Motherboards

[Nick R]

Just had an idea for a discussion. When you buy a motherboard, what criterion do you usually use to help decide? Like right now the main motherboards in the desktops I have are.

Main Box: ASUS P8Z68-V Pro/Gen3
Server:ASRock B75M-ATX
Sisters Desktop: ASUS M4A88TD-V Evo/USB3
Brothers desktop: ASRock FM2-ITX

It depends but generally I'm looking to make sure I'm getting the features I want. Namely USB 3.0 these days, though finding a decent mobo without it is pretty much impossible now. I also find myself gravitating to ASUS or ASRock. ASUS stuff has been very reliable for me, but ASRock has really great value, and their newer offerings are pretty fantastic. I'm especially pleased with the B75M Micro ATX board I am using in my server. It's rock solid, has lots of SATA ports, supports all 1155 CPUs, and it cost me a whopping $56 when I bought it.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I always go cheap on the motherboard. As long as it can support the RAM I need and has enough expansion slots I am happy.

 

[Danno]

Stick with ASUS, Gigabyte or MSI and you will be fine. I have used ASUS, Gigabyte and ASRock. My ASRock did get flaky on me and I have since moved to Gigabyte for my 5 recent builds.

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
Just had an idea for a discussion. When you buy a motherboard, what criterion do you usually use to help decide? Like right now the main motherboards in the desktops I have are.

Main Box: ASUS P8Z68-V Pro/Gen3
Server:ASRock B75M-ATX
Sisters Desktop: ASUS M4A88TD-V Evo/USB3
Brothers desktop: ASRock FM2-ITX

It depends but generally I'm looking to make sure I'm getting the features I want. Namely USB 3.0 these days, though finding a decent mobo without it is pretty much impossible now. I also find myself gravitating to ASUS or ASRock. ASUS stuff has been very reliable for me, but ASRock has really great value, and their newer offerings are pretty fantastic. I'm especially pleased with the B75M Micro ATX board I am using in my server. It's rock solid, has lots of SATA ports, supports all 1155 CPUs, and it cost me a whopping $56 when I bought it.



What criteria?

1. What's the intention of use of the computer?
which leads to:
2. AMD or Intel
3. Form factor desired
4. Features (ie, things like SLI/Crossfire capability, amount of SATA III ports, etc)
5. Price.

 

[redhat]

I like ASUS boards personally and tend to use them in all builds where I'm able to pick out the board.

I have used ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, and BIOSTAR without issues. I have had a Foxconn that gave me trouble once.

Complete list of makes I've used: ASUS, ABIT, AOpen, BIOSTAR, Chaintech, Gigabyte, MSI, Foxconn, Soyo, ASRock, Intel and EPOX.

The board in my main box/gamer is an ASUS MAXIMUS IV GENE-Z. Great board for a SandyBridge.

 

[d00df00d]

My priorities are similar to UG_Passat's:


1. Chipset. This depends on intended use and CPU choice.

2. Form factor.

3. Features. For me, this is mostly about expansion slots and CPU and RAM upgradability. I don't care about onboard sound as I would be using an add-in card anyway. If the budget permits, I will pick a good dedicated network card as well, and thus won't care about onboard networking either. I also have a soft spot for dedicated storage controllers, but those don't make sense for most builds.

4. Reliability (as far as can be assessed).


Price is sort of woven into all of those steps in the form of cost-benefit assessment.

 

[Rand]

1)reviews/brand/price

sometimes its limited because microcenter has AMAZING AMAZING combo deals.

so I'll go research which one of their boards(usually about 10) in the deal is best for my purpose.

They at the time had i5-2500k 80$ cheaper than anyone else including newegg etc.

combo deal with mobo was additional 50$ off.

and 20$ off 8gb ram(I think)

their ram prices arent the best unless you can get a deal.

motherboard and cpu are unbeatable usually.

 

[PandaBear]

First of all it is what CPU I use before I decide what MB I buy (pretty obvious right).

Then I check out which one is durable (so anything from PCChip or brands of hugely unreliable ones get thrown out).

Then I make sure it support what I need (the last one I build was PATA port for my old DVD-RW, I don't want to buy another one, and core unlocking for AMD Phenom II).

Then I make sure it is how much I want to pay (i.e. around $80).

I usually skip on the latest add on feature like USB 3.0, until they are so cheap and everyone has it. I can always wait till I upgrade next time or add a card to support it later.

 

[OVERKILL]

I usually start with the middle-of-the-road ASUS board that supports the features and socket I want and work from there.

