MSI = worst company ever?

[arswihart]

personally i like Epox, though other brands like Gigabyte and DFI have good feedback

If I were you, go to a more manufacturer specific forum (ie a forum all about DFI, Gigabyte, or ASUS boards) and see what are the common problems, sort out what are real problems and what are simple user errors, and get a good idea of customer support based on other's experiences and reported RMA turnaround times. I have no experience with Gigabyte, DFI, or ASUS so I can't say too much honestly, but I base my comments about MSI and ASUS on many posts I've seen on these forums in particular.

For Epox boards, look at AOAforums.com, pcperspective.com to mention a couple, they have great user forums, gives you a good idea about Epox as a company in terms of customer support, bios updates, customer satisfaction, etc.

I've rea so many bad reports about MSI in particular that I avoid them like the plague. I even heard about their boards exploding on people, I would never want to even come close to that kind of experience.

Good luck!

 

[pulsedrive]

Originally posted by: arswihart
BTW, this is one of the stupidest statement's I've ever seen:
pulsedrive said "MSI, not the cheapest out there, but they are one of the best, and have a very good track record behind the company." Thats the exact opposite of every experience I've seen.

Just because you haven't done you research isn't my fault. Take a look at any site that actually compares product objectively in the least, and MSI is almost always a recommeneded brand. NOT just Anandtech. Before I purchased my MSI I read at least 10+ reviews, which was about as many as I could find scattered around the net. Also had heard good personal reviews of MSI. Also, just because someone doesn't agree with you doesn't mean they are stupid, unless of course you are an arrogant ass.

 

[Mem]

MSI = worst company ever?

I would have to say NO!!!!!!!!!

Bottom line there are a few manufacturers in general that are slow in testing and returning replacement boards unless you are lucky to buy from a store/dealer that offers direct replacements.

Sure when you get bad service you will get people saying and posting XXXX is crap etc....
Truth being, this is quite common with a lot of motherboard companies and also customer service quality can vary from country to country depending on the country in question.

Since my part time job is doing Flash design at home on my computer, I'm losing money every day that I'm without it. To everyone else out there: don't buy anything from MSI, ever. Is this kind of thing typical of other companies too?

If I had a job like that and the work was important ,I would make sure I had a backup PC,even the best hardware can fail.

 

[BlingBlingArsch]

Originally posted by: Gerbil333

Originally posted by: BlingBlingArsch
Btw: I hate Western Digital for their RMA. They got 3 years warranty and my 80gig JB had a headcrash or whatever after 2 years and 10 months, RMAd it and they sent me the dead hdd back saying that they found scratches on the surface -> improper use. Is it improper use when I carry a hdd around in my backpack? Hm, maybe for WD, but i say NO! I never signed something saying: for "in-computer-use" only..

Yeah, that would be your own fault. Don't carry bare hard drives in your backpack.

Link?
I mean, cmon, hdd are in notebooks, they are in xbox`s, in ipods, so why not in my backpack?

 

[amdnVuser]

I've had problems with boards from Asus, Abit, and Shuttle. I've also had terrible support from Gainward (i.e. submitted an RMA for a graphics card, never got a reply). Thus, you win some, you lose some, regardless of manufacturer. I selected the K8N Neo2 Platinum b/c it implemented all features of the nForce3 Ultra chipset (i.e. 4 SATA + nVIDIA Gbe). This is not to say that I haven't had problems with my board (instability while OC'ing and using SATA 3 or 4...ironic, huh?...and inaccurate CPU temperature monitoring despite the latest BIOS, and a noisy chipset fan that began buzzing after only a few months). However, overall, my board has gotten the job done.

In terms of s939 PCIe, again, it doesn't really matter who you go with anymore (in terms of support and quality). I would definitely go nForce4 Ultra or SLI (if you have the $ for 2 GPU's), but you're just about as likely to get a board, have problems, and receive sh*t for support no matter who the manufacturer is. For example, Asus is highly recommended, but just look at their Web site FFS. If you go to the US site, click download, then select you're board model and everything, you get an error saying "Due to vast number of connections online, the page that you requested cannot be displayed properly. Please re-connect using any of the following URL. Sorry for the inconvenience." Then, if you go their global site, half of the images for their products won't even show, and this is the largest motherboard/graphics card/notebook OEM & ODM manufacturer in the world. You may not experience the same crap on some other manufacturer's site, but you're just as likely to experience problems during an RMA process no matter who you go with.

