My thoughts on Gigabyte

[lyenokio]

Gigabyte is the absolute worse you can buy. Stay away from their tech support at all costs. They no speakey engrish and a few of them do not know what they are doing. There mobo controllers do not play with samsung ssd`s and there video cards are junk. Beware


Edit - 3-9-16:

All issues have been resolved and Gigabyte has been exonerated from all condemnation. Gigabyte has done everything possible to help me resolve my issues and then some, so I would like to retract all the negative comments I have said toward their tech support.

 

[mmaatt747]

Ok

 

[theyeti87]

I love Gigabyte. I'm sorry you had this experience.

 

[USAFRet]

There mobo controllers do not play with samsung ssd`s

Interesting. I guess the 2 Samsung 840 EVO's connected to my Gigabyte motherboard are not working correctly.

 

[TechyInAZ]

I love Gigabyte. I'm sorry you had this experience.

Same here. Sorry for your bad experience.

Me and my family have been using gigabyte boards almost exclusively for 10 years now. We've only had 1 or two boards out of dozens of them that have actually gone bad or were DOA.

I personally switched to Asus for something different, but I'd still recommend Gigabyte just as much as any other reliable mobo manufacturer.

 

[anti-duck]

Think you probably just had bad luck unfortunately 🙁 Gigabyte's Gaming and Ultra Durable series' of motherboard are excellent.

 

[McHenryB]

They no speakey engrish

Pot calling the kettle black. 😉

I've never had any problems with Gigabyte products so you'll excuse me if I ignore your recommendation. Excellent performance and very reliable.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

I've heard similar stories about pretty much every company out there, unfortunately.

 

[tech-wreck]

haven't needed to trouble gigabyte support for anything so i can't comment on that.

the samsung SSD problem - do you have the marvell drivers installed? if so, uninstall them and let windows install the generic SATA3 drivers.
try that - the marvell SATA controller drivers are crap.

 

[TechyInAZ]

I've heard similar stories about pretty much every company out there, unfortunately.

I personally think most of them are from newbie builders. For example, I see so many people that have given the Z97-A and MX239H monitor tons of bad reviews. However I own both the Z97-A and the MX239H and I have no problems. So either I'm extremely lucky that I got two bad rated products that turned out good, or most of the reviews are from newb mistakes.

 

[synphul]

I can't comment on their tech support as I've never needed it either. Like TechyInAZ, I've used gigabyte boards exclusively in my past 6 builds and have had no issues with any of them. They've been rock solid. I've not tested every piece of hardware possible on them, but never had an issue with lga775, lga1151, socket 478, any of it. Mixed ram brands and speeds on various boards both ddr2 on some and ddr3 on another and everything went smooth.

I'm sure every company out there has duds in their product line from time to time, no way to tell if any of it was user error or not. Pretty much all companies use international call centers for their support lines anymore. While it may make for a language barrier working with people who speak broken english and irritating because of the additional struggle when you're already having a hard time, I'd sort of expect it. Many tech companies are based out of asia and they're highly competent at what they do. Gigabyte's based out of Taipei, Taiwan. Samsung is based out of Suwon, South Korea.

 

[napninjanx]

Gigabyte is the absolute worse you can buy. Stay away from their tech support at all costs. They no speakey engrish and a few of them do not know what they are doing. There mobo controllers do not play with samsung ssd`s and there video cards are junk. Beware

I'm sorry you had this experience with them.

The best thing to do is never rely on Customer Service unless if it;s something important, I always read the manual and Google stuff.

 

[BigLouis1971]

I used to love Gigabyte as a user. I've had about 4 of their motherboards in a lifespan of about 10 years. The average lifespan for me is about 4 years for a motherboard of about $70 in average. Some of them were replaced with newer platforms hence that many motherboards in 10 years. I had to RMA one of them, but it was because my PSU died and killed the motherboard, it wasn't the motherboard's fault. The RMA service was OK and I had my motherboard repaired, not replaced in about 2 weeks. In average, I was a Gigabyte's happy customer.

