Gigabyte H81M-DS2 - reliable motherboard? any known issues?

[mossi]

Hi all

I'm looking to build a new rig for my parents to upgrade from their aging Athlon FX one and I'm leaning towards LGA 1150 platform with the G1820 as the centerpiece.

I was initially going for the ASUS H81M-K but I read a lot of bad reviews about the NIC that keeps turning off even with the latest bios.

So now I'm looking at the Gigabyte H81M-DS2 but I can't find any reviews anywhere for this motherboard. I was wondering if anyone has built a system with it and/or do you know of any problems with it?

Many thanks in advance!

 

[A_Goat]

Both are very poor boards, both will have 'horror story' reviews.
Get whichever is cheaper.

 

[mossi]

They're both budget motherboards but I'm interested mostly in known issues. This is not going be a rig with high expectations.

 

[A_Goat]

I can't find any reliable source that there is a 'known issue' with the ASUS board in the first place.
I saw a bit about ethernet problems, and most cases can be solved with some simple BIOS changes.

 

[mossi]

I can't find any reliable source that there is a 'known issue' with the ASUS board in the first place.
I saw a bit about ethernet problems, and most cases can be solved with some simple BIOS changes.

I read em here
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132052

 

[YoshiTheFox]

You may check out the MSI H81M-P33: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-h81mp33
EDIT: Is that CPU even compatible with the H81 chipset?

 

[A_Goat]

I can't find any reliable source that there is a 'known issue' with the ASUS board in the first place.
I saw a bit about ethernet problems, and most cases can be solved with some simple BIOS changes.

I read em here
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132052

Most of the issues were responded to via ASUS directly, if it is faulty they will replace it
Found this guide; http://sergeit.blogspot.com/2014/09/asus-h81m-k-network-disconnections.html

But anyways, the gigabyte board is cheaper and has same specs but it has two less USB ports.
There are no reviews about a faulty NIC either.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128667&cm_re=H81M-DS2-_-13-128-667-_-Product

Where were you look for reviews? There are over 50 on the newegg site (in link)

 

[mossi]

I can't find any reliable source that there is a 'known issue' with the ASUS board in the first place.
I saw a bit about ethernet problems, and most cases can be solved with some simple BIOS changes.

I read em here
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132052

Most of the issues were responded to via ASUS directly, if it is faulty they will replace it
Found this guide; http://sergeit.blogspot.com/2014/09/asus-h81m-k-network-disconnections.html

But anyways, the gigabyte board is cheaper and has same specs but it has two less USB ports.
There are no reviews about a faulty NIC either.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128667&cm_re=H81M-DS2-_-13-128-667-_-Product

Where were you look for reviews? There are over 50 on the newegg site (in link)

That's a different board you're looking at:
GA-H81M-DS2V

The one I want is slightly different:
H81M-DS2

I know it's only a letter different but they're different boards
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4665#ov
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4713#ov

I look newegg, ebuyer, amazon, wherever I can find reviews basically.

I found some here:
http://www.snapdeal.com/product/gigabyte-gah81mds2-motherboard/147295102

 

[A_Goat]

I can't find any reliable source that there is a 'known issue' with the ASUS board in the first place.
I saw a bit about ethernet problems, and most cases can be solved with some simple BIOS changes.

I read em here
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132052

Most of the issues were responded to via ASUS directly, if it is faulty they will replace it
Found this guide; http://sergeit.blogspot.com/2014/09/asus-h81m-k-network-disconnections.html

But anyways, the gigabyte board is cheaper and has same specs but it has two less USB ports.
There are no reviews about a faulty NIC either.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128667&cm_re=H81M-DS2-_-13-128-667-_-Product

Where were you look for reviews? There are over 50 on the newegg site (in link)

That's a different board you're looking at:
GA-H81M-DS2V

The one I want is slightly different:
H81M-DS2

I know it's only a letter different but they're different boards
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4665#ov
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4713#ov

I look newegg, ebuyer, amazon, wherever I can find reviews basically.

I found some here:
http://www.snapdeal.com/product/gigabyte-gah81mds2-motherboard/147295102

Ah, I figured you forgot the V.
Do you know what the difference is?

Any of them will suit your needs... MSI, Gigabyte, and ASUS all come with warranties... if it doesn't work send it back.

 

[mossi]

There don't seem to be too many differences other than the layout and the available ports. I might go with the gigabyte one. Overall from my experience it's been the most reliable manufacturer that I've worked with. The MSI one seemed good too albeit there were a few DOA ones in the newegg reviews but I guess that's to be expected with all makes an models.

My only concern is that I live in a different country to my parents and can't visit them very often so I'd like to leave them something that works. So far we've been lucky with the AthlonFX machine, can't fault it. I used to have it ages ago.

 

[A_Goat]

Gotchya.
I also have had nothing but luck with Gigabyte, I've used their crap lines (78LMT) and currently have a 990FX... they all work great.

 

[mossi]

I'd say the same. I've owned various Gigabyte motherboards throughout the years and even the ones that were subjected to considerable amounts of abuse due to experimentation :lol: still worked. So might just go with the Gigabyte one on hunch alone.