Features - QOTW: Which motherboard manufacturer do you trust most?

[Mentawl]

Intel. Alas. RIP Intel.

[malculator]

I've used MSI, Gigabyte, ASRock and ASUS boards for my own systems, all without major issues. But whenever I've built a system for someone else I always use ASUS.

[The Hand]

ASUS - No contest!

[hwarda]

Long ago: Asus (later lost due to bad service)
2 Weeks ago: Gigabyte (again lost also to their service)

Now I'm skeptical

[ed^chigliak]

Clue: Ultra ultra ultra ultra JAW r r u b b l e.

[Percy1983]

Why is there so much asus love?

Nothing against them, but I can't see whats so great, I wouldn't write them off when looking but I don't prioritise them either, hence I always get better boards at less money.

[Biscuit]

Why is there so much asus love?

Nothing against them, but I can't see whats so great, I wouldn't write them off when looking but I don't prioritise them either, hence I always get better boards at less money.

But who would you prioritise? This is my point, none of them really seem to stand for absolute quality and class. The best hope you have now is to just go for the high end boards from any of the manufacturers and hope that they have put plenty of time and effort into the development and also used good quality components.

[watercooled]

Why is there so much asus love?

Nothing against them, but I can't see whats so great, I wouldn't write them off when looking but I don't prioritise them either, hence I always get better boards at less money.

Agreed. I also don't really have anything against them, expect maybe the lack of attention to efficiency I mentioned earlier, but I really don't see what's supposedly so exceptional about them? I have an Asus board in one of my systems and POST time is also notably long vs other boards I have.

I'd be interested to know why some people rate them so highly?

[Percy1983]

But who would you prioritise? This is my point, none of them really seem to stand for absolute quality and class. The best hope you have now is to just go for the high end boards from any of the manufacturers and hope that they have put plenty of time and effort into the development and also used good quality components.

I don't prioritise any brand, I think what I need, find boards which fit that then look up each board and buy what appears to be the best for my use.

I have never owned an asus board but have used one for a friends build as it was the best option at the time, it was nice enough but it doesn't have anything over my asrock or biostar boards or the foxconn before that.

As I say I have nothing against them, I just can't see whats so special.

[OilSheikh]

There is so much ASUS love because they make good boards packed with features and new features and the boards look great as well. Plus, QFan 2 is just awesome, it's the best fan control by a motherboard manufacturer.

Btw, ASROCK is a subsidiary of ASUS. ASROCK = El Cheapo ASUS.

[Percy1983]

Btw, ASROCK is a subsidiary of ASUS. ASROCK = El Cheapo ASUS.

Wrong, yes ASRock did start as a budget brand for low end asus boards, in 2010 things changed and they became separate companies as asustek let go of Pegatron and ASrock with them.

Hence why we now have ASRock boards which compete with ASUS boards in all market segments.

More interesting is use still use Pegatron to make some of there boards, so you potentially get an asrock manufactured board with an asus sticker.

Therefore by your definition some boards its: ASUS = El Cheapo ASUS + ASUS branding.

Yet again not an attack on ASUS, more a defence of ASRock.

[GuidoLS]

Asus for the last 10 years.

[avi8tor]

Trust is not really a word I'd use within a high tech environment as tech fails - its an accepted risk... however ASUS have always performed when needed and been 100% reliable.

[ET3D]

I usually buy Gigabyte because of value for money. Only one that I'm a little disappointed with is the one in my HTPC, but I bought an real el-cheapo one with an NVIDIA AMD chipset (using my old Phenom II 710 in that PC, and the store I bought from had a very limited selection of compatible boards). Still, the problem it's giving me is BIOS recovery on restart, and it's possible that flashing the BIOS would solve that, I've just been too lazy to try it. I usually put it to sleep and rarely restart, so it's not a major bother.

The only motherboards I remember giving me real trouble over the years were Abit and Tyan.

[atomictom]

I've gone with asus and had few problems with them except that the last two boards i've got from them the Ethernet controller has gone dodgy in some way. the first an M2N-MX, the link drops out every 4 or 5 seconds, and my current motherboard m4a89gtd pro/usb3 i can't get the link to run at 1gbit, only 100mbit.

Seriously considering another manufacturer.

[MrJim]

I've used motherboards from Abit Aopen, Asus, DFI, and Gigabyte over the years. I think motherboards are much more stable today than they used to be, as are the OS's run on them. Anyone remember the VIA KT266 chipset? I had a gigabyte board at the time which was just horribly unstable. Today I've got Asus motherboards on all three of my PCs, and none of them have given me a moments trouble.