I decided to go more expensive this time and got a i7-4790K and a GA-Z97X-GAMING3 motherboard among other high quality stuff. The CPU/MOBO combo I got it from Micro Center so I got cheaper CPU and a combo discount. It is by far the most expensive build I had in my entire life. It'll cost me about $1,800 after I finish to get all the parts. I paid almost double the price of my previous builds for this PC. I was very happy with the investment, but after 7 weeks BAM, the PC went off by itself and never booted again. It is the most expensive of my builds yet it is also the one that lasted the less.

I found out it was the motherboard so I RMAed it. I was expecting to have it repaired in two weeks like the previous one, but here it comes another BAM, the Postal Office was negligent with my package and it arrived damaged to Gigabyte. BAM, the company voided the warranty. BAM, my most expensive PC only lasted 7 weeks because of Gigabyte. I was able to apply for a damaged package claim and it was approved and paid, but since I didn't pay for additional insurance beside the one included in a flat rate medium box, BAM I received only $50 instead of $110 that I paid for the board. BAM, I lost my trust in both Gigabyte and USPS.

I bought an ASUS Z97-A/USB 3.1 motherboard as a replacement and after a month is working really good. Since I bought this board alone, it didn't qualify for the combo discount and BAM, there's another loss. I think I'll try other brands like ASUS from which I just bought my first board. The upgrade bug has bitten me again and I'm thinking about getting a i7-5820K/ASRock X99 Extreme4 board combo, again from Micro Center, which I hope is better than my last Gigabyte motherboard. If my math is good I just had five BAMs all of them Gigabyte's fault and two of them the Post Office's fault and one shared. I'll rate PC components with BAMs from now on.

There you have my 2 cents!

 

[synphul]

It doesn't seem like a reason to hate on a company because 1 board failed. As I see it, one failed due to outside circumstance (power supply) and they repaired it. If they did so free of charge, that was a blessing as they're not required to. It's not their fault another component ruined what was otherwise a full functioning motherboard.

One board died and had to be rma'd. The fact that the post office handled it roughly, damaged it, you didn't have full insurance on the package etc. etc. is no fault of gigabyte's what so ever. Choosing to go with a totally different brand/model of board than what was included in a combo, if it did in fact cost you more than the initial combo price, is again not gigabyte's fault. They held up their end of the bargain. Unfortunate circumstances all the way around, but I count far more as user fault and poor choices/judgement throughout the exchange. Some blame can be put on the post office but again, not entirely. There's a reason for insuring packages and should be insured up to the full amount of the part value for the sender's protection.

 

[chuffingknutt]

I've used asus msi asrock and a few other mobos I can't remember and stuck with gigabyte since 2007. My last gigabyte was that rock solid i broke the bottom retaining clip of the cpu socket myself tried epoxy to fix it to no avail and just had the stock cooler fixed to the top clip praying the paste would secure it enough to work. It worked but a bit nosier. No real overheating issues no blue screens or shut downs while playing games. I'm a creature of habit. If it's an asus board I'll use asus products but my last asus build was a pentium 3 with an asus nvidia geforce 3 and it's the worst card I've ever had. The bearings failed on the fan, the noise would have made you sick but it didn't stop me buying asus again. My new mobos an asus but the cards a gigaybyte.

I can't condemn a company because of one faulty product. Bad customer service is an absolute killer for a company but I think it was asrock who i contacted about a replacement bios chip after I zapped my own and offered to buy a replacement if they had any (whether or not it was possible for me to replace it myself isn't the issue) but not to even get a reply back? 'no speakie engrish' If you get annoyed don't get angry just politely explain you've tried their remedies to no avail even if you haven't and ask for an uplift. I fixed a dell for my brother that way, uplifted from my house for free and delivered to his house as good as new for free within a week.

 

[BigLouis1971]

It doesn't seem like a reason to hate on a company because 1 board failed. As I see it, one failed due to outside circumstance (power supply) and they repaired it. If they did so free of charge, that was a blessing as they're not required to. It's not their fault another component ruined what was otherwise a full functioning motherboard.

One board died and had to be rma'd. The fact that the post office handled it roughly, damaged it, you didn't have full insurance on the package etc. etc. is no fault of gigabyte's what so ever. Choosing to go with a totally different brand/model of board than what was included in a combo, if it did in fact cost you more than the initial combo price, is again not gigabyte's fault. They held up their end of the bargain. Unfortunate circumstances all the way around, but I count far more as user fault and poor choices/judgement throughout the exchange. Some blame can be put on the post office but again, not entirely. There's a reason for insuring packages and should be insured up to the full amount of the part value for the sender's protection.

