...most reliable brand in the mobo world?

[nikorr]

Hi there,

I am not looking to buy, but what brands are the most reliable in the mobo world?

I remember, that I had first Soyo, don't remember what happened to that at all(late 1990's), but than it was G4 stuff, and Intel mobo(no problem there), than few more of Gigabyte boards, no problem also. I never tried any other brand, although I build 24 PC' s all together. I read Asus is great too.

All were Intel boards, except the G4.

Also what is to add is a support website, because the drivers should be easy to be found and updated, and the warranty.

So what other board names are good to trust?

Thanx

 

[rolli59]

You will never get everybody to agree, based on past (bad) experience. Asus and Gigabyte have been at the forefront but EVGA, MSI, Asrock and possible some more have pretty much caught up with them.

 

[HugoStiglitz]

I like Asus, Gigabyte in that order.

used to have a few Soltek boards back in the day (before that major capacitor problem sank them as well as others)

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I'm a hardware whore in that whomever got the biggest bench numbers won my dollars. Most of my builds are for other folksies and they make the final component decisions but as years go by and ya wind up having to call tech support for one problem or another, I started favoring Asus.

Another thing I find is that they are just "easier".....maybe its familiarity but I seem to find my way around their BIOS easier, I can upgrade them easier but a big thing is when I see reviews like this:

The WS Revolution competed in the same box as the Gigabyte UD7 .... when ya read the review the hardware whore in me relished the minor benchmark differences but i was absolutely blown away by the power consumption and temp differences

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3795/asus_p8p67_ws_revolution_intel_p67_express_motherboard/index12.html

I'm now at a point where I "start" w/ Asus and then go looking to see if I can find something bettah..... haven't been convinced in the last 18 months or so.

I dd have fun recently on a tech support call . I went w/ the Asus GFX as it tipped the benchies while the optical was a tossup (same thing from 3 vendors all same price). I figured, well I have two other Asus products, this will at leats reduce the nuber of support numbers I might have ti dial

When the tech suggested my problem might be a GFX card or optical drive issue I answered, well get the guys from the next 2 cubicles because those are yours too......problem BTW was solved when I abandoned XMP profile and plugged in numbers manually.

Can't speak for their Mobos but after my recent GFX experience, EVGA is off the list ..... had RMA case run over a year. Every call we had to go thru the eacvt same ponderous troubleshooting steps as if the previous 22 calls hadn't ocurred. The issue was factory OC'd GFX card that wouldn't do the guaranteed speed, not even close to it. Finally after the 5th RMA of the same card, they replaced the card w/ a new generation card which tho reference speed, at least provided the performance that my son thought he bought with the 1st card.

 

[nikorr]

So, the "underdogs" have pretty much caught up with the big names, huh?

 

[suteck]

Nope - That's why they're "underdogs" And product support counts for alot as well as being able to navigate their websites to find driver and bios updates as well as cpu and memory support lists. I'll stick with Gigabyte and ASUS for the humble few comps I build a year. Bad experience with MSI when they held my board captive during an RMA dispute. And if I liked running track then Biostar would be my favorite as much running around they made me do. - Just my luck so don't beat me up if you had no troubles with them.

 

[nikorr]

....when they held my board captive during an RMA dispute.

That's what I don't like too.

WD did put hold on my CC, just to swap the HDD's to get one second day, instead of the wait till they receive the one from me and than proceed with it. But I can understand that.

Gigabyte has great web full of info. Not every one is like that.

It is just the first experience in the trouble, if mobo dies and u need it fast, can turn a "lover to the hater" overnight.

 

[nikorr]

Can't speak for their Mobos but after my recent GFX experience, EVGA is off the list ..... had RMA case run over a year. Every call we had to go thru the eacvt same ponderous troubleshooting steps as if the previous 22 calls hadn't ocurred. The issue was factory OC'd GFX card that wouldn't do the guaranteed speed, not even close to it. Finally after the 5th RMA of the same card, they replaced the card w/ a new generation card which tho reference speed, at least provided the performance that my son thought he bought with the 1st card.

Cases like that sucks, got one like that with the Cellular One in Chicago, back in the day, when they had day and night and weekend minutes planes. I was with them almost 5 years and 2 phones.

They charged me night min. to the day time and weekend min. too, so the first bill was, $700 , after I talked to them they assured me it was a mistake and don't worry about that. Next one was $1600 and nothing was fixed and it came in red envelope with disconnect warning.

When I asked for to the minute detailed bill, I highlighted the wrong minutes and faxed it to them.

Once again assured, that it will be corrected shortly. Week later, disconnected for unpaid balance.

Few years later I got call from a lawyer from Dallas, who asked me if I wanna to be part of the class action law suite.

At the and I got $791 and apology letter.

Sometimes u can go through the roof, when they are ignoring you.

 

[hell_storm2004]

Asus for me! Followed by Gigabyte then MSI. Others i dont even consider buying!

 

[nikorr]

BTW, why the Asus as first?

 

[hell_storm2004]

Tried a whole lot of boards. Especially with Dad's money!!

My preferences are somewhat like JackNaylor said... Start off with Asus and see if anything is better. And as usual nothing satisfies!

Somehow they pack the boards with loads of features at a price and reliability is a big thing with them. In my country Asus RMA is the worst. But still i go for Asus... because i still haven't had to go in for an RMA for them! MSI boards are expensive here, so not an instant first choice. Other reason would be:
1. Availability.
2. After sales service more accessible than others, even though they are bad (Never had to do it).

EVGA and others were not available, now have trickled into our market. So my options are limited to Asus, GB, MSI, AsRock and a few others.

Oh BTW, the market i am referring to is the Indian market.

 

[nikorr]

Best answer selected by nikorr.

 

[nikorr]

Thanx guys!