Which of foxconn, msi and gigabyte make more reliable motherboards

[you2]

Per subject do people have any opinion of one of the three vendors being more relialbe (or easier to deal with) than the other two ?

 

[acegazda]

The only foxconn boards I would consider getting are the mcp590sli one for am2 and the new 965p one for c2d. Their other ones are 2nd, even 3rd teir. MSI is generally the best of the three, though they havn't made as many for c2d as they have for amd's cpus. Gigabyte has made some of the best c2d boards, but they wouldn't be in my top 3 for amd. What cpu are you getting?

 

[Aluvus]

My personal preference would be Gigabyte, though I can't say I love them. MSI boards tend to be quirky. Foxconn is quite capable of making decent product, but very often does not.

These are generalizations: different boards from the same manufacturer can be wildly different from each other.

 

[Cheex]

I'm buying a Foxconn so i might be biased but you have to give them credit. They make some of Intel's mobo's including the BadAxe so...
pretty good in my opinion.
2nd i'd say GigaByte then MSI

 

[you2]

I'm getting 939. Was leaning towards asus but have read so many negative reviews (poor service, leaking capictors (not just from the 2000 incident - but even new boards), and such). I just want a reliable board - doesn't have to be the fastest...

 

[Howard]

Had trouble with a few MSI boards but not with my current Gigabyte, FWIW

 

[you2]

What about abit or abitraon are either of them reliable or easy to deal with ?

 

[Heidfirst]

Abits are my favourite boards but that's partly based on ease of overclocking.
Tbh any of the boards should all run fine at stock.

 

[OhioState]

i know its not on your list but ive built 3 comps on 939 biostar boards with NO issues and very easy and good oc abilities

just a thought from the peanut gallery

 

[you2]

which biostar boards?

 

[jimmyj68]

If you just want reliability and stability (one and the same?), don't overlook Intels boards.

 

[you2]

I don't know enough about intel also it is more expensive...

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: you2
I don't know enough about intel also it is more expensive...

You get what you pay for. Intel is phenomenal about BIOS refinement. Look at the BIOS release history for any Intel motherboard that is two or more years old. There will be at least a dozen BIOS updates, sometimes two dozen. MSI, Foxconn, and Gigabyte have lots of models that will only get a 'first release' BIOS, maybe one or two updates, before support is completely discontinued.

Intel is also good about driver updates for non-Intel hardware such as audio codecs. ASUS, for example, has not updated drivers since 2003 for several models with ADI audio codecs, though much newer ADI drivers can be found from some OEMs (including Intel).