I know all that, is just that I'm an ungrateful bastard! Buahahahaha! Buahahaha! Hahahahaha!

 

[MuricanGamer]

"Gigabyte is the absolute worse you can buy. Stay away from their tech support at all costs. They no speakey engrish and a few of them do not know what they are doing. There mobo controllers do not play with samsung ssd`s and there video cards are junk. Beware "

I don't know man, every-time I have ever had a problem with Gigabyte their customer service has always been top-notch, I mean sure they don't speak English as well as someone whose lived in the states their whole lives, but it's not like its impossible to understand them. Just gotta ask them so speak slower or repeat what they said. I for one have never had trouble understanding what they said (probably because i'm an air force brat and am used to accents) I will always go for Gigabyte just because their customer service is so great.

 

[lyenokio]

It doesn't seem like a reason to hate on a company because 1 board failed. As I see it, one failed due to outside circumstance (power supply) and they repaired it. If they did so free of charge, that was a blessing as they're not required to. It's not their fault another component ruined what was otherwise a full functioning motherboard.

One board died and had to be rma'd. The fact that the post office handled it roughly, damaged it, you didn't have full insurance on the package etc. etc. is no fault of gigabyte's what so ever. Choosing to go with a totally different brand/model of board than what was included in a combo, if it did in fact cost you more than the initial combo price, is again not gigabyte's fault. They held up their end of the bargain. Unfortunate circumstances all the way around, but I count far more as user fault and poor choices/judgement throughout the exchange. Some blame can be put on the post office but again, not entirely. There's a reason for insuring packages and should be insured up to the full amount of the part value for the sender's protection.

So what do you work for Gigabyte??

 

[lyenokio]

"Gigabyte is the absolute worse you can buy. Stay away from their tech support at all costs. They no speakey engrish and a few of them do not know what they are doing. There mobo controllers do not play with samsung ssd`s and there video cards are junk. Beware "

I don't know man, every-time I have ever had a problem with Gigabyte their customer service has always been top-notch, I mean sure they don't speak English as well as someone whose lived in the states their whole lives, but it's not like its impossible to understand them. Just gotta ask them so speak slower or repeat what they said. I for one have never had trouble understanding what they said (probably because i'm an air force brat and am used to accents) I will always go for Gigabyte just because their customer service is so great.

Im very happy for you...Too bad about the air force though Navy family here

 

[Someone Somewhere]

We see threads like this about every major manufacturer.

Please don't accuse people of being shills without decent evidence.

 

[USAFRet]

Im very happy for you...Too bad about the air force though Navy family here

 

[synphul]

No I don't work for any of the manufacturers, gigabyte, asustek, intel, amd, any of them. I've owned a number of different boards, intel, various oem boards, biostar, aopen. My last several builds have been gigabyte and I've been pleased with their products. They get involved in the overclocking community and competitions, just as other oems like asus does. There's no evidence that points to the claims made to be a frequent problem, plenty of people using samsung ssd's with gigabyte boards and plenty of people who have had decent customer service. No real evidence their video cards are junk either.

Considering you're having so many issues maybe there's another explanation for things like the samsung ssd not working. Pc's can be fickle and if using the wrong settings or any number of possibilities hardware may not work properly with one another. It just becomes very difficult to suddenly come up with a bunch of claims with no further information against a brand that's one of the better and well liked brands in the industry in an attempt to ward people off.

No manufacturer of any component gets to where they are based on color schemes or marketing gimmicks. Enthusiasts and professional users and reviewers will quickly sort that out and it's evident among many of the newcomers to the market. Some aren't brand new but a new(er) presence to the world market, companies like fractal design, bequiet, cryorig. They're well regarded and they had to compete and earn that with quality products. Those who sell overpriced or questionable products quickly get a reputation for that as well. They won't make one or two good products then ride on that success, they depend upon continued success to stay where they are.

