Vote on your favorite Motherboard

[rwayne]

In your opinion who is best motherboard manufacturer out there and why?

Which company normally has the best bios, gives you the best bang for you buck, has the most standard features, puts the most quaility and craftsmanship in to their boards?

I am interested in seeing which company wins this Tom's Hardware Forums Poll. Please vote.

 

[cquence]

I chose ASUS because it's the only motherboard I've used that I actually knew what it was........meaning I'm a mobo noob But I haven't had any problems with it and it seems to handle things well. I'm currently considering building my daughter a computer, my first build, and I intend on using ASUS. If anybody has any reasons they think I should choose something different, I'd love to hear your case before I start!

-C

 

[lunyone]

As usual, I will vote for quite a few, since I value my opinion on options and price for what I'm currently building. I've learned that you pay for what you get, but that doesn't mean that you need to pay alot for a decent and stable mobo. If budget is of the essence, than I will use different manufacturer's than what I normally look at. This doesn't mean I get the cheapest one out there, but there just a few that I don't even look at. PC Chips anyone? So I'm voting for Asus, since I've have good luck with them and good reliability. Also have had Gigabyte, MSI, ECS, Biostar without any problems, so they are up there too. Just have to favor Asus for an overall winner. When the budget is tight, I usually get something other than Asus, because they don't always have the best price for what I'm looking for.

 

[Shadow703793]

I voted for ASUS but I would vote for Gigabyte also if i could.

 

[Falken699]

I am pretty sure Foxconn makes the boards for most of these guys anyway (Asus included). But I have always found Asus trouble free and there is no mystery in getting a decent OC without any work.

I had an MSI once and WHAT A PIECE OF CRAP.

 

[hastetheday]

EVGA, Great overclocking, lifetime warranty. USA customer support. Smart employees. Step up program. need i say more?

 

[Falken699]

hastetheday, next MB I may grab an EVGA.

 

[HPCE_Larry]

Why isn't EVGA up there? They make some good 680i mobo's. I'm running one now and the bios is great. The layout is pretty good as well, and plenty of features.

 

[lunyone]

Why isn't EVGA up there? They make some good 680i mobo's. I'm running one now and the bios is great. The layout is pretty good as well, and plenty of features.

I'm guessing because they haven't been in the consumer market too long. I don't remember seeing them on my last build in 2005, so not sure why they aren't on the list, but that is my guess on why.

 

[martyjs]

Gigabyte, good price/feature combo very reliable and great website for downloads bios, driver support goes back a long way.

 

[englandr753]

I have used Asus longer but I have to say Gigabyte has earned my respect. My 1st Gigabyte board is in my system that I use now and it is awesome as far as stability and setting options.

Neck and neck these two brands on my list of options. I would also consider EVGA. I have an 8800GTX ACS3 KO 768mb video card by them and I love it!

 

[ira176]

I am pretty sure Foxconn makes the boards for most of these guys anyway (Asus included). But I have always found Asus trouble free and there is no mystery in getting a decent OC without any work.

I had an MSI once and WHAT A PIECE OF CRAP.

Only about 3-4 years ago, I would be inclined to agree that MSI motherboards were crap, however, I tried them again on my most recent build. I am pretty happy with my MSI K9A platinum. MSI still has buggy software though. I have also built with ASUS a couple times (A7V, and A7N8X D) both good boards. I had a nightmare with a gigabyte board (GA-5AX), stability issues. I also tried ECS (K7S5A) but this also suffered stability issues.

 

[randomizer]

Only about 3-4 years ago, I would be inclined to agree that MSI motherboards were crap, however, I tried them again on my most recent build. I am pretty happy with my MSI K9A platinum. MSI still has buggy software though. I have also built with ASUS a couple times (A7V, and A7N8X D) both good boards. I had a nightmare with a gigabyte board (GA-5AX), stability issues. I also tried ECS (K7S5A) but this also suffered stability issues.

