Are motherboards almost irrelevant nowadays?

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Seems like the days of motherboards being a part of the performance of the computer has passed. Most of the important stuff is being placed right on the CPU and the mobo is left to handle the small stuff. As long as the mobo fires up it's just as good as the next one. Am I wrong?

 

[tcsenter]

Its been that way for years. Put the same components in a $50 PC Chips motherboard and compare the performance to a $200 ASUS ROG. 3% ~ 5% difference. But review sites will continue to declare "astounding performance lead" when the disparity is only 1%, keeping the myth alive.

 

[aggressor]

It only really matters for overclocking these days, and even then the playing field is decently leveled out.

 

[alizee]

Agreed, the only reason to buy a more expensive motherboard is for built-in features (CF/SLI, Gb ethernet, FireWire, etc) and for better overclocking.

 

[Absolution75]

Agreed, the only reason to buy a more expensive motherboard is for built-in features (CF/SLI, Gb ethernet, FireWire, etc) and for better overclocking.

Agreed


But I'd also pay an extra $10 to buy from MSI/Gigabyte/Asus/ASROCK/Maybe DFI rather than someone like ECS.

 

[Kenmitch]

Agreed, the only reason to buy a more expensive motherboard is for built-in features (CF/SLI, Gb ethernet, FireWire, etc) and for better overclocking.

I also take the visual look of the board into consideration. Maybe I'm anal

I just can't get into the hippy psycodelic colors on MB's

 

[Tahi]

the only reason to buy a more expensive motherboard is for built-in features (CF/SLI, Gb ethernet, FireWire, etc)

I also look at power efficiency, but then I'm not a big overclocker or gamer.

 

[TJCS]

I also look at the layout of the board, but I haven't come across anything too funky the past two years.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Its been that way for years. Put the same components in a $50 PC Chips motherboard and compare the performance to a $200 ASUS ROG. 3% ~ 5% difference. But review sites will continue to declare "astounding performance lead" when the disparity is only 1%, keeping the myth alive.

Can't bite the hand that feeds you! Mobo makers can't handle the truth.

I believe we enthusiasts as a whole would rather see more in-depth reviews on sub $100 boards than yet another paid tech showcase of a vastly overpriced $300 Rampage Striker Extreme gamer elite FTW edition. Some may think more expensive = better build quality but from what I have seen high-end boards also have the same share of problems.

BTW you gotta love review sites raving over the Nvidia 6xx/7xx chipsets back then only to see end users burnt by the overall crappiness of Nvidia chipsets on $300+ boards.

 

[Daemas]

The more put on the CPU die the better. That means less crap that can go wrong at the mobo end. Less to worry about keeping cool if you OC, etc etc. One less water block to buy if you water cool .

 

[KamiXkaze]

Stability and layout tends to win me over, but as everyone has said motherboard have just gotten down to features, and gimmick's.

KxK

 

[bigpimpatl]

i've noticed some of the newer boards advertise solid capacitors and japanese quality...i'm guessing this is smoke and mirrors too?

I kinda chuckled when the packaging read "Japanese quality solid capacitors"

nice Eazy E avatar there btw

 

[raygunpk]

Can't bite the hand that feeds you! Mobo makers can't handle the truth.

I believe we enthusiasts as a whole would rather see more in-depth reviews on sub $100 boards than yet another paid tech showcase of a vastly overpriced $300 Rampage Striker Extreme gamer elite FTW edition. Some may think more expensive = better build quality but from what I have seen high-end boards also have the same share of problems.

BTW you gotta love review sites raving over the Nvidia 6xx/7xx chipsets back then only to see end users burnt by the overall crappiness of Nvidia chipsets on $300+ boards.

would buy 6 copies

 

[hans007]

Agreed


But I'd also pay an extra $10 to buy from MSI/Gigabyte/Asus/ASROCK/Maybe DFI rather than someone like ECS.

I have never had a problem with ECS boards. they dont have many options in the bios for overclockign and such, but if you dont overclock i'd rather save the $20 and buy a faster cpu or something.

asus if anything is super overpriced, i think msi / asrock can still give you good value though. and i use almost nothing but ecs and pc chips type boards and never have had a problem. maybe in the socket A K7S5A awful dark ages but ECS is pretty decent. the black series they have even has all those "extra features" and slots.

