MB Brand question

TBlaar

Distinguished
Dec 10, 2005
84
0
18,630
Hey guys

I wanna find out what you guys think of certain brands of motherboards.

I am quite a big Gigabyte fan. I also like ASUS.

At my previous job, we sold lots of MSI boards, and we got lots of returns on MBs. Therefor i'm a bit put off by them. It came to a point that when we got a PC back with, problems, we replaced the board and it would solve the problem. Also, RMA is diffivult, because some guy puts on a cpu / ram and it boots up, then sends it back as no fault found.

I see people on here always big up MSI, and very seldom mention Gigabyte.

What are yee thoughts on thus sirs???
 

function9

Distinguished
Aug 17, 2002
657
0
18,980
I've only used one MSI board, that was the K7d master (Athlon 760MPX chipset) after that board I never looked at another MSI. They don't seem to follow any kind of standards or specifications on their boards (look at the heatsink mounts on their ATX Opteron boards).

I've read here and there lately that Abit isn't good anymore. I don't know I started using their boards about 4 years back and still do. Also Tyan boards are very nice for what they're intended to do. Those are the only 2 companies I'll buy from, I think between the two there are plenty of choices depending on what you're looking for.
 

chuckshissle

Splendid
Feb 2, 2006
4,579
0
22,780
I've been using Gigabyte mb for my last two mb. It's not the best for extreme overclocking but it is pretty stable and that's what I like about it.
My asus is really the best but I have some problems with it and the support really sucks. :D
 
I've had the best luck with Asus, DFI, ABIT, and Tyan mobos...bought an MSI once, once and never again...bought an ECS once, but decided that brand is better for budget machines than performance...picked up an Asrock, and again for the budget machines...

IMHO, if you want rock solid and super stable, TYAN and ABIT boards are really nice...if something more for OC'ing, go with ASUS or DFI...

Last Abit mobo i got was back in the Skt423 days, it's still running today...very stable and reliable, even oc'ed by 12%...Abit just went thru a transition though, forgot who bought them out, but give them some time and they'll be back producing stable performance boards that are good for oc'ing..

Enjoy!
 

INeedCache

Distinguished
Dec 15, 2005
521
0
18,980
Foxconn makes very good boards, as does Gigabyte. They may not be the best for overclocking, but they are generally very reliable and stable, which is what most people, especially system builders, want. Also, they tend to be priced reasonably.
 

twall

Distinguished
Dec 5, 2005
43
0
18,530
I have built computers with ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, and Soltek mainboards. I had no problem with any of them. Lot of people like EPoX and DFI, nowadays, and ABiT is a classic.

I don't think brand is a huge factor in motherboards. Sure some are better then others, but each motherboard have their own qualities, and "disquailities." I built my own computer on a soltek mobo, and at that time, actually still, it was not a well known brand. I had no problems with it, it was the best mobo for my needs.

I believe ASUS and gigabyte makes solid mobos, asus is extremely overclockable and gigabyte is extremely stable. (Gigabytes are also extremely pricey, comparing to similiar mobos out there, and for some reason it shows cpus running at hotter temperautres than regular.)

When i buy a motherboard, i look at what features i am going to use. IE, if it is a budget computer, cheapest mobo out there, probably with on board graphics would do it. If i am building a computer for a friend i buy an asus one, and teach him how to overclock. If i am building to my mom or my sister, i buy a gigabyte mobo with enough cooling. I bought myself a soltek at the time, and people called me crazy for it.
 

bwave

Distinguished
Mar 19, 2006
17
0
18,510
MSI has gotten better, I too had alot of RMA's back 2 years ago. I like you am still put off by.
Asus very high RMA rate, wouldn't recommend.
We love Abit, some of their Nforce4 based boards are picky about dual-channel ram. But non-existant failure rate. I love their Via & ULi based boards. Wish they'd get back on track now bought out by new company. The financial scandal really hurt availability of boards.
DFI Lanparty boards are great, again Nforce4 based, had 1 system build that I couldn't get dual-channel to work with any brand of ram, I had 4 boards from same batch, all same result.
I've been very happy with Gigabyte of late, although, like MSI, had bad luck years ago.
Epox works well for a high-medium grade board. Alot of blown caps on their 8RDA series put me off them.
Biostar & DFI General - are cheap priced, but non-existant failure rate.
Foxconn & Asrock - the ones I've used worked.
ECS & PC Chips - obviously are total garbage, if you're a computer show dealer, they'll work long enough for you to get out of town. LOL.