The name is similar, the boxes are similar, and the boards look the same. However, if you intend on purchasing one of these you NEED to know the difference!

First off I have to say that ASUS has some of the best motherboards around. The quality of manufacture, the periphials, and the documentation are second to none. But like every good company they make mistakes. Unfortunately this one has enabled some "less than honest" companies to take advantage of people by using the similar names, boxes, and board appearance to overcharge their customers.

Do a search on P5n32-SLI Deluxe and you will find both the standard and second edition. The second edition will have the designator of "SE" in the name. Looking at the boxes you will find that they look almost identicle. Other than the "SE", the packaging is the same. From the fancy overwrapped cardboard to the font and lettering. Even the periphials inside and the order they are packaged is exactly the same. Heck, they even both say dual core ready!

But the Deluxe is not the SE Deluxe....

The SE Deluxe supports the newer Conroe (Core 2 Duo) chips while the Deluxe does not. While they both say they support 800mghtz RAM, I have yet to get the Deluxe to run stable at that speed. And finally, the standard edition costs about half ($100 or so) LESS than the SE model. 

There are three places I go to when I want information on any computer product. The first is tomshardware.com. A great resource for almost any computer item. The second is the manufacturers forums. asus.com for this one. and the last is newegg.com These sites give you a good idea of pros, cons, and price range.

Researching the Deluxe model on the ASUS boards immediatly makes me wary. Almost all of the customer input is bad to the point that most believe that the board should be recalled. Ouch! Tomshardware "forumz" also slam the board with a sprinkling of back pats from those who use the 900 series dual core processors. Finally Newegg rates it at a total of 4 eggs. 4 out of 5 isn't too bad till you start reading the actual reviews....

The second edition (SE) is almost the exact opposite on the review boards. Thats the good part of having people review your product. You have the opportunity to fix problems that are reported. However, changing the designation to SE is where ASUS dropped the ball. Or maybe they didn't....

What do you do with all these motherboards that are obviously buggy and outdated? If you are an unscrupulous seller you use the name similarity to confuse people into buying them at an inflated price. Not only do you get rid of the outdated items, you get an extra $100 in profit!

Think I am stretching the truth? Check out the auctions on Ebay for the Deluxe and SE models and see what sellers have buy it nows above $200 on the standard model.....On a board that runs $139 on Newegg .

To sum it up: Don't buy the ASUS P5N32-SLI Deluxe. If you plan on upgrading to a Core 2 Duo the P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe is a good board. Take a look at the sellers that are using the name confusion to rip people off and avoid them as much as possible. And finally...research BEFORE you buy.