Core 2 Duo System. What MB to use?

[tripnek]

I am also going to build a new DAW and would appreciate some advice. I have been researching here and other forums for a week or so now and it would seem that the Intel Core 2 Duo is the hands down favorite with the overwhelming majority. Also, the ASUS boards seem to be at the top of the list. So I have a few questions on the MB’s.

ASUS P5B seems to be the most popular. I went to the ASUS site to check out the specs and found 14 variations of this board. So if you are using the P5B with a Core 2 Duo, please tell me what version you use and why you chose that particular version. What has your experience been with the Core 2 Duo/P5B combo? Is it stable, any problems, will it handle a heavy load? Any other relevant info you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

ASUS P5W DH Deluxe seems to be a good choice also and has a newer chipset. So if you are using the P5W DH Deluxe with a Core 2 Duo, please tell me why you chose this board. What has your experience been with the Core 2 Duo/P5W DH Deluxe combo? Is it stable, any problems, will it handle a heavy load? Any other relevant info you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Also, if you are using either of these MB’s with the Core 2 Duo, please tell me what kind of Ram and Graphics card you are using.

I will be using this system with:

Three (3) M-Audio Delta 1010 PCI interfaces
Cubase SX3
Wavelab Essential
Waves Native Power Pack
Waves Renaissance Maxx
Drumagog
Fruity Loops 4


Thank you in advance for all your help.
Glenn

 

[altitude909]

I would look at the Gigabyte DS3 if you want to use 3 PCI card, the P5b has the 3rd PCI slot next to the PCIE slot so if you have a pcie video card, it wont fit 3 PCI cards

 

[Bulls Hit]

I use the P5B Delux because I wanted the onboard firewire, heat pipe cooling thing and the 3 pci slots.

However as altitude points out I can't use the 3rd pci slot as my video card has a fatass heat sink on it. It would probably be OK with a slimmer card.

The board itself works great. I've got the e6600 cpu. This is the second intel/asus rig I'v put together and the combination is very stable and reliable