Asus mobo's worth the extra $$$...?

[nitromullet]

Most of the rigs that I have built for myself and others have been based on Asus mobo's, so obviously I've noticed that they tend to be a bit more expensive than comparably equipped mobo's from other manufacturers. I stick with Asus simply because my first rig was built on an Asus P5A, and I have never had any problems with Asus. In addition, I had a really bad experience with an FIC mobo and a less than stellar experience with a Gigabyte mobo. Recently, I was talking to a buddy of mine at school who has been building rigs since the way before me who swears by Abit, so I peeked into Abit a bit and saw that their prices were generally quite a bit less than Asus. I'm certainly not opposed to paying a bit more for premium equipment, but I am curious if I am simply paying more for Asus because of the brand name.

Essentially, I am curious to hear about others' mobo brand preference and why they choose (or stick with) a particular brand. I read a lot of hardware reviews, but these reviews tend to look at the features and the performance of the setups for a short duration. What you don't ever read about is what it's like to actually own a motherboard with regards to how well it holds up over a bit of time and how well it handles hardware upgrades - essentially its quirks or lack thereof.

I pulled up the current mobo stats from the Anandtech rigs page...

Motherboard Stats

ABIT: 472
AOPEN: 208
ASUS: 5270
IWILL: 541
MSI: 4090
Tyan: 1867

...I found it interesting to note that neither Gigabyte nor Epox were even present - also that Asus does appear to be the preferred brand.

Anyway, I'd love to hear some opinons on this.

Thx.

 

[dexvx]

I think they're higher quality, and for proof of that, just look at the recent Prescott fiasco. Lower end boards (based on 875/865), or OEM companies that decided to skimp on quality couldnt run Prescott or do so unstably. All of Asus's 865/875 boards could clearly run Prescott stably.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I have a Gigabyte i815ep for my server that's worked great for about a year with zero problems.

I've owned Abit LX6 and BF6, noticed some flakiness with the LX6 and a cold boot problem with the BF6 which might've been the HD.

I've owned Asus P2B, Cusl2-C, and now P4C800-E all have worked great, zero problems.

From my own experience I'll keep buying Asus instead of Abit, with maybe a Gigabyte now and then.


However, just like hard drives take personal experiences with grain of salt. Different people have had good luck and bad luck with every brand.

 

[Arcanedeath]

Sorry about the Legnth of this Post in advance... Includes a Mobo purchase history for me but the last section is mostly my Asus Exp's. Hope it helps....

I've used 3 Asus (1 A7N8X Del and 2 Cusl2's) , 2 Abit (1 BH6 and 1 BP6) , 2 Epox (1 8kha and 1 8rda+), 1 Intel (a 440LX board) , 3 Gainward (1 LX one HX and one BX board), 1 MSI (KT266 (no a)), 2 Tyan (S1854 Trinity 400's), 1 Gateway (BX based server board prolly made by Intel) and 5 ECS (all K7S5A's) boards, In PC's that I've build for myself of my Immeiadie family, of these boards....

I've Had the Intel one fail (it's an LX board), I've had to RMA 3 of the ECS boards (all K7S5A's when ya get a good one they are solid tho all are still in service) I had the MSI board fail 3 times in a 2 month period before I just gave up on it, and I had both Tyan's fail one was a replacment under warrenty, I actualy bought a 3rd as a drop in replacment as it was cheap at the time and it's still working (was a later rev. board the first 2 were rev 1's), the rest of the boards I've got were either sold or retired before failure.

In my exp I actualy had the least issues w/ the Gainward boards all 3 are still runing to this day and both the LX and BX based systems are still in service, to bad they stoped making motherboards. My Abit systems were both sold and I hear the BP6 is still in service and I'm not sure about the BH6 based one, All the Asus boards are still in service although the Cusl2 was overpriced and still has bios issues to this day, I kinda regret those although all 3 asus boards are still in service,

The 2 Epox boards are both in service but I've had alot of trouble w/ the 8kha (yet another Kt266 board /sigh what a mistake) The Intel LX board was a disaster it failed after 1 week of use and took the whole system except the power supply with it Haven't used an intel board since hehe) The Tyan boards were ok but the first rev. was flaky and both died after aprox 1 year of use each. The K7S5A's have been very solid I had to RMA 3 of em straight off as they were DOA and one of them loses the cmos once a week, but other than that they've been great esp. considering how cheap they were.