If gigabyte or asus or anyone else suddenly started flooding the market with problematic or shoddy equipment it would be front page news. People are highly critical of pc gear, especially enthusiasts and with the internet capable of making headlines near instantly it wouldn't take long. I'm sure there are company reps from various brands in these forums, I know they're in other forums. Asus, phanteks, gigabyte, g.skill and I'm sure plenty of others and they identify themselves as company reps usually with a text indicator or company logo by their name. Many are quite involved with the tech community and it's one of the best ways for them to interact with users and customers in addition to their support lines. A lot of people who have problems will post on a forum and not bother calling tech support or contacting the company directly. I give the companies credit for having folks involved with the various forums trying to assist and get 'into the mix' rather than just man a phone desk.

 

[theyeti87]

I'm not sure there is a point to this thread. OP's five sentences of a rant continues to get attention 2 months after the original post.

 

[lyenokio]

No I don't work for any of the manufacturers, gigabyte, asustek, intel, amd, any of them. I've owned a number of different boards, intel, various oem boards, biostar, aopen. My last several builds have been gigabyte and I've been pleased with their products. They get involved in the overclocking community and competitions, just as other oems like asus does. There's no evidence that points to the claims made to be a frequent problem, plenty of people using samsung ssd's with gigabyte boards and plenty of people who have had decent customer service. No real evidence their video cards are junk either.

Considering you're having so many issues maybe there's another explanation for things like the samsung ssd not working. Pc's can be fickle and if using the wrong settings or any number of possibilities hardware may not work properly with one another. It just becomes very difficult to suddenly come up with a bunch of claims with no further information against a brand that's one of the better and well liked brands in the industry in an attempt to ward people off.

No manufacturer of any component gets to where they are based on color schemes or marketing gimmicks. Enthusiasts and professional users and reviewers will quickly sort that out and it's evident among many of the newcomers to the market. Some aren't brand new but a new(er) presence to the world market, companies like fractal design, bequiet, cryorig. They're well regarded and they had to compete and earn that with quality products. Those who sell overpriced or questionable products quickly get a reputation for that as well. They won't make one or two good products then ride on that success, they depend upon continued success to stay where they are.

If gigabyte or asus or anyone else suddenly started flooding the market with problematic or shoddy equipment it would be front page news. People are highly critical of pc gear, especially enthusiasts and with the internet capable of making headlines near instantly it wouldn't take long. I'm sure there are company reps from various brands in these forums, I know they're in other forums. Asus, phanteks, gigabyte, g.skill and I'm sure plenty of others and they identify themselves as company reps usually with a text indicator or company logo by their name. Many are quite involved with the tech community and it's one of the best ways for them to interact with users and customers in addition to their support lines. A lot of people who have problems will post on a forum and not bother calling tech support or contacting the company directly. I give the companies credit for having folks involved with the various forums trying to assist and get 'into the mix' rather than just man a phone desk.

I am amazed about the passion that you have for a product that you have obviously had good luck with. I am also quite amazed at the fact that you haven't done your research before condemning me on first hand experience with faulty Samsung products and gigabyte controllers. I am a current owner of gigabyte motherboards and video cards in three different PC' s and I wasn't so much trying to ward off customers from gigabyte as much as I would like people to be aware that they do have issues that gigabyte engineers have acknowledged exist. I apologize for the hasty comments I have made condemning gigabyte tech services. They have worked very hard on trying to resolve issues on there products that I have purchased that have failed. I have had 2 motherboards that failed and 2 expensive video cards that have failed within the last 2 years so I think that qualifies for a negative comment or two?This does not mean you will have that issue but Samsung pro series drives which Samsung has also acknowledged do have issues with rapid mode turned on gigabyte motherboards. Once again I appreciate your passion and your input but I have been to hell and back lately with several issues all at once centered around gigabyte products. There tech support has gone above and beyond to passify me so I do retract the negative comments about them but my opinion about there products stands

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Do you know what Poisson Distribution is? You're on the far right end of the curve. Make enough products and you'll find someone who got two, three, four duds in a row. They're also invariably the ones that complain, whereas the vast number of people who get good gear don't.

Please provide a little more detail on these, with actual sources. People on phones are not engineers, and they will acknowledge that you are having an issue, but that doesn't mean it's widespread or a known fault.

that they do have issues that gigabyte engineers have acknowledged exist

Samsung has also acknowledged do have issues with rapid mode turned on gigabyte motherboards

Also, paragraphs.