Asus Maximus Formula SE vs. Asus P5B Deluxe: Is it really worth the money?

[DesertShooter]

I got a nice package from asus, (just like 9 other dutch people) with the most expensive motherboard for overclockers. It's called the Asus Maximus Formula Special Edition and has the X38 chipset.

So I made a nice compartion of the two boards:

Rig 1:

C2D E6400 L633Axxx
Asus Maximus Formula SE
Xtreem Team PC5300 C3 (2x512MB)
Asus 7300GT
OCZ PowerStream 600Watt
Scythe Ninja Plus




Rig 2:

C2D E6400 L633Axxx
Asus P5B Deluxe (VCore en VDroop modded)
Xtreem Team PC5300 C3 (2x512MB)
Asus 7300GT
OCZ PowerStream 600Watt
Scythe Ninja Plus




And two speeds:

Stock: (266*8 )

CPU: 2,13GHz
RAM: 333MHz 4-5-5
GPU: stock

3,6Ghz: (450*8 )

CPU: 3,6GHz
RAM: 450 4-4-4
GPU: stock

Results:
































































So, the difference isn't that big, but the x38 seems to be just a little bit better in this comparison.

If you want crossfire, go with the X38 chipset.

Don't need crossfire? Get a P35/965 chipset

[DesertShooter]

Box:


Setup:




Closeup's:

[DesertShooter]

Maximus:

3875MHz


P5b(!):

4020MHz




Maximus:

3958MHz

P5b:

4032MHz




Maximus:

520MHz


P5b:

510MHz




Maximus:

611MHz 5-5-5


P5b:

566MHz 5-5-5




So, there is a significant improvent in FSB Freq. and RAM Freq. But the max cpu freq. is very bad. It could be because of other reasons...

[Nuker_]

Maximus:

3875MHz


P5b(!):

4020MHz




Maximus:

3958MHz

P5b:

4032MHz




Maximus:

520MHz


P5b:

510MHz




Maximus:

611MHz 5-5-5


P5b:

566MHz 5-5-5




So, there is a significant improvent in FSB Freq. and RAM Freq. But the max cpu freq. is very bad. It could be because of other reasons...

Maybe a few bios updates will fix that?

[DesertShooter]

Maybe a few bios updates will fix that?

Yes that's what i'm thinking, i hope i can get hands on a new bios soon...

[Alexandrus]

Nice desk, and nice test.
Probably people chose X38 over the older 965/975 just for the sake of upgrading, not for the improvements. The improvements will show when Penryn is launched and available.

[nut311]

nice test and compare...
maybe you can test w/ Quadcore...

[waynetu]

awesome...lol
this is what i wanna see,,,
now i have some idea for what i goona do with my boards...

Thanks nuker,, will keep an eye on your further review

[voltaire2030]

Nice desk, and nice test.
Probably people chose X38 over the older 965/975 just for the sake of upgrading, not for the improvements. The improvements will show when Penryn is launched and available.

and PCI 2... but I cant remember where or how, P35 will be able to run PCI 2

[GAR]

P35 was supposed to have pci-e 2.0 but i think intel did not allow this for the sake of the x38 surviving.........if p35 had pci-e 2.0 it would be a much better buy....as the x38 offers no to very little performance increase.

[oohms]

Yeah for a 24/7 rig the x38 really doesnt offer a lot over the p35/965...

[zsamz_]

Yeah for a 24/7 rig the x38 really doesnt offer a lot over the p35/965...

exactly all you gonna get is more bandwidth on memory write+copy
n read speed is not faster not even latency

[Talonman]

Thanks for the post DesertShooter.

I have the Max on order.

I hope it likes the Raptors in RAID 0, and the WaterKegIII EX.

[Fixxxer]

Nice comparation, DesertShooter.