The Gateway BX based server board is still in service w/ a P3 550E and works well still, in any event based on my Mobo purchase history, Asus is kinda hit or miss I think I kinda over paid for them when compared to other models w/ the same or better features, and Bios support at least for the 2 models I've had seemed to be spoty, although w/ 1007 I think they finaly got mosta the bugs outa the A7N8X Del, but since they released the E version I've been left High and Dry w/out any updates. I kinda wish I had went w/ an Abit NF7-S, mostly due to cost as they have pretty much the same features. In general I've found Asus boards to be good quality but they seem to cost quite a bit more than competiors boards that offer the same features, so you are definitly paying for the Asus name and I'm not really sure if it's worth it when you can get boards that are prolly just as reliable and have just as good or better features for less. In any event thats just my thoguhts on the matter for now, sorry for being so long winded but hope this helps make up your mind

 

[nitromullet]

Wow... Thanks for the post. I agree with you on the ECS boards. Two friends of mine built K7S5A based systems... One was crap and the other is still working fine. Amazing how many of these you had to RMA though. It would seem hard for ECS to make any money if 1/2 their boards get returned.

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
Wow... Thanks for the post. I agree with you on the ECS boards. Two friends of mine built K7S5A based systems... One was crap and the other is still working fine. Amazing how many of these you had to RMA though. It would seem hard for ECS to make any money if 1/2 their boards get returned.

I doubt 1/2 get returned. From experience with quite a few--I lost count but imagine it's closing in on 60--it i aorund 10%. But all the ones that work ou ofthe box seem to still work fine. So far 1 dead from being too hot for ages (I warned my dad about it, but i was an exuse for an upgrade for him ), 1 unknown, 1 from a PSU randoml going crazy. Well over 30 K7S5A, maybe 15-20 L7S7A2...all that work for the first 10 minutes work well. But when the L7S7A2 is still under $50, it's hard to complain much .

I don't know if it is worth the extra fo Asus. Not bad, but the newer Abits rock.
MSI boards are good if you wait and get the 2nd revisions .

 

[Sunner]

I've been an Asus man for a long time now.
I actually went with Epox not too long ago, got three 8KHA+ boards, and while they've worked fine mostly, as in no stability issues, two of them had their NB fans go bad, and the third crapped out after about a year of service, and the NB fan on the replacement died as well.

My reasoning for going with Asus is that while their boards may not always be the best, they're always damn near, which is good enough for me, and the extra $20 for Asus vs Epox(or any other manufacturer) is well worth it since messy mobos are a PITA.

Aside from Asus, I like Tyan and Intel mobos as well.

 

[WobbleWobble]

I mainly use Asus motherboards myself.

I've had great experiences with them and will continue to use them.

I've owned the P2B, A7V133 and A7N8X-Deluxe and all have worked great. The price premium isn't really that much, but I can see how it can sway a person's opinion.

I believe Abit built their customer loyalty back in the BH6/BX6 days where they were the first motherboard maker to come out with all the overclocking options one could want in the BIOS without having to mess with dipswitches and jumpers. But that's changed and it's not an exclusive thing anymore.

 

[BD231]

No.

 

[MichaelZ]

wat BD said ^

 

[Kaieye]

The last four Asus mb's that I sent back for RMA at separate times in the past two years ALL had issues with them when they came back. Heaven help you if you have to send back a defective motherboard back to Asus.

Stick with Abit...

 

[Kaieye]

The last four Asus mb's that I sent back for RMA at separate times in the past two years ALL had issues with them when they came back. Heaven help you if you have to send back a defective motherboard back to Asus.

Stick with Abit...

 

[caz67]

Hi.

Asus, are very solid and dependable.

I have got an Asus board, in my old Rig.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: BD231
No.

So, what do you suggest instead?

 

[keebeen]

I've built many computers with different types of motherboards: Asus, MSI, ECS, Intel, Gigabyte

For Asus, I had a Celeron 533 system running on an Asus board and it still works to this day. My current setup is also using Asus. P4 3.0C on and Asus P4P800 Deluxe. Never had any problems with Asus. After my Celeron system, I switched over to Athlon/MSI for a bit then came back to Asus. Not that there was anything wrong with MSI though.

For MSI, I've only used their boards to build Athlon systems. Mostly using the K7N2 Delta L. For the most part, I've had no problems at all. Except on one of the systems I built, I couldn't get it to run 1GB of RAM (2 x 512MB) in Dual Channel mode. Windows kept rebooting randomly. I was using the same brand/timing of RAM so don't know why it wasn't working. However, this was only on 1 out of about 10 MSI systems that I've built.

I only built one ECS system (P4), and it was crap. Kept rebooting Windows randomly. Thought it was the RAM at first so we changed that, but it didn't help. Thought it was the power supply so we changed that but it didn't help. Finally ended up returning the ECS board for an Asus board and problems were gone.

For Intel, I built a P3 system and it was rock solid. Limited features on the motherboard though.

For Gigabyte, I've only built 2 of them and have not had any problems with them. Both are Athlon systems.

And those are my experiences with motherboards. I've used MSI the most and overall, I like them. Good value. Asus is good too if you don't mind spending a bit more.

