[SOLVED] What brand mobo to buy?

Crag_Hack

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Hi I have a question that could possibly be quite trite... what brand mobo should I go with? Haven't made up my mind about Intel 11th gen vs Ryzen 5000 yet but the question still applies. I know this question has probably been asked a million times across the Internet so far... I've heard a friend denounce MSI and there are probably a million ASUS fanboys out there. I've heard a technician denounce Gigabyte and claim MSI and Asrock are rock solid. Is it all just a bunch of superficial opinions or is there a general consensus out there? Is there really a best brand/mobo model at a certain price range out there? I've also heard Gamer's Nexus say 'there's no such thing as a good brand only a good product.' I have found plenty of models on Tom's page about such and of course others like PCGamer. Is a model that makes a list like that guaranteed to be a good product?
Thanks!
 
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Solution
Motherboards are manufactured for both budget entry level users and experienced high end power users.
They provide a different array of onboard components depending on the users requirement so personal choice prevails.

Many have preference regarding brand and yes fanboy plays it's part. I am a power user and choose ASUS high end boards for Overclocking and reliability.
Others choose their Motherboards based on budget and sometimes they rely on reviews which are very often skewed.

Best is research and research some more seeking help from places like PartPicker and reputable review sites.
Put together a list of components and ask here for opinions and don't just rely on opinions but come to your own assessment.
With PC electronics...
Hi I have a question that could possibly be quite trite... what brand mobo should I go with? Haven't made up my mind about Intel 11th gen vs Ryzen 5000 yet but the question still applies. I know this question has probably been asked a million times across the Internet so far... I've heard a friend denounce MSI and there are probably a million ASUS fanboys out there. I've heard a technician denounce Gigabyte and claim MSI and Asrock are rock solid. Is it all just a bunch of superficial opinions or is there a general consensus out there? Is there really a best brand/mobo model at a certain price range out there? I've also heard Gamer's Nexus say 'there's no such thing as a good brand only a good product.' I have found plenty of models on Tom's page about such and of course others like PCGamer. Is a model that makes a list like that guaranteed to be a good product?
Thanks!
What Nexus says is right, all manufacturers make some trash hoards, and all manufacturers make some great boards. Asus has a strong reputation because of a big brand - ROG, and great customer service. I have a friend who has had very bad experiences with MSI regarding their service. Whereas Gigabyte and Asus have excellent service, but that is also region dependent. I have a Gigabyte board since the past 5 months, haven't had a single problem yet. Usually those lists tell the truth, there are also other "VRM tier lists" which are basically stability tier lists. I found my Gigabyte B550 Aorus Pro AC to rank high in that, which is why I bought it (except the fact that it also costed $50 less than the similarly albeit better performing ROG Strix B550-F)
 
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Motherboards are manufactured for both budget entry level users and experienced high end power users.
They provide a different array of onboard components depending on the users requirement so personal choice prevails.

Many have preference regarding brand and yes fanboy plays it's part. I am a power user and choose ASUS high end boards for Overclocking and reliability.
Others choose their Motherboards based on budget and sometimes they rely on reviews which are very often skewed.

Best is research and research some more seeking help from places like PartPicker and reputable review sites.
Put together a list of components and ask here for opinions and don't just rely on opinions but come to your own assessment.
With PC electronics and equipment things go wrong and Motherboards just like other Hardware can pass quality control resulting in faults forcing you to RMA. Happens with all manufacturers.
 
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Motherboards are manufactured for both budget entry level users and experienced high end power users.
They provide a different array of onboard components depending on the users requirement so personal choice prevails.

Many have preference regarding brand and yes fanboy plays it's part. I am a power user and choose ASUS high end boards for Overclocking and reliability.
Others choose their Motherboards based on budget and sometimes they rely on reviews which are very often skewed.

Best is research and research some more seeking help from places like PartPicker and reputable review sites.
Put together a list of components and ask here for opinions and don't just rely on opinions but come to your own assessment.
With PC electronics and equipment things go wrong and Motherboards just like other Hardware can pass quality control resulting in faults forcing you to RMA. Happens with all manufacturers.
I agree, I'm a bit of an Asus fanboy too, but my budget restricted me to Gigabyte. If OP wants an overall brand wise recommendation I'd say

(best to worst)
Asus
Gigabyte
MSI
AsRock
 
Solution
I agree, I'm a bit of an Asus fanboy too, but my budget restricted me to Gigabyte. If OP wants an overall brand wise recommendation I'd say

(best to worst)
Asus
Gigabyte
MSI
AsRock

Agreed, however I don't use ASUS for their service, it's lousy and support aren't the sharpest tools in the shed. ROG forum is the place to go for help from the guy's who use their products.
 
