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

[pipTheGeek]

I used to have a strong preference for Asus, but only becuase they included their q-connector for the front panel connectors. I have a p6t deluxe in my main PC and am a little dissapointed that they haven't released any Win 8 drivers for it.
More recent builds have used Gigabyte, but I have had some odd, seemingly driver related, issues with one of those builds.
So, for hardware Asus or Gigabyte, but I wouldn't confine myself to only these manufacturers. I look for the cheapest board that has the features I need / want.

For driver support, I'd have to say I trust none of them.

[Jack91]

Gigabyte, ASUS, MSI for me

[watercooled]

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.

The same could be said about pretty much any other motherboard MFR though, features vary within brands, appearance is subjective (and completely unimportant for some). Also, the FM1 ASRock board I have in this system has excellent fan control. The same can't be said about the AM2 ASRock board I had previously though, which always kept the fan at a fairly high speed.

[ChaosSystem]

I've always used Asus, but I'm considering Gigabyte as my next project is a Hackintosh.

[NiPPonD3nZ0]

Actually i have an ASUS P8Z77-V LX, and its been ok, but tbh my all time favourite mobo maker was ABIT... right next to it it lies EPoX, then after them i have Gigabyte, then ASUS, then MSI and DFI... ASRock has last resort...

[Percy1983]

I will say I think anybody who ignores the more recent ASRock Extreme 4/6 boards purely based on name is missing out massively.

When buying mine nothing came close to Z77 Extreme 4 in terms of features for the price, its a good looking board too, could have got the extreme 6 for more but didn't need the additional features.

[kautya]

Asus for me, never had any other motherboards

[infernowheels]

MSi, really awesome with reasonable prices. ASUS and Gigabyte are respectable choices too.

[ilh]

Seems everyone uses Asus. Always Gigabyte for me but Asus would be my next choice.

[crossy]

Agreed. I also don't really have anything against them [Asus], 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?

Forgetting about the low end stuff, I rate Asus because I've had little in the way of trouble. And the one time I did have a major problem (Socket 939 mounting lugs broke twice in one year) the reseller I bought from (Scan) was able to contact Asus and get me replacement parts with little hassle - even though the board was long out of production.

Yes, I realise that there's cheaper gear out there, but from the MSI stuff I've looked at it's perhaps a case of "not getting owt for nowt" - Asus is more expensive but (arguably) better built. As to the "I bought an Asus board and it sucked" comments, well given the number that they produce, you've got to get more than a few failures - even with a class-leading reliability score (which I'm not necessarily saying Asus have btw).

And remember, the question was "which motherboard manufacturer do you trust most" - Asus for me, because of the lack of issues.

[=assassin=]

Gigabyte and ASUS. The worst I've had is MSI, had a failure, neighbours PC had major issues, and an old friend had plenty of compatibility issues. Maybe they are better more recently, but I got fed up of all their stuff being poor quality, so have avoided them over the past 5 years.

[maverik-sg1]

Gigabyte, Asus, ASrock - I steer away from MSI, had several bad experiences especially when overclocking.

I'd be happy using ECS In most stock rigs if price is an issue.

[asianaustin]

asus

[SiliconAudio]

Asus is number 1 for me. Solid motherboards and regular BIOS updates too. Gigabyte comes in at 2nd.

[Percy1983]

Another question. many say they stick with asus as they never had a problem of asus.

In my case the first board I bought as a gigabyte, never had a problem, but still replaced it with an abit, which had no problems, but still I replaced it with a foxconn , which had no problems, but still I replaced it with an ASRock, which has had no problems.

It seems if I had the same thinking patterns on here I would have had only gigabyte boards all this time and would be posting a single word reply along the lines of 'gigabyte'.

I guess I just don't see the point in brand loyalty, in motherboards or anything else.

[strike-down]

Asus ROG for me. Solid build quality, never let me down, and they have second to none OC/diagnostic features. ROG connect has been a godsend for diagnosing POST failures.