As a result, I'd just buy based on feature set, research known issues, and maybe read some reviews (mainly for a more in depth view of the board, accessories, packaging, BIOS options...I wouldn't necessarily trust performance reviews b/c god only knows if the manufacturer sends a review site a highly optimized/scrutinized sample that hasn't been throught its QA process or if the review site has its own agenda for recommending a product). Remember, when it comes down to it, all of these boards use the same chipsets. You might have more options in the BIOS for OC'ing or you might get nifty add-ons like additional SATA or Gbe or WLAN controllers, but you're still getting an nForce4 Ultra or SLI, Radeon Xpress 200, etc.

 

[arswihart]

lets stop talking about hypotheticals and reputations, here's the hard truth from the original poster of thie thread:

timmay586 said:
"I RMAed my defective K8N Neo2 Platinum over a month ago. They recieved it from UPS almost 3 weeks ago. MSI hasn't even tested it yet, much less shipped me a replacement. Newegg does this in a day. This is inexcusable. Since my part time job is doing Flash design at home on my computer, I'm losing money every day that I'm without it. To everyone else out there: don't buy anything from MSI, ever. Is this kind of thing typical of other companies too?"

This is sad and pitiful, and unfortunately typical for a company like MSI. I don't talk about what a website thinks about the reputation of a company, for all I know they are all getting paid off to say whatever MSI wants the to say, or are just copying one another without any basis for such endorsements.

The best way to learn about a company and how it supports its products, releases BIOS updates, and the longevity of the products, is to visit a very product specific forum like the ones I mentioned earlier for Epox boards.

The original poster here is a perfect example to learn from, once you see something like that a couple times, you can bet you'll have the same or worse luck with the company. Bottomline, MSI sucks worse than many other mobo companies, and there should rarely be a reason to buy from them unless thats all you can get.

 

[pulsedrive]

Originally posted by: arswihart
lets stop talking about hypotheticals and reputations, here's the hard truth from the original poster of thie thread:

The original poster here is a perfect example to learn from, once you see something like that a couple times, you can bet you'll have the same or worse luck with the company. Bottomline, MSI sucks worse than many other mobo companies, and there should rarely be a reason to buy from them unless thats all you can get.

As far as hypotheticals go, you HAVE to, because unless you have personally had this experience yourself then all you are talking is either hypothetical or word of mouth, and frankly as far as word of mouth goes you are wrong again, or MSI wouldn't have a good reputation. Just because one person has a bad experience doesn't mean they "suck". Also as far longevity is concerned, uhm, MSI has been around for years. Just because a company doesn't release a BIOS update every week isn't a sign of a bad company either. Rather BIOS releases should only coincide with problems with a previous BIOS. Anything else is excessive. Take a look around at how many people on these forums OWN MSI MoBos. Then tell me that no one should purchase them, obviously not everyone thinks they suck. I have had nothing but good luck with them. Now I will be the first to admit that I have not ever had a need to RMA one. But that in itself is a good thing. I am just going to stop right there, because obviously you are just anti MSI, and that is fine. Because I am anti Nvidia...*shrugs* everyone had their own opinions about manufacturers, so really this conversation is moot.

 

[Diode20]

Your not alone btw. I've been waiting now 3 weeks for my MSI motherboard that I RMA'd. I personally dropped it off at MSI. Figured I'd save on shipping, and get it there myself, nice and safe.

I emailed them to find out where along I am in the process. They didnt explain anything. Just told me it takes them 10-14 working days to process an RMA.

I've been out a computer for almost the whole month. The prices on the parts for the rest of my computer have dropped.

So what do we do in this case?

I hate that MSI was well rated in anandtech and tomshardware reviews. They should take into account their customer service. You can't get a hold of anyone at MSI if you try to call them.

-JP

 

[Mysteryozo]

Originally posted by: theman
a lon time ago, i bought a defective biostar mobo, i rma'd it and this guy came to my house 3 days later and installed a new one for me. i was like WOW!! thats awesome, but a day later it broke, and the guy came back, and did the same thing, guess what? it didnt even work at all! i said, hey, just give me back my money, and ill get something else. he said he would have to check with the company or something. after that, i didnt here a word from them for a month. it was insane, i finally got my money back and bought an aopen.