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alexbirdie

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Many years ASUS-user and never had any problems. But I always chose the better ones in the past ( something xxxx-deluxe etc.), not the cheap boards.

That does not mean, that cheaper boards are not as good as expensive ones, but I can only tell about my experience.
 
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Crag_Hack

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Thanks guys! I'll get going ASUS then it sounds like the safest bet for me. Price is not an object and not doing any overclocking. When not OC'ing if you buy say a Z490 instead of a H470 will the mobo last longer? Is it probably of higher build quality? Any other reason to prefer Z490 over H470? Assume the same applies to AMD mobos.
 
Thanks guys! I'll get going ASUS then it sounds like the safest bet for me. Price is not an object and not doing any overclocking. When not OC'ing if you buy say a Z490 instead of a H470 will the mobo last longer? Is it probably of higher build quality? Any other reason to prefer Z490 over H470? Assume the same applies to AMD mobos.
Nah not true, I had an H61 board last me 4 years after which I gave it to someone in perfect working condition
 

Crag_Hack

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A followup question - are there any other computer components similar to mobos where you need to do research to avoid buying a bad product from a mostly good brand? Obviously cases have huge differences all over the place regarding quiet and cooling capacity... Any other guys similar to cases/mobos in this regard?
 
A followup question - are there any other computer components similar to mobos where you need to do research to avoid buying a bad product from a mostly good brand? Obviously cases have huge differences all over the place regarding quiet and cooling capacity... Any other guys similar to cases/mobos in this regard?
Anything really.... Asus ROG Strix is supposed to be best gpu usually, but the Asus dual is trash. Corsair makes great psus but the CXM series is not worth the money at all, it's just bad. Fans.....eh not really almost anything works just look out for rgb compatibility and cable management mess. Cooler..... Hyper 212 led bad hyper 212 rgb good. Samsung 970 Evo great 860 qvo useless. You need a little research everywhere. But you can skip that and come to these forums lol
 

Karadjgne

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There is no 'best' as such, there's only 'best for you'. And that can be anything. It'll be determined by your needs, wants, desires. My new X570 happens to be Asus, because mITX selection is limited, I wanted a path to the 5000 series, wifi6, more than 1 fan header, dual NVMe m.2 slots etc. The Gigabyte fell short and has had multiple reports of bios issues/doa, Msi only makes a B450 mITX, and I have no need for the TB3 that soaks up a bunch of real estate leaving mediocre performance on the ASRock. Color didn't matter, rgb/argb is moot.

Asus had what I wanted, so the question remains, what exactly do you want, what can you live with, what can't you live without?
 
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Crag_Hack

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With memory and CPUs though, are pretty much all products solid? Do you get what you pay for for the most part? For example my current Corsair Vengeance memory came with a lifetime warranty which is pretty confidence inspiring...
 

Notorious^

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Motherboards are manufactured for both budget entry level users and experienced high end power users.
They provide a different array of onboard components depending on the users requirement so personal choice prevails.

Many have preference regarding brand and yes fanboy plays it's part. I am a power user and choose ASUS high end boards for Overclocking and reliability.
Others choose their Motherboards based on budget and sometimes they rely on reviews which are very often skewed.

Best is research and research some more seeking help from places like PartPicker and reputable review sites.
Put together a list of components and ask here for opinions and don't just rely on opinions but come to your own assessment.
With PC electronics and equipment things go wrong and Motherboards just like other Hardware can pass quality control resulting in faults forcing you to RMA. Happens with all manufacturers.

I agree with this. To prove this point, i am a MSI fanboy. I prefer upper tier board for overclocking stability and like MSI over the other board MFG's due to their BIOS is better, more user friendly for novice users and well laid out. Its just a better BIOS IMO that is well thought out.
 

Karadjgne

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I find Asus or ASRock to be the most generally user friendly bios. For the average Joe. It's when you get into the enthusiast class boards in the mid-upper tiers that 'simple user friendly' becomes a hassle, and more technically aspected bios like msi or asus rog uses actually becomes more user friendly. It's a matter of exactly whom is looking at the bios.