Motherboard For E6600...Asus P5WDG2-WS Best Choice?

[Natalia]

So I am trying to figure out what motherboard will be the best decision for my new E6600 that is coming in the mail...eventually

S&M Recommended the Asus P5WDG2-WS, but I was wondering what the difference was between that and the Professional version aside from the price tag

But then again... are those the two best choices out there? To help you out, this is the computer I wil be using it on and features I know I want are two fully functional 16X PCI-e slots for my two 7900GTX's (S&M told me how to do modified drives for the SLI), and a solid RAID controller. I guess the options out there are:

Asus P5WDG2-WS
Asus P5WDG2-WS PRO
Asus P5B Deluxe 965
Wait for the nForce 590

Unless anyone has other recommendations, I guess that sums it up

[S&M]

My choice ... lol ...
Asus P5WDG2-WS Professional + Modified Drivers

[burningrave101]

The P5WDG2-WS Pro is a $300+ board that has two PCI-X slots that will be worthless to most end users. It's a workstation board so that's what it's built for. I would just get the P5W DH when it starts showing up in stock again as it will be cheaper and will have extra PCI-E slots you can actually use down the road.

[thegreek]

The P5WDG2-WS Pro is a $300+ board that has two PCI-X slots that will be worthless to most end users. It's a workstation board so that's what it's built for. I would just get the P5W DH when it starts showing up in stock again as it will be cheaper and will have extra PCI-E slots you can actually use down the road.

P5WDG2-WS Pro OCes much better

[Natalia]

The P5WDG2-WS Pro is a $300+ board that has two PCI-X slots that will be worthless to most end users. It's a workstation board so that's what it's built for. I would just get the P5W DH when it starts showing up in stock again as it will be cheaper and will have extra PCI-E slots you can actually use down the road.

Don't I want two PCI-X slots for SLI mode?

[[XC] leviathan18]

PCI -E is what you want PCI X is another thing....


i say wait until the 590 is out to see how it performs if its good buy if sucks go with intel 975

[Ace-a-Rue]

hmmmmmmmmmmm...i am getting the Pro on tuesday and the P5B Dlx on monday....

i would say the Pro right off the top of my head...i saw a post that said the pro was one of the easiest conroe boards to set up...

i'd forget about the plain P5WDG2 WS...it wasn't designed to handle the conroe.

if you want an upgrade able board for the Kentsfield then go with the P5B Deluxe

[thegreek]

Don't I want two PCI-X slots for SLI mode?

You need the ASUS P5W64 WS Pro for crossfire

[thegreek]

hmmmmmmmmmmm...i am getting the Pro on tuesday and the P5B Dlx on monday....

i would say the Pro right off the top of my head...i saw a post that said the pro was one of the easiest conroe boards to set up...

i'd forget about the plain P5WDG2 WS...it wasn't designed to handle the conroe.

if you want an upgrade able board for the Kentsfield then go with the P5B Deluxe

The P5W64 WS Pro and the ASUS P5W64 WS Pro will support kentsfield also.

[Ace-a-Rue]

The P5W64 WS Pro and the ASUS P5W64 WS Pro will support kentsfield also.

my point was that Intel 965 chipset was designed to upgrade with newer cores but you cannot find that written in the 975 chipset spec from intel....the wording is missing...could it have been an oversight...possible, but unlikely.

[RangerXLT8]

It will have to be P5WDG2 Pro or P5W64 WS Pro... Either board is almost sexy and expensive.....

[sierra_bound]

Just an FYI. I've used five different Conroe boards (965 & 975). And they all work with Kentsfield. The biggest problem you run into is a FSB limitation with some of the boards. The P5W DH, for example, will do only around 350FSB with Kentsfield. The Bad Axe is even worse.

The Asus P5B Deluxe is a very nice board, especially for high FSB. Of the boards I've tested it's probably the one I like the best.

[Natalia]

Just an FYI. I've used five different Conroe boards (965 & 975). And they all work with Kentsfield. The biggest problem you run into is a FSB limitation with some of the boards. The P5W DH, for example, will do only around 350FSB with Kentsfield. The Bad Axe is even worse.

