MSI's Quality?

[teclis1023]

Hi everyone

Just a quick question...

I'm wondering about MSI's quality. I've been using Gigabyte boards nearly exclusively since about 2003, and I'm in love with the durability and quality. Aside from straying a few times toward EVGA and ASUS (yuck!), I've been a pretty faithful Gigabyte customer.

But in my next build, it looks like the MSI 785GM-E65 Board might be a great choice. The last time I used an MSI board was 2001, and I heard that they had a series of quality problems in the past few years. So I'm a bit reticent to purchase this board, but I really want a nice quality, high end DDR3 mATX board for a versatile little build.

This computer is going to be an all-around system, so while I will be gaming, I don't need SLI or anything like that.

Any MSI users out there (or MSI critics, for that matter!) want to chip in and help a fellow nerd out?

 

[yh125d]

Using anecdotal evidence I've heard on the forums, MSI has historically been middle of the pack. Not quite as good as Asus/Gigabyte/EVGA, but better than lower brands like ECS, jetway, and to a lesser extent foxconn. But lately with their X58 and other new designs quality/value has improved

 

[Gillbot]

I've never had an issue with MSI but lately many report issues with their RMA service being sub-par.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Proud owner of an MSI 790FX K9A2 Platinum, here.

You can take it but you will have to pry my cold dead hands from around it. I originally purchased it to resell in Jan/08 but it's been a trooper - taken everything I've thrown at it. They seem to respond faster on their forum as opposed to email, but they do respond

The original BIOS was Oct/07 and the latest update Apr/09 (most likely the last one - they have now 'archived' the mobo - time to sell ). The only issue I've had has been with the NB voltage - it just won't take in AOD and can't move the BIOS setting off auto. It runs 2200MHz at stock so I ain't really complainin' - Win XP runs fine at 2400MHz but OCCT throws me an error.

If they support the 785 like that it should be a winner.

 

[lopri]

That board looks really nice for $90. (I have a soft spot for mATX form factor, though)

 

[teclis1023]

Thank you for your responses! I'm glad to hear from the happy MSI users, especially since I need to have an mATX system, and this is the kind of board i'm looking for. Since this is not a die-hard gaming system (I pretty much play a few hours of Left 4 Dead per week, that's it).

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Proud owner of a MSI X58 PRO. It is a fantastic motherboard and I've had zero issues with it.

 

[niggles]

mostly only run Asus because they hardly ever break, am on my first MSI board, a P6N Diamond and this thing has been rock solid from day one.

 

[Sylvanas]

MSI are part of the big four teir 1 companies- this includes: MSI, Foxconn, Asus and Giga. All have same/similar build quality as every one of these four outsource manufacturing for most parts to Foxconn. All my MSI boards have been top notch

 

[yacoub]

My MSI board has been serving me flawlessly for about two years now. I'm more than satisfied with it -- in fact so satisfied that I would give them the first shot with my next mobo purchase.

 

[JohnDoe2]

msi neo4 (AMD 939) here running 15 hours a day for over 3 years.

once in a while, when swapping memory I've had some wierdness but as far as reliability goes, its a trooper.

 

[Yukmouth]

I've been beyond pleased with their AMD offering's since the inception of the Athlon series CPU. Just gave mom a hand me down computer featuring an MSI N-Force board with an xp2500+. I was running that config at a serious overclock for six years without a single problem.

I regard them as one of the more reliable motherboard manufacturers and will continue to buy their boards. The overclocking options they offer are second to none IMO.

Edit: Heat Sinks with fans in between the cooler as opposed to blowing through one side, benifit these MSI AM3 boards the most in added airflow to mosfet/northbridge. Important to note if you're an overclocker.

 

[Texun]

Nothing current but I had a couple of the socket 754 micro boards that ran 24\7 for quite a while and never had a problem. I replaced them with Gigabyte when I upgraded to AM2, but not because the MSI's were bad in any way. Gigabyte was on sale when I decided to upgrade and I wanted to give them a try. I have no complaints with either manufacture with regard to reliability. I used an identical MSI board for a build about 5 years ago as a graduation present or the daughter of a good friend and as far as I know it's still cranking away.

I re-read your post and I believe MSI and a few others had capacitor problems several (5-7?) years ago but I think that's all in the past. My first MSI was buggy from the start and I replaced it within about 6 months when it started to fail on a cold boot. However, I wouldn't knock them since that was a very long time ago.

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

I also have MSI P4 s478 motherboard still running perfectly.

 

[zCypher]

I've owned several MSI products, motherboards and video cards and have never ever had any problems whatsoever. Very satisfied with their products. My new MSI G31M3-L motherboard just arrived today so I will be setting that up tonight, can't wait!

Edit: to clarify, my old system I'm upgrading from is MSI K7N2 and it's been running a long time now with no problems, and muuuuch improved performance over the ECS K7S5A it replaced

 

[bsc140]

I built a pc this weekend with MSI 770-C45 motherboard.....first boot not a single problem.

 

[I HAZ A BEAST]

umm if thats USD i think you could get a amd board from gigabyte cheaper then that. i got a gigabyte MA-790x-udp4 crossfire board for $158.20 AUSTRALIAN

 

[rkoth814]

Hey there,

Full disclosure: I work for MSI (and a proud owner of MSI products in my system)

Our quality is increasing based on customer feedback and we constantly trying to fix any issues you may have with our products.

Some of the boards listed in this thread are our newer boards and I'd recommend just about any of them, but it all comes down to what you need and are willing to pay.

If you ever have questions, comments, feedback, or help on any of our products, feel free to contact me through e-mail at rajivk (at) msicomputer.com