 

[Mysteryozo]

a lon time ago, i bought a defective biostar mobo, i rma'd it and this guy came to my house 3 days later and installed a new one for me. i was like WOW!! thats awesome, but a day later it broke, and the guy came back, and did the same thing, guess what? it didnt even work at all! i said, hey, just give me back my money, and ill get something else. he said he would have to check with the company or something. after that, i didnt here a word from them for a month. it was insane, i finally got my money back and bought an aopen.

We're so spoiled with INSTANT this and that, to the point that we forget that certain things do need and must be afforded a considerable amount of time. With what you just share here - I can't help but admire the folks at biostar.

Didn't you even appreciate the fact that they even visited you for 1 simple mobo. Did you ever try to imagine how much the 1st visit alone cost them. And the fact that after all has been said and done, they still returned your money. Yo, bro. let's give considerable time for mfgs and suppliers to do something about their products and services.

What's reasonable to cry about are suppliers who completely ignore our complaints.

i.e. Powmax, now this is a company and brandname we should avoid like a deadly virus. These guys did absolutely nothing to resolve my problem with their Demon 580W psu which RIPed within less than a month.

Yeah, yeah so I'm across the great Pacific Ocean, but at least they could have e-mailed me to start working out a viable resolution to the problem. Ahh ahh not a word from them.

 

[Diode20]

Tomorrows the last day I am waiting for the motherboard from MSI. After that I report them to the BBB perhaps, and order myself a new motherboard.

I visited MSI at City of Industry. MSI is a Taiwanese company. Everyone employed at MSI in California was Taiwanese. My girlfriend may be Taiwanese, but I am not liking companies from that country very much lately.

 

[aj58]

Originally posted by: Gigantopithecus
I just had a similar experience with Asus.

I think all Mobo mfgs are the same. While of course some better than others, but over all RMA times like MSI should be standard. Abit or Chaintech aren't all that great either.

 

[arswihart]

My RMA with Epox took less than two weeks from submission to reciept of new mobo

Also, questions submitted on their website support forms have always been responded to the SAME DAY everytime I've ever asked them a question, and their server keeps a log of the back and forth conversation between you and the tech's for convenience. They released BIOS updates for rev. E chips before they were even available for purchase, while msi's neo4 line just got thier updates two days ago, thats pretty pitiful honestly. I mean that is a crucial update that shouldn't have been very hard to implement either, yet they took forever to get it to their customers, many of whom were sitting with their A64 Venice chips but unable to use them for many weeks. Tally up another instance of incompetence from MSI.

 

[pulsedrive]

MSI has responded to every email I have EVER sent them within an hour. And they always answered my questions very well, and I never had to pester them to get any resolved. Maybe you should reconsider how you approach them, because if you go into with the attitude you have here, I can see why they don't bend over backwards for you.

 

[Acanthus]

Asus and MSI have similar RMA processes (horribly slow) but i can safely say ive had a lot less problems that resulted in RMAs with Asus. As a matter of fact, i had to RMA one MSI board 5 times.

 

[RobsTV]

Personal experience here, each with at least 12 months service time.
These boards are in systems with heavy usage, mainly as HTPC's with A/V, PVR and HDTV needs, as well as mid range gaming.

30 Asus. 5 defective over time. 1 unresolved RMA. 2 smoked. 1 smoked again. They did send me a replacement, then somehow a second replacement showed up 2 weeks later for same RMA. I guess they were thinking ahead.

6 Epox. 5 defective over time. Didn't bother to RMA. I was a frequent poster at AMD motherboard Epox forums, and Epox support sucked, so moved on. I think Epox inspired the dual bios motherboards, as you needed a spare bios chip if you wanted to keep the boards running.

12 MSI. None failed so no idea how bad support is.

4 Shuttle. 2 defective over time. RMA was a pain.

Plus many other brands that never had issues, such as Albatron and Gigabyte.

And for comparison,
1 Antec power supply. 1 failure. 3 weeks later replacement arrived.