 

[Bovinicus]

My first homemade system was based around an ECS motherboard. I forget the model, but it was the one with a slot1 and socket370 interface on the same board. It was absolutely terrible. I had stability problems a lot. I never really got the system to work properly with a Celeron 433.

I ditched that motherboard and moved to a Soyo SY-7VCA. That moterboard was surprisingly high-quality for the price. I never had any stability problems. I eventually upgraded to a P3 667. As well, the system continued to run stable. I even managed to get the FSB to 150, and the CPU clockspeed to 750, without a hitch. It's still up and running to this day. It is in my little brother's posession now, but it is no longer overclocked.

The next motherboard I got was an ASUS A7V133. This board was also excellent. I had a TBird 1GHz plugged into this one. Again, no stability problems at any point. I also did some very mild overclocking with this board. I believe I hung around 1.13GHz mostly. I could have gone higher, but the TBirds already run so hot I didn't want to fool with it. Unfortunately, I made a completely newbie mistake and trashed this motherboard by accident. I won't go into the details...

The latest motherboard is an EPoX 8KHA+. This motherboard also surprised me because of it's excellent stability at low prices. I put the same 1GHz TBird in here, and just recently upgraded to a 2GHz (2400+) Athlon XP. I'm running with 3 DIMMs filled. I'm not overclocking (Although I overclocked a little bit with the 1GHz), but the system has never given me problems, and I have changed a lot of different hardware on this system including memory, CPU, PSU, video card, sound card, and network card. I have even added a DVD drive and HDD without a problem. This has been my favorite motherboard by far for a few reasons:

One, it ran the TBird at a significantly lower temp than the ASUS board (About 6-8C lower under load inside the same case with the same HSF).

Two, it seems to respond a little better to tweaking than any of the other boards I have fooled with.

Three, the price was excellent.

Four, it has stood the test of time with hardware, and has allowed me to double my CPU clockspeed without upgrading anything by my HSF.

 

[WobbleWobble]

The A7V133 did report higher temperatures to more accurately reflect the actual temperature of the CPU. But regardless of what temperature you were reading, the actual temp of the CPU should be the same for both boards. Also, even the same board may report different temperatures. So unless you're reading the diode temp, which TBirds didn't have, you're always going to get that fluctuation.

 

[stranger707]

I have built many systems over the years and I have had virtually no problems with ASUS mobos. I have built systems using the A7N8X, A7V333, P4S8X, K8V Deluxe, A7V266, A7V133, P4B-F. They have all performed as advertised. One thing others may not talk about is their support. Their web site always has accurate information and the telephone tech support is good. I would recommend an ASUS motherboard without question.

 

[corkyg]

I have built about 14 computers since 1992 using Asus mobos. I snuck in one Abit, one A-Open and one FIC in the mix for other people who were not necessarily quality driven. At this point, any future builds will be Asus. I have never had a problem with them, and they perform very well.

 

[Viper96720]

I went with ASUS since I noticed that HP and others had used ASUS boards before. I also own a couple of abit boards. None had any problems. An Abit KT7-R and BG7. Asus P4T-E and K8V

 

[Slammy1]

Originally posted by: Kaieye
The last four Asus mb's that I sent back for RMA at separate times in the past two years ALL had issues with them when they came back. Heaven help you if you have to send back a defective motherboard back to Asus.

Stick with Abit...

OMG. The worst RMA policy. I've been an Asus-man for some time now, my next board will def. be something else.

 

[NgtFlyer]

I've built many systems over many years. I have had the best experience with Asus and Abit boards.. my Abit BH6 finally croaked after about 5 solid years of use as a server. Tried resetting bios and replacing battery... It's dead.

My main box runs a a CUV4X board. I've had this board for around 3.5 years and use this machine daily. It's always been very solid and reliable. In fact, I don't remember ever having problems with any Asus board I've owned personally.

I've owned one Epox and one MSI.. both were fine. Also still have an ancient Azza board running in my firewall server.

I've unfortunately had to deal with Amptron/PC-Chips boards. They're junk. Cheap cheap cheap!

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

All three Asus boards I've bought for myself or others have worked flawlessly. They've gone beyond the call of duty.

At work we've had problems with some cheap MSI boards (not saying all their boards are cheap, just what we were using).

 

[Jalapeno]

As long as they run they are excellent boards. If they do break and you need their customer service you are screwed royally. From the big name brands ASUS has (and has had for many years) the WORST service department.

It's ABIT for me all the way. OK, maybe an EPOX & MSI occasionaly...

 

[Texun]

About your question: I am firmly convinced that ASUS makes a great board, I've had several, but Abit IMO makes a board that is as stable and trouble free as ASUS, and depending on what you want it usually costs less. I've had more Abit than ASUS, but only because I have always been able to get the same quality for a few dollars less. You can't go wrong with either one but if I had to buy one tonight it would be another Abit in a second.