The Asus P5B Deluxe is a very nice board, especially for high FSB. Of the boards I've tested it's probably the one I like the best.

What are the big differences between the P5B, the Asus P5WDG2-WS PRO
and the not-yet-released P5W64 WS Pro?


And when people are voting for other... is that for the P5W64 WS Pro?

[SlackerXL]

What are the big differences between the P5B, the Asus P5WDG2-WS PRO
and the not-yet-released P5W64 WS Pro?


And when people are voting for other... is that for the P5W64 WS Pro?

the basic advantage of the WS-Pro besides the prementioned o/c abilities
is the the existence of the pci-x slots
a while ago you were wondering about a raptors solid raid setup...
with this board you can get an openbox areca 1220 from newegg
and get yourself a blazing fast raid5 combination

in terms of future upgradeability (as pci-x is not that common in mainstream boards)
and since you don't currently own any pci-x devices,
you could go with the almost identical 64WS-Pro version and get a decent pci-e controller instead

[nox_uk]

And when people are voting for other... is that for the P5W64 WS Pro?

Thats what my 'other' meant.

Nox

[sierra_bound]

What are the big differences between the P5B, the Asus P5WDG2-WS PRO
and the not-yet-released P5W64 WS Pro?


And when people are voting for other... is that for the P5W64 WS Pro?

I will be testing the P5WDG2 WS Pro very soon. Until then, I can't tell you. I think it's unwise to make a buy decision based on only a few user results. Many people have gotten burned that way, including me.

The P5B Deluxe holds the current record for highest FSB, if that means anything. Several people, including me, have gone above 500 with Conroe. 500+ with Allendale is not so difficult. Much harder to do with Conroe.

[RangerXLT8]

What are the big differences between the P5B, the Asus P5WDG2-WS PRO
and the not-yet-released P5W64 WS Pro?


And when people are voting for other... is that for the P5W64 WS Pro?

The P5WG2-WS Pro and P5W64 are sever\workstation boards and are fitted with true PCI-X 64-bit slots(like one needed for an Areca RAID card that is not PCI-E graphics slot).

The P5B on the other hand is aimed at enthusiast ect. The P5B also does not have true 8x 8x PCI slots for SLI.

[Torphoto]

Before someone gets lost in here, the p5wdg2-ws does not support conroe, I've tried it and it will not post with the E6600 or e6300. The P5wdg2-ws Pro will support conroe as it is the same board with the upgraded voltage specs etc for conroe ( and esata port ) ( as yet I don't have a pro or p5w64 in my hands ). DO NOT buy the non pro and expect it to work on conroe ( there are rumors that the E6800 will work on the non pro but none of the others will with out modifacations ). Now all 3 boards mentioned will support crossfire, the P5wdg2-ws ( not for conroe ), the P5wdg2-ws Pro and P5w64-ws PRO.

The P5w64-ws does not have pci-x slots but 4 16x pcie slots, more usable overall unless you already have pci-x cards. Only Andre have had their hands on the p5w64 as far as I know and it isn't out in stores here yet. The P5wdg2-ws Pro is out but some stores will send the non pro unless you specify! ( damn zip zoom crap ). Now with that said I will return to being a noob and send this board back and wait for the p5w64

[apfubar]

I just got my P5WDG2 WS Pro booting with a single 7950, after waiting a week for the PSU and Memory. Installing WinXP Pro currently.

AP

[Torphoto]

Lets us know how it runs....

[burningrave101]

P5WDG2-WS Pro OCes much better

According to what? I've seen like two people show they've tested this board so far. I'm quickly learning it's wise to purchase a board that multiple people have been using and has had multiple BIOS revisions. The P5WDG2-WS Pro is going to cost at least $100 more then what the P5B Deluxe can be found for. This is a server board designed for workstations, not enthusiests. The P5W DH and P5B Deluxe are the enthusiest boards. Why pay a lot more for the P5WDG2-WS Pro? It doesn't offer anything special outside of PCI-X slots which nobody uses unless you're seting up an expensive RAID array. I would personally rather have a board that has one or two more PCI-E slots in case i want to upgrade to a PCI-E sound card or physics card down the road and still have two slots for Crossfire/SLI.