Best solution is to always have a backup.
(and it also helps to buy your own eeprom programmer, unless you enjoy hot-swapping)

 

[arswihart]

pulsedrive said "MSI has responded to every email I have EVER sent them within an hour"

I have a very hard time believing this. Do you mean an automated response or a response from a real person?

Anyone else EVER had an e-mail responded to by MSI in less than an hour?

Regardless, their RMA process seems horrible, and with so many people doing their RMA's like 3-5 times for the same board, I guess they are sending out some DOA boards which is quite disgusting. As I mentioned, I sent out my RMA for an 8rda+ with bulging caps (but no problems yet luckily) and I got it back with high quality Japanese caps in less than two weeks after I sent mine out.

RobsTV said "12 MSI. None failed so no idea how bad support is. "
This is also amazing given how many of your other boards failed! Its so contrary to what I've heard I have a hard time believing it also, not to mention the number of mobo's you've had, my god you are insane man, why so many?

 

[arswihart]

I also just found that new BIOS's have been released for the 9npa+ series from EPOX supporing dual-core Athlon64's, does any other company have such support yet? I continue to be impressed with EPOX everyday. ASUS and MSI are ok for the mainstream that doesn't know anything, but DFI, ABit and EPOX are the way to go for real enthusiasts.

 

[Diode20]

MSI did reply to my emails. I emailed twice. Never gave attitude towards em. It's only in the last few days that I've been getting mad. One email took 2 days for a response, another took 1 day. Never got through on their phone line.

I am now on my 14th working day waiting for my motherboard. Note I said working days. They were very specific in telling me that turn-around time is 10-14 working days. It's now friday, and I am going yet another weekend without a motherboard.

RMA from MSI is worthless. I've already ordered another motherboard to replace. I can't imagine MSI giving me a replacement for another few weeks at the pace they're going. When I do finnaly get it, I'll sell it at a discount.

The only good thing I could say is, the motherboard ran fine for 2 days. And the asian chick at the front desk at MSI is pretty hot.

 

[arswihart]

diode20 - I can only try to imagine how frustrating that must be for you, and I wouldn't bet the mobo they send you for replacement will work either. Maybe just sell it as-is so your buyer knows you don't guarantee it to work. The hot asian chick sounds consistent for MSI, pretty face, nice features, but behind it all is a company that doesn't care about making quality products or serving their customers needs, or if they do they do a terrible job at it.

 

[pulsedrive]

I sympathize with him greatly. That has never been the point. And frankly you are an arogant ass as I have said before. MANY enthusiasts use MSI and Asus, just because we don't use DFI or Epox doesn't mean we don't know what we are doing. Also, the inference that I am lying about how quickly they respond to my emails is insulting. Yes it was a REAL person who responded to my emails. As to Epox having dual core support, Way to GO!...oh wait...it doesn't matter because they aren't out YET!

 

[arswihart]

whatever, the fact that you are trying to say that you don't admire Epox having dual-core support ALREADY just because the chips aren't released shows me you are really reaching for something bad to say about Epox, but the only thing anyone ever says is bad caps, and that hasn't even been an issue for a years now. I've said all there is to say about this, hopefully this will serve as a great resource to people building their systems in the future.

 

[Ketchup]

Originally posted by: arswihart
whatever, the fact that you are trying to say that you don't admire Epox having dual-core support ALREADY just because the chips aren't released shows me you are really reaching for something bad to say about Epox, but the only thing anyone ever says is bad caps, and that hasn't even been an issue for a years now. I've said all there is to say about this, hopefully this will serve as a great resource to people building their systems in the future.

Don't mean to burst your bubble, but Epox builds cheap motherboards, and I would pass over one any day to buy an MSI. I had a KT333 board that just "stopped working" after about six months (Newegg gave me a refund), an nForce 2 board that randomly rebooted, and an nForce 3 board that had the worst voltage regulation I have ever seen. So far, I have been very impressed with all the Abit boards I have owned, and am starting to feel pretty comfortable with DFI. I have also had a motherboard and video card from MSI that I had zero problems with.

Oh, and Timmay, if you are losing money every day, why the heck don't you just buy a replacement board? Makes no sense to me.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

What a bunch of fuck1n6 whiners. Sh1t breaks, companies aren't perfect, deal.

 

[arswihart]

"Epox builds cheap motherboards, and I would pass over one any day to buy an MSI"

god have mercy on your soul