A7V was my dream board, it was awesome, it reset the CMOS itself if my OC failed, unlike every board I have owned since. I hate reset jumpers, the design is prehistoric, why do we still have to do it?

 

[BUFF]

I voted for abit USA (although it should really just be abit - you don't have Asus USA,DFI USA etc.).
2nd would be Gigabyte.
eVGA don't actually make any mobos - they just rebadge boards from other manufacturers like Foxconn, Jetway etc.

 

[exarrkun]

i hope the maximus SE i just bought will be as good as my previous asus mobo was...

voted asus

 

[rwayne]

Quote from Larry:

Why isn't EVGA up there? They make some good 680i mobo's. I'm running one now and the bios is great. The layout is pretty good as well, and plenty of features.

I thought about putting EVGA up there but I ran out of room. The reason they did not make the top 10 list on the poll is because to my understanding as someone posted above that they don't build motherboards but just simply rebadge them. I know several of their MOBOs are made by Foxconn.

 

[Scotteq]

Loving my DFI

RMA'd the Gigabyte before that - suspected bad memory controller (was not stable with any 2 DIMMS at the same time)

 

[rwayne]

Looks like to this point in the poll that ASUS is the run away favorite. However Gigabyte is making a strong showing too.

ASUS 17 Votes
Gigabyte 10 Votes

I saw a rumor online last year that ASUS was looking at buying Gigabyte. Not sure if that is true or not.

I think it is interesting that Biostar, ABIT, and Foxconn has not received votes yet.

I was hoping that Biostar would get some votes. Some of their motherboards (at least appearence wise) look pretty good.

Keep Voting. This poll is far from being over

 

[lunyone]

If I could vote for more than one I would vote for Asus, Gigabyte, Biostar, and Abit, but that would be too many votes. I liked the first Biostar mobo for AM2. I think it was a 7025 version w/onboard video. It had one of the best packages that I've seen in awhile. No issues whatsoever and booted right up! Couldn't ask for too much more.

 

[sunny27]

Asus.
asus a8n-e is my current board.
owned an intel D865GBF when i had a 2.4ghz fist generation prescott.the board was good but the cpu was pathetic.
had a gigabyte board in my first pc(celeron 300mhz pc)
asus is stable and i have had no problems in the last 3 years.

 

[aevm]

I voted Gigabyte because that's what I happen to have right now and it does the job. However, Asus and aBit are also fine and I have used their products without trouble before.

Can we get this poll started again but with checkboxes instead of radiobuttons, so we can pick more than one option? Does THG even support that sort of poll?

 

[JuiceJones]

In my experiences of mid-range ($100~$150) motherboard builds, my Gigabyte P965 board has impressed the most. It's been worlds stabler when overclocking versus the previous MSI P965 (won't even overclock the e4400 in it at all) and ASUS nForce4 board I had previously, though in the ASUS case I blame the chipset. The BIOS options in the Gigabyte are more thorough and they don't have horribly buggy, crap software like MSI. Plus MSI's website for drivers blows. I've had a very solid Intel mobo... but no OCing = Suck mobo.

Gigabyte has lately seemed to have great value for $100 overclocking boards. I dunno if their "Ultra-durable" marketing is worth a hoot, but my plans for a P35 board will remain with Gigabyte for now.

 

[dallasjoh]

I voted for Asus which is what I have, but I have also built several machines with Intel boards. If I am building a computer for someone other than myself, and they don't specify what motherboard, I will use Intel. They seem to be less troublesome.

 

[1haplo]

ASUS CUSL2!!! The best board I ever had. I have also owned a P4C800 Deluxe, and current P5B Deluxe-WiFi/AP, And I cant remember the model of the Intel P-233 MMX board I owned by ASUS.

1Haplo

 

[Guest]

Gigabyte. Only board I've ever used, great prices, great OCing, great stability. I'm sure ASUS is right up there with them, but when Gigabyte's never given me any problems and are usually priced a little better, why switch right?