Scan insults tom's hardware.

[ohwoojin]

Phoned up Scan.co.uk. Probably the best UK computer part suppliers. Anyway, I asked if they had the rev 3.3 motherboard in for the DS3 Gigabyte. The guy said he couldnt guarantee anything. Ok fair enough. However, he then said why do you want to get the gigabyte anyway, the asus p5b-E plus is a better mobo. I told him I'd got good impressions about it from the forums on toms hardware. He said that the people on toms hardware are only interested in cheap deals.

Just interested in your feed back and also what you think about which of these to motherboards I should get.

 

[tool_462]

Tell me a couple things here...

How much are they charging for each?

Would you rather listen to someone that has YOUR best interest in mind and isn't trying to sell something?

Why would we care if you spend more money on a mobo? Looking for a cheap deal? Isn't that what everyone does?

Of course a company wants you to buy the expensive ones, how can they chastise you for doing your homework and getting the best bang for your buck...

 

[ohwoojin]

I guess the question is whether to go for

Gigabyte GA 965P-DS3 iP965, S775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX

£71.66

OR

Asus P5B-E Plus i965, S775, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX

£93.99

Im not biased either way. Sure, I'd like to save money if possible but I want the best performance for the money too.

The guy at scan told me that Asus make most of their own boards while Gigabyte make only a small percentage of it.

Please share your views.

 

[ohwoojin]

Oh admins. I dont know how to move this topic. If i did I'd move it to general motherboard as I posted in wrong section accidenty. Sorry!

 

[BUFF]

they are both decent mobos (btw the basic P5B-E is~£81 although it does have firewire that the DS3 doesn't).
& Asus & Gigabyte have recently joined in a joint venture to build Gigabyte's mobos & gfx cards.
http://www.sysopt.com/news/article.php/3625746

 

[GSTe]

For OCing the DS3 is supposed to be excellent, and that's from very well respected forum members, not some 2 bit call centre bloke. Those guys at Scan have told me all kinds of sh*t in the past, for example, 'XFX graphics cards are the best'..... hmmm so all other brands aren't as good hey.... doesn't quite fit with reality.... oh hang on you're XFX's major re-seller in the UK... hmmm....

Stick with unbiased opinions mate

 

[prolfe]

I love my DS3. Don't what revision it is though. I have used THG forums for every major hardware purchase I have made, and the members here have never steered me wrong. Of course, use your own judgement, and go with a consensus instead of listening to just one post. Also, if you spend a little time here you will learn the fanboys, take what they say with a grain or two of salt.

 

[Datman]

Would you trust a site that lists C2D mobo's as "Motherboards - Intel P4 (Intel 965/975) - S775"


Look for the GA-965P-DS3P, it's a DS4 without the heatpipe cooling.

 

[elpresidente2075]

Gigabyte GA 965P-DS3
...
£71.66

OR

Asus P5B-E P
...
£93.99

I think that shows who's side that salesman is on more than anything else here. Having been a salesman myself, I know he's just trying to get you to buy the more expensive model.

I won't even begin to get into the never-ending problems I've had with ASUS boards and the nothing but good I've had with Gigabyte boards...

 

[trinitron64]

dude, IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW GOOD THE MOTHERBOARD IS...

its about how cheap of a deal you can get... god... why even come on this forum if your not going to listen!

 

[AdamBomb42]

Listen to the voice of experience. I have built out 2 machines using the gigabyte board and they are both excellent overclocks not to mention very stable. The only reason that I would say to go for the asus board is for the firewire. If that is not a concern, then go for the gigabyte.

 

[elpresidente2075]

IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW GOOD THE MOTHERBOARD IS...

I think we should qualify that by saying it doesn't matter how good the NAME of the motherboard is. My $70 asrock overclocks many times better than the $200 asus that my roomate has. Mine is also much more stable and has many times more bios options than it as well.

I'm saying this to prove that the quality of board you get is not dependent on its price. I'm not trying to contradict you at all, but you ALWAYS should consider all aspects of a piece of hardware before you buy (be it price or quality or features or whatever), especially if you are spending more than a trivial amount on it.

