Should I Ditch My Motherboard?

Question

I have ASUS P5B-E and I always though I had the top of the line professional motherboard until I read that the P5B's are crap. First, when I installed 4 GB of PC6400 memory thinking that I would get at least 3.5, but I am only getting 2.93 unless I used the 64 bit, which I don't want to. Even if I dual boot to 64 bit Windows, I have to keep enabling Memory Remap, which then only shows 2 GB of Memory in 32 bit and eventually crashes my operating system.

I also have an ATI 4870 Video Card and I am realizing that I don't have a PCI-E 2.0 on my motherboard.

There is a 250 dollar motherboard called the ASUS P5E3 Deluxe, do you think I should dump this ASUS P5B-E junk and get the ASUS P5E3 instead? I really want to have 3.5 and not 2.93, will the P5E3 detect 2.93 as well or will it detect 3.5 GB and then in 64 bit, all 4 without enabling anything in the BIOS?

So, is it worthwile getting this new motherboard? I don't like having below 3 GB when I should be getting 4 or at least below that since I am using 32 bit since its more supported than 64 bit. Please tell me what you think.

Additional Details

The reason I want a lot of memory is because of Space, not for Performance. I need a lot of RAM especially for Virtual Machines and other stuff.

Thanks for the responses, I am just looking for a 3.25 GB Motherboard.

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

The RAM issue isn't the motherboards fault. Windows XP 32-bit ONLY reads upto 2.5-3.0GB of RAM max. I have a $100.00 ASUS P5QL motherboard. It's more than enough for me. I just put in a 8800 and I can play everything. Yes, that includes crysis on ultra high. Price doesn't always matter that much. If you're going to be spending that much on a motherboard. I'd go with a Nvidia series motherboard. They have a few bugs. But, with an insanely large amount of GB support and 3 PCI 2.0 graphic slots. It's more than enough.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

One of the reasons why I want to upgrade my motherboard is because of it not supporting PCI 2.0 when I have a PCI 2.0 Graphics Card already (ATI 4870). I think I may consider getting a newer motherboard, just for the 2 reasons. I hate my current motherboard like a lot, because of it forces 64bit OS.

Answer 2

It seems like a waste of money just to allow your self a bit more ram.
This isn't saying that ASUS P5E3 Deluxe isn't any good, because it is and what I heard about it is that its good for overclocking.
Honestly, with the difference between 2.93 and 3.5 I doubt you would see the difference. I went from 2gb to 3gb and my computer does run certain programs a little smoother but not as smooth as I like.

Add note

Not sure what virtual machines is and just took a look, if its a type of program that renders a lot of info then i can kinda see what you mean by space. I do a lot 3d rendering which requires all my ram. Certain programs will not use the whole 3gb i've put in my comp and i've had to make a thing called "3gb switch" to allow programs to use all 3gb.

Perhaps try making one of these switches on yours.

64bit windows would definatly give you more ram capacity however there is a lot of issues running programs and hardware that just isn't compatible, so i can see why you don't want to go down that route. However having the abilty to have more ram would certainly help but needing 8gb in which the board supports i don't think you will ever need.

So the question is do you really need to buy a board thats has the ability to run 8gb where you are only going to use half of that.