Advice please - motherboard - once burned - twice shey

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martok78

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Sep 1, 2013
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Hi,
I am looking for advice please. I recently got burned bad on an ASUS Sabertooth 990fx motherboard for an AMD x965 processor. I am now researching for a new motherboard and am reading a lot of issues with boards lately. My preferred price range is $100 - $200 ($250 max). Current specs - 8gigs Kingston ram 1066 - DDR3, GTX770 2gig ASUS PCIE graphic card, corsair 650 watt bronze level PSU, ASUS Sonar sound card, 24in ASUS monitor, 1TB Samsung HD, Samsung Blu-ray player, Sony writer/rewriter, Sony multi - card reader, Logitech speakers. I also have a Noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler and a Cool Master HAF 932 Advanced tower. I was thinking Gigabyte or MSI, preferably compatible with the ram. I just spent 2yrs buying the parts, another 2 days building the system only to spend 5 weeks and counting dealing with the ASUS RMA process - nightmare. Until this I loved ASUS, but after this experience with their RMA process I am not looking for another ASUS board - EVER. Advice welcome please as I do not wish to get burned - again
 
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CraigN
That's unfortunate that they will not allow you to pay the difference in upgrading, but MSI did the same thing to me when one of their 890 boards had a known shutdown issue, and kept sending me the same model board back with the same problem every time. Eventually, I just gave up and ordered a 990 board to replace it, so I know your pain.

I definitely believe that any of those other boards (to include a better revision Sabretooth) will run your AMD Phenom II just fine. I personally used the MSI 990FXA-GD80 V2 to replace a friend's dead motherboard just recently and it's running rock solid now on a Phenom II 965.

ASUS has several equivalent boards on the Intel side for an i7, but they do not use the same socket, so you cannot use the...
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CraigN

CraigN

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martok78,

I've been building rigs for friends/myself for years, and if there's one thing I've learned, is that every manufacturer can/will burn you at least once, and for everyone one of those instances, customer service is going to suck as well.

That being said, my recommendations for you would probably be the MSI 990FXA-GD65 or 990FXA-GD80, those are MSI's top boards. (the GD65 has two PCI-E slots, the GD80 has four PCI-E lanes and better onboard sound I believe, not much difference otherwise)

If you're willing to take another chance on ASUS, I'm not sure if the Sabretooth you got was an older one, or the new revision 2.0. The new R2.0 is likely to have less memory compatibility issues and is worth looking into, esp since it has PCI Express 3.0 lanes. If it was and that's what burned you, it's also worth looking into the Crosshair V Formula-Z if you're willing to go up to $250.

As for Gigabyte, the only board I can recommend here that I've had experience with is the GA-990FXA-UD3. Installed it for a friend who bought one to replace a burnt out board on his machine, and it seems to be running pretty stable.
 
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martok78

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Sep 1, 2013
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HI Sir,
Yes I bought the Sabertooth 990fx R 1.0 version and the R 3.0 version now out seems to have largely fixed this issue. I HAVE asked ASUS if I can pay the difference for the R 3.0 board, but they will not allow it. I intend to switch to Intel i7 for Christmas (Currently using AMD Pheonom II 3.4 gig X965) will those boards support Intel? Thank you sir it has been a long time since I built a system and this is my first gaming system so I DO appreciate the help. I do some PC repair work on the side and intend to use this system as a showcase systems of what I can do as a few of my clients asked me if I do this kind of work. The problem is I don't have a working system to show them. To date the delay with ASUS has cost me $12k in contracts as the clients like the basic specs and idea of a top gaming system for less than 3k, but the problem is they want to see first hand what it looks like and benchmarks at. I have sent them to a friend who also does this kind of work as the clients I have lost wanted this doing before the end of September.
 
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CraigN

CraigN

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That's unfortunate that they will not allow you to pay the difference in upgrading, but MSI did the same thing to me when one of their 890 boards had a known shutdown issue, and kept sending me the same model board back with the same problem every time. Eventually, I just gave up and ordered a 990 board to replace it, so I know your pain.

I definitely believe that any of those other boards (to include a better revision Sabretooth) will run your AMD Phenom II just fine. I personally used the MSI 990FXA-GD80 V2 to replace a friend's dead motherboard just recently and it's running rock solid now on a Phenom II 965.

ASUS has several equivalent boards on the Intel side for an i7, but they do not use the same socket, so you cannot use the AMD Sabretooth to mount an intel chip. They do however have Z77 and Z87 socket Sabretooth's available.
 
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martok78

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Sep 1, 2013
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Sorry Sir,
I think I forgot to mention in my reply that it was a CPU LED LIGHT RED that was the problem on both the original board and the replacement. THE OPN number matches, the CPU was changed anyway, the Ram was changed as was the PSU. Still same issue. As for boards - I would be real hesitant to stay with ASUS - I figure when I EVENTUALLY get a working board I will use it until I can upgrade to an intel i7 processor and ditch the ASUS board. I called them again and am told it will be a minimum of 2 weeks for them to repair my board since I requested 2 level 2 techs check the board - I don't want another DOA board from them. Any suggetions on the Intel side for the i7?
 
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CraigN

CraigN

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I only know some good recommendations for 4th gen i7 boards, since I've been doing some of my own research for a potential upgrade, so I can't give you any good recommendations on the Z77 for 3rd-gen i7 builds without purely guessing what *should* be good. But from the reviews I have researched, the following are good Z87 4th gen i7 boards:
Since you're not looking at ASUS:

From MSI, MPower Max, or the Z87-GD45 or the GD65,
From ASRock Z87 Extreme4 or Extreme6 (both recommended from this site), and from Gigabyte, the GA-Z87X-UD3H or UD4H look good.

All of these are $250 or lower. Hope that helps.
 
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martok78

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Sep 1, 2013
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Yes sir that does help - I figure if I am gonna spend that kind of money replacing a board I may as well use my Christmas present to me and upgrade the CPU to something that will last me 4 years. Thank you sir - to all the folks who replied - been a few years since I built a system and things have changed some. To be entirely honest with you it isn't the boards from ASUS that scares me, it is the thought of having to do another RMA with them - they ARE STILL burning me on this issue ATM and I really don't want to go through the same again with them. The thought of an RMA with them is what scares me. Like I said sir - thank you and thanks to everyone who has replied - it has helped a great deal sir - plus venting about them, hoping folks learn of my bad experience has been suprisingly therapueti
 
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