 

[berniedd]

If you're looking for reliability, you can't go wrong with an Intel board. But it's more expensive than the rest out there.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: berniedd
If you're looking for reliability, you can't go wrong with an Intel board. But it's more expensive than the rest out there.


They are made by Foxconn and aren't usually any more money than an ASUS board.

For example:

Intel DB75EN Motherboard:
LGA 1155 B75 uATX 4DDR3 VGA+DVI, LPT, PCI-E 16X/ 2 PCI, 6 USB2, 2USB3, GBLAN

is very similar in price to:

Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H Motherboard:
LGA 1155 B75 MATX GSM 4D.DDR3,PCIE X16+PCIE X4/2XPCI D-SUB+DVI+HDMI/INTEL SBA/USB 3


Anything with a good brand name and an Intel chipset tend to be bulletproof in my experience

 

[LazyPrizm]

I used to go by color. Had an Epox board that was old-school green, an AOpen that was red, a black AOpen, these days I mostly buy MSI who have blue or black I think. Of course I've never had a case you could see in to

TBH, within a price range I figure all the ones with the features I need and decent reviews on Newegg are interchangeable. Never buy a newly released board, there's always updates (usually revision # is silk screened on the board).

Just like car brands, all companies might give you the occasional dud...

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: LazyPrizm
Never buy a newly released board, there's always updates (usually revision # is silk screened on the board).

Just like car brands, all companies might give you the occasional dud...

Good call on both of these points.

 

[nleksan]

Been extremely pleased with the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme I'm running for an overclocking rig, I went with it because it's simply on an entirely different level from any other mfgr's X79 board. The quality of the power delivery components, proper spacing for 4-way SLI while still having room for discrete audio card and a RAID card, and so forth.

I push my hardware quite hard, and if I can get well over a year out of a board that goes from running @ ambient in a water cooled rig (custom) to very negative temps courtesy of DICE/LN2 and back, without issue, I am confident it'll hold up to any day to day abuses.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: nleksan
Been extremely pleased with the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme I'm running for an overclocking rig, I went with it because it's simply on an entirely different level from any other mfgr's X79 board. The quality of the power delivery components, proper spacing for 4-way SLI while still having room for discrete audio card and a RAID card, and so forth.

I push my hardware quite hard, and if I can get well over a year out of a board that goes from running @ ambient in a water cooled rig (custom) to very negative temps courtesy of DICE/LN2 and back, without issue, I am confident it'll hold up to any day to day abuses.


Agreed. My current home rig (in need of an upgrade) is an i5 750 @ 4Ghz on water on an ASUS P7P55D-E motherboard that has been an absolute rock, as was the Maximus Formula with the Q6600 I had before it.

 

[SLCraig]

I always buy Gigabyte UD series (ultra durable) and they have never let me down.

I'm currently on a P67A-UD4-B3 and it is a true peach. Not one single issue in probably close to 2 years now. CPU is a 2600K. No intentions of changing this setup any time soon!

 

[Toy4x4]

A few months ago I got an ASUS Z87 - PLUS, 4770K, and 8 gigs of 1600 RAM. So far, so good. I chose it for the PCI slot for my Razor sound card. Every higher model had no PCI slots.

I like the feature of automatic fan control as it made the tower (Coolermaster 922) even more quiet!

 

[nleksan]

I forgot to mention what is, in my humble opinion, one of the best "breakout" boards in a long time (in that is was so vastly superior to what was expected), the Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP7. I run my Z77 rig off it, and it's trounced the M5E/F/G in HWBot competitions. I am running a pretty well above average 3770K, de-lidded (PK-3) w an XSPC Raystorm Copper block w the milled aluminum hold down plate, the XSPC board block kit, MIPS 4-DIMM RAM Block w two pairs of universal RAM Block Adapters, and it's a benching and Folding beast. With just a Hailea chiller, keeping water temperature at 0.8C @ 2.25gpm, I can push the 3770K to 5.4GHz and change, without exceeding 68C.
I have two sets of early production, high bin Trident X memory kits; one being 2400 9-11-11 (does 2780+ 10-11-11) and the other 2666 10-11-11 (3098 11-14-14).
The fact that it does this, while supporting, initially 3x MSI R7970 Lightnings, but now 3x 680 Lightnings (full voltage control; 1684core/8224mem), is simply beyond impressive.
The junk Corsair branded PSU's have been fried (3 AX1200/i), but the board is solid as ever, and much happier with an NZXT HALE90V2 1200W.