yea you're right i actually dont need 4870 crossfire for that one

Now i'm thinking of going either 1x 4870 or 2x 4850 CF, what do you think obi? Which would you choose?

What about my psu? Would it handle 2x 4850's?

oh and 1 more thing.....would my TR 120 Extreme fit on the rampage formula board?

thanx for responding m8.

differences in the mobo's would be voltage controls, the rampage would offer more control or higher vaules.

i would take the cheaper of the 2, as i dought you need the higher voltage the one offers over the other. if your not extreme cooling such as LN2 or DICE then the added features wouldnt be worth it.

price wise for the video cards, i would take 2 4850's over one 4870 for the money. CF'd 4850's will out do one 4870.

yea the TR120 would fit the board...

Thank you very much for clearing things up for me Evilsizer....hard not to love you guys


Thanx once more m8.

ps. - nice texture compression on your avatar

NP