I will mention that the cheapest motherboards with the most features that I've found have been the PCChips brand of motherboard. I have owned/maintained 5 of these, and ALWAYS within a couple months of buying it, something goes out, usually the network card. Like I said they are the cheapest with their feature sets, and I do mean CHEAPEST in every sense of the word...

 

[Hex]

...I told him I'd got good impressions about it from the forums on toms hardware. He said that the people on toms hardware are only interested in cheap deals.

Just interested in your feed back and also what you think about which of these to motherboards I should get.

Well, I don't think he was insulting Tom's Hardware, but more so, the Tom's Hardware Forum members. Anyhoo, I understand your point, and quite frankly, I don't know which would be worse. :lol:

Secondly, anyone who recommends GAYSUS is laughable. :lol:
Some people seem to have luck with GAYSUS, but I've owned 3 GAYSUS mobos for 3 different socket types and each were a nightmare. :? I'd say go with the Gigabyte.

P.S. Oh and Scan.co.uk. can go f*ck themselves. :lol:

 

[Mugz]

Let's not get all reactionary about this... hold on...

[2-hour rant about those (deleted)s at Scam.co.uk]

right, got that out of my system...

Anyway. I've been building up PCs since the 486 days, so what I'm posting here is a pretty good cross-section of my experiences from then to now.

FWIW, I've owned 4 Asus boards and 3 Gigabytes, in addition to 3 Asrocks, a number of ECS (including my 2 current mobos), 2 Epox and some other randoms. I always choose a motherboard based on features and stability and the price I pay for those.

Okay - of the 4 Asus boards, 1 was an abortion from one end to the other, 1 worked beyond what I wanted, 1 was okay and the last one I had just wasn't worth what I paid for it - nothing wrong, just not up to my standards. Socket 7, S370, S370 and S478, in that order.

Of the 3 Gigabytes, 1 again was an abortion, 1 was pretty good and 1 was okay(ish). Socket 3 (486), Super Socket 7, S370.

My point is, both brands have good and bad boards. Now, talking as someone who works in a PC shop, we prefer the Gigabyte boards due to things like 3 year warranty etc etc. which the Asus also has. We sell less Asus boards due to their higher price, go figure. I personally would love to sell more Asus and less GB boards (more commision, haha!), go figure.

What I like most about the DSx GB boards are the all-solid capacitors and the nifty features. So yeah, your scam.co.uk rep is clearly after more commission.

 

[IAmATeaf]

You or the saleman are not comparing similar boards, for me the DS3 would be comparable to the P5B-E not the plus, the plus should really be compared to the DS3P which I don't think is available in the UK yet.

 

[ohwoojin]

Thanks everyone for your input. I've just about recovered from Scan's trecheory. However, have decided to go for the E-plus model as DS3 is equivilent to the P5B-E so my theory is P5B-E>DS3. Price difference isnt huge and extra features are fair few. MASSIVE overclocks I wont be doing anyway and as I cant afford to upgrade for long time I'd like a board that will last as long as I can get.

Anyways, your info was appreciated.

 

[Mugz]

You'll probably get the DS3P about three months before we do. South Africa, here, anything up to 6 months behind. Except on the C2Ds, though, which surprised the hell out of me.

 

[engrpiman]

problems with Asus boards?

I won't even begin to get into the never-ending problems I've had with ASUS boards and the nothing but good I've had with Gigabyte boards...

I have two asus motherboards, the p5b-e and the p5gd2 deluxe and both have been great.. i have never owned a gigabyte board so i don't know anything about them but why switch if you don't have to ..

decides havening asus motherboards i have 2 asus graphics cards , a CPU cooler and a cd-drive and all of the work great no problem

as for the p5b-e i got mine off newegg for $150 (USD) and it works great.

 

[elpresidente2075]

Glad to hear that you've had good luck with them so far.... :roll:

 

[mustaffa]

Gigabyte I know little of, as I haven't had the opportunity to work with their products much, but my ASUS M2N32 - SLI is by and large a good board.

However for me personally, ASUS is in the top 5 sh*tt**st customer service experiences I have ever dealt with with any comany. I think that if you check the forums you may find a lot of concurring sentiments about that as well.

You may want to go with Gigabyte if customer service is a hot button for you.

 

[Mugz]

Definitely.

I'm just hoping that since Gigabyte and Asus went into partnership, Asus' support will improve. [/eternal optimist]