Most Preferred component vendors: Motherboard

[ColoradoLeo76]

As Lehtv so politely informed we, polls are indeed an option.

So, Who is your preferred motherboard vendor?

Me personally at the moment, ASUS, for a good combo of features and reliability, but I wouldn't say no to EVGA.

 

[lehtv]

While I don't own one myself, I would say that Asrock strikes the best balance on features and price especially in the sub-$150 category, and with 3 year warranty just like the rest of them along with positive reviews and user experiences, I think they're just as reliable and trusty as Asus, Gigabyte and others. This is regarding their Intel boards, I have next to no knowledge about AMD boards.

Of the above brands, I would buy boards from anyone except ECS (just because they're unknown to me and seemingly budget-oriented) and perhaps EVGA (unnecessary price premium and cut-down features).

 

[Cerb]

Biostar, Gigabyte, and MSI are hit and miss, but usually good.

Asus is usually good, but they are just too proud of it. They are a lot like Sony, in that.

Intels are reasonably priced, these days.

No complaints about ASRock or Foxconn. They both tend to offer less in the way of frills for their more popular boards; thus offering great value, but without serious quality sacrifices.

ECS is and has been just cheap. They had a bright moment with the K7S5A series, and that was about it. I don't doubt that some of their boards are quite nice, but...

I've used a few Jetways, and hated them for various reasons (long POST times, odd BIOS options, and card compatibility problems).

eVGA used to use the evil NVidia chipsets, and now just seem redundant, so I've never even tried one.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

Asus/asrock then MSI then gigabyte

 

[OVerLoRDI]

ASrock recently has just been amazing. Great prices, awesome features, great components. I start my motherboard searches with the Asrock line and work from there.

 

[fffblackmage]

I like AsRock for their balance of great value and feature as well. Other than that, I like Gigabyte and Asus.

I don't like the budget-oriented Biostar and ECS (definitely wouldn't try overclocking on them unless I wanted to see a mobo burn).

 

[lehtv]

What reason do you have to think that Biostar Z77 boards are not good for overclocking?

 

[Agent11]

Close between Asus and Gigabyte. Asus wins though.

 

[piasabird]

I have purchased an Intel Motheboard the last 2 computers I made. However, Intel only designs them and has somone else manufacture them to their standards. I have been leaning toward purchasing an ASROCK motherboard next. I also heard on the news that Asus was trying to buy ASROCK.

 

[fffblackmage]

What reason do you have to think that Biostar Z77 boards are not good for overclocking?

Dunno. Maybe I'm behind on the times. I just remember Biostar as being mostly budget-oriented and not especially geared towards the enthusiast market.

 

[mfenn]

I checked every box except for ECS and EVGA because I would buy a mobo from any of them if the price is right.

I wholeheartedly agree with the following quotes:

Of the above brands, I would buy boards from anyone except ECS (just because they're unknown to me and seemingly budget-oriented) and perhaps EVGA (unnecessary price premium and cut-down features).

Asus is usually good, but they are just too proud of it. They are a lot like Sony, in that.

Actually putting these side by side like this made me realize something interesting. ASUS, Corsair, and EVGA are very similar in that their products are typically overpriced, presumably to fuel their marketing engines. The difference is that ASUS and Corsair products are at least good, whereas EVGA products are middling to junk.

 

[ch33zw1z]

I go for Asus, Intel, or Gigabyte. Biostar is a meh.

MSI is out of the question. Too many of their products IMXP have been shit, and they screwed me over on a rebate (only company to do this successfully so far)...so fuck MSI.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

i voted "whatever is cheapest". when i first started building computers i would always buy intel thinking it was higher quality and more durable. then when i found stores offering cheapo cpu/board combos with boards from ecs/biostar/msi i found those brands are actually really good. a couple of my intel boards died or had annoying minor problems (815 board wouldnt turn off, not all memory would work, sound wouldnt work in linux etc...) but all of my cheapo brand boards are still working years later (innione sayin' ya need solid state capacitas needs ta replace da capacatas in they hid) and all of them were 100% (as far as i can tell) linux compatible right out of the box. so i think of ecs/biostar/msi as quality, trouble free stuff. other brands like asus may be pimpin' mo' betta feachas but id rather have stability and compatibility over extra features that complicate things. so fa mee, imma gist gonna git da cheepis, imma gonna gist git da cheapis....

 

[OBLAMA2009]

I go for Asus, Intel, or Gigabyte. Biostar is a meh.

MSI is out of the question. Too many of their products IMXP have been shit, and they screwed me over on a rebate (only company to do this successfully so far)...so fuck MSI.

lol they screwed me over on a coupla rebates as well but when you only paid $50 for the cpu/board combo, iss no deal, iss no big deal...

 

[ch33zw1z]

lol the screwed me over a couple rebates as well but when you only paid $50 for the cpu.board combo, iss no deal, iss no big deal...

It is to me. In a competitive market, fuck 'em. I won't buy from them until they're the last vendor left. I don't even buy their products used off FS/FT...fuck...MSI!

 

[ColoradoLeo76]

It may be a matter of you get what you pay for, but one of the SATA 6Gbps ports on my ASRock failed within the first year. It is still under warranty, but I don't feel like taking down my primary rig for as long as it takes for them to NOT cross ship.

I'll admit, it was one of the cheaper boards available, so that might play into it, but i'm certainly not going to consider their value line next time.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

It may be a matter of you get what you pay for, but one of the SATA 6Gbps ports on my ASRock failed within the first year. It is still under warranty, but I don't feel like taking down my primary rig for as long as it takes for them to NOT cross ship.

I'll admit, it was one of the cheaper boards available, so that might play into it, but i'm certainly not going to consider their value line next time.

you can get a board from a company like asus with the newest technology cobbled onto it but a lot of times that comes at the price of compatibility or stability.

 

[mfenn]

i voted "whatever is cheapest". when i first started building computers i would always buy intel thinking it was higher quality and more durable. then when i found stores offering cheapo cpu/board combos with boards from ecs/biostar/msi i found those brands are actually really good. a couple of my intel boards died or had annoying minor problems (815 board wouldnt turn off, not all memory would work, sound wouldnt work in linux etc...) but all of my cheapo brand boards are still working years later (innione sayin' ya need solid state capacitas needs ta replace da capacatas in they hid) and all of them were 100% (as far as i can tell) linux compatible right out of the box. so i think of ecs/biostar/msi as quality, trouble free stuff. other brands like asus may be pimpin' mo' betta feachas but id rather have stability and compatibility over extra features that complicate things. so fa mee, imma gist gonna git da cheepis, imma gonna gist git da cheapis....

English, do you speak it?