 

[JimKiler]

I like to buy a brand I know I can get drivers for everything, but that could be all manufacturers these days.

Remember when Asus used to always come out on top until Tom's exposed they were overclocking the CPU. Seems like the playing field was leveled after that revelation.

 

[RussianSensation]

It only really matters for overclocking these days, and even then the playing field is decently leveled out.

I would say even when it comes to overclocking, you have to separate it into Overclocking and Extreme Overclocking. A $120-$130 motherboard on socket 1156 for example will still allow 4.0ghz Core i7.

Basically, you are mostly paying for features (How easy is it to find information on the website, how often is BIOS updated, CF/SLI, USB 3.0/SATA3, etc.) and Extreme overclocking.

 

[heyheybooboo]

I'm going with the mobo being the primary component.

I've had my K9A2 Platinum for 2 1/2 years and can most likely sell it for more than I paid for it. MSI BIOS support has been great. It supports every AMD proc since s939.

It's officially 'archived' now but I'll bet a nickel when Thuban rolls an 'unofficial' beta BIOS will pop up in their forums.





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[tcsenter]

I've had my K9A2 Platinum for 2 1/2 years and can most likely sell it for more than I paid for it. MSI BIOS support has been great. It supports every AMD proc since s939.

That's because you got the A2 (i.e. 2.0) version. Lots of dissatisfied owners of the K9A Platinum.

 

[StrangerGuy]

I'm going with the mobo being the primary component.

I've had my K9A2 Platinum for 2 1/2 years and can most likely sell it for more than I paid for it. MSI BIOS support has been great. It supports every AMD proc since s939.

It's officially 'archived' now but I'll bet a nickel when Thuban rolls an 'unofficial' beta BIOS will pop up in their forums.

Resale values of S939 CPUs and mobos are ridiculously high to the point of outright lunacy (You can buy a far faster brandnew CPU + mobo + 4GB DDR3 for the price of a used ebay X2 4800+). You are not the only one with them.

 

[bigpimpatl]

^is their some explanation to this [high s939 cpu/mobo prices]? maybe I should have held on to my s939 gear...

 

[Teetu]

I recently sold my X2 4800+ 939 for $180 and my DFI nforce4 for $75. I went to frys and ended up breaking even on a i7 860 and gigabyte combo- I'm still really stunned at the whole thing

 

[heyheybooboo]

That's because you got the A2 (i.e. 2.0) version. Lots of dissatisfied owners of the K9A Platinum.

I haven't seen any dissatisfied owners.

There were 'issues' like with any other mobo. Since it is a sb650 it has no ACC (which equals no unlocking). The NB/IMC tweaking had a lot to be desired in later BIOS releases but if that was critical you could always revert to an earlier version. I never tried (should have) AHCI - especially the 'port multiplier' - on the eSATA so it may have been borked.

And the stand-offs for the mobo headers were a little funky - LOL

With the question of relevance of motherboards the MSI simply flies in the face of the OP. I like ECS, Biostar, et. al., but their mobos suffer from a lack of on-going support which really makes them irrelevant from an enthusiasts standpoint - unless you like to change mobos as often as you change your drawers.

And of course, some motherboards are always the exception beyond the norm --- the MSI 790FX just happened to work out that way with the DDR2/DDR3 IMCs of the AMD procs. Throw in 2+ years of BIOS updates and it runs most every desktop cpu made over the last 4 years - not including some Optys that it will run.





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[deimos3428]

As long as the mobo fires up it's just as good as the next one. Am I wrong?

Well, powering up has always been the motherboard's job #1.

While some minor variation exists, in general a motherboard decision has less to do with performance and more to do with capability/expandability. Selection of a specific brand would based on reputation for quality and support.

 

[tcsenter]

I haven't seen any dissatisfied owners.

Check the complaints on MSI Forums.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

didn't need the extra features so i bought the UD3R rather than the UD3P on my Gigabyte board.

for MSI, i got the base rather than the platinum.