[Ender17]

All 3 boards are very similiar, here are the main differences:

Asus P5WDG2-WS
Came out about a year ago, does not support Conroe. Exact same layout as the Asus P5WDG2-WS Professional.

Asus P5WDG2-WS Professional
Basically this is the same board but with Conroe support and copper heatsinks. Of course, I'm sure other minor tweaks and improvements have been made as well.

Asus P5W64 WS Pro
Very similiar to the Asus P5WDG2-WS Professional, but instead of 2 x 16x PCI-E, 2 x PCI-X, and 2 x PCI; it has 4 x 16x PCI-E and 2 x PCI.
Everything else looks pretty similiar, it supports Conroe of course.
Other difference is it's not currently available, whereas the Asus P5WDG2-WS Professional is.

I'd go with the Asus P5WDG2-WS Professional, I did infact. Got it at ewiz for $308. Should be here Monday, so I'll let you know how it is.

According to what? I've seen like two people show they've tested this board so far. I'm quickly learning it's wise to purchase a board that multiple people have been using and has had multiple BIOS revisions. The P5WDG2-WS Pro is going to cost at least $100 more then what the P5B Deluxe can be found for. This is a server board designed for workstations, not enthusiests. The P5W DH and P5B Deluxe are the enthusiest boards. Why pay a lot more for the P5WDG2-WS Pro? It doesn't offer anything special outside of PCI-X slots which nobody uses unless you're seting up an expensive RAID array. I would personally rather have a board that has one or two more PCI-E slots in case i want to upgrade to a PCI-E sound card or physics card down the road and still have two slots for Crossfire/SLI.

It's really a cross between enthusiest and workstation board. True server/workstation boards typically don't have the vast array of overclocking options these boards have.
And it's based on the regular P5WDG2-WS and plain P5WDG2 which were probably the top 2 boards for Intel overclocking before the Core 2 Duo chips came out.
Also, the P5W and P5B were designed by a different motherboard team, so it wouldn't be surprising to see some difference in their overclocking ability.
From what I've seen so far, everyone that has used both series likes the the P5WDG2-WS Pro and P5W64 WS Pro, however I agree it's to early to say for sure one is better than the other.

[sierra_bound]

Just started testing the P5WDG2 WS Pro. This is the best board I've used for Kentsfield, by far. The BIOS allows me to use multipliers from 6 to 20. Also, the 4:5 ratio works well, unlike many other boards. Will run stability tests over the weekend.

1:1 tests

[JayG30]

can someone clarify for me...the P5B deluxe can run crossfire/sli(hacked drivers of course)? I know there aren't many 965 boards that do. What are the disadvantages if you can even run it on this board.

I'm not sure anymore what I want. It's either the P5B deluxe that will probably not run dual-gpu to it's best but have a possible 500Mhz FSB which I probably won't use since I'm only looking to run at a max of 450Mhz. Or get a 975 board that will run Sli with hacked drivers better but most likely not reach the same FSB and have to struggle to get me to the mid 400's. man do I hope some of these 975 boards get better Bios's.

[xgman]

I have had the DH and now the WS-Pro. They are close in performance from what I can tell and the average person would not see mcuh difference. The ws-pro was at ewiz for $300 when I got it and the p5wdh was selling for anywhere from $250 to $300, so it wasn't that much more. The P5B Sierra likes is less expensive. The other difference in the ws-pro from the DH is the extra power 8pin vs 4 pin. The WS-Pro unscientifically seems to be a more robust board to me than the DH which I di have some issues with. The only big complaint so far on the WS-pro is high cpu temps readings. Also, it overvolts the vcore wheereas the DH undervolts. It also has up to 1.8 Vmch vs 1.65 in the DH. These things may or may not be important to you. So far I prefer the ws-pro. I have not tried th P5B.