Choosing A Motherboard

[seekermeister]

I was irritated due to the hassles and delays that I have been having, getting a refund on the purchase of an Asus M4A89GTD, but when I just started looking for another source, I checked the most negative reviews on it at Amazon:

Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Asus M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 Socket AM3 AMD 890GX/SB850 6 SATA USB 3.0 ATX Motherboard

And it appears that it may have been for the best. However my dilemma now is trying to find an alternative motherboard of the same capabilities and price range.

It took me a long time to pick this MB, and I really need some suggestions for a new choice, otherwise I may never get my new build finished.

 

[Fumz]

How much of your money do we get to play with?

 

[seekermeister]

I would prefer not to spend more than $150, but $200 is my maximum.

 

[Dwarf]

Here you go. Have a look at these.

Amazon.com: AMD Computer Motherboards

I've singled out this board. It is only $9 more.

Amazon.com: Gigabyte Socket AM3/AMD 890GX/SATA3&USB3.0/A&V&GbE/ATX Motherboard GA-890GPA-UD3H: Electronics

Manufacturer's Webpage: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3756#ov

 

[seekermeister]

Thanks, but I will need to give that motherboard a lot of thought before jumping off into it. The primary reason is because of a series of problems that I once had with a number of identical motherboards of theirs, that I couldn't make work...once bitten, twice shy. On top of that, there were a couple of customer reviews that didn't sound particularly good. Of course, that is true of almost all computer components.

 

[seekermeister]

It's not looking good for that Gigabyte motherboard, because there are 5 revisions of it, and the vendors that I have contacted so far, are either unable or unwilling to guarantee what revision that they will send me. I sent a question about this to Gigabyte, and their reply was little more than a stonewaller, saying to check the label on the box for the revision number. Of course, it is not possible to do that when buying online. From what I read in one user review, Gigabyte doesn't provide firmware updates, they simply release new revisions of the motherboard, and it isn't possible to update older revisions.

 

[bobkn]

Gigabyte doesn't provide firmware updates, they simply release new revisions of the motherboard, and it isn't possible to update older revisions.

I presume that Gigabyte is like other manufacturers: motherboard revisions involve hardware changes, not updated firmware.

Gigabyte provides firmware updates, but they won't magically convert a board to a newer revision.

The distinction doesn't make much difference, if you're concerned about getting stuck with an old board rev.

 

[LiquidSnak]

Amazon.com: ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 - AM3 - AMD 880G - DDR3 - USB 3.0 SATA 6 Gb/s - ATX Motherboard: Electronics

 

[Britton30]

Just my 2 cents. I have a Gigglebyte mobo, and will be the last. I had to return it twice to the factory, the 1st time returned, nothing had changed. The 2nd time they had updated the BIOS which fixed the issue. the issues were serious, not recognizing the graphics cards, SATA ports didn't work.
They were not courteous in emails nor knowlegeable, always want me to reinstall Win 7 and told me I should not have switched from XP. Also this board (in specs) will run a HDD on only one SATA port and a SATA DVD combo it listed as a ATA device.

 

[seekermeister]

Just my 2 cents. I have a Gigglebyte mobo, and will be the last. I had to return it twice to the factory, the 1st time returned, nothing had changed. The 2nd time they had updated the BIOS which fixed the issue. the issues were serious, not recognizing the graphics cards, SATA ports didn't work.
They were not courteous in emails nor knowlegeable, always want me to reinstall Win 7 and told me I should not have switched from XP. Also this board (in specs) will run a HDD on only one SATA port and a SATA DVD combo it listed as a ATA device.

I find your comment very helpful, even though it would be different motherboard than your's, because I loathe companies that provide inferior and worse...discourteous service. So much for Gigabyte.

 

[LiquidSnak]

ASUS is still the company I use and recommend. When you do the volume of business that ASUS does, you will have bad products show up. People always are ready to tout that their stuff is broken, or goes above their expectations, but less automatically inclined to leave a good review if their product is working just as it should.

 

[seekermeister]

ASUS is still the company I use and recommend. When you do the volume of business that ASUS does, you will have bad products show up. People always are ready to tout that their stuff is broken, or goes above their expectations, but less automatically inclined to leave a good review if their product is working just as it should.

I normally would agree with you, but this user comment deters me on this motherboard:

This board has a faulty USB system that is documented with over 125 messages since Nov 2010 on the ASUS forum. Countless hours trouble shooting mine, without success, led me to the ASUS forum where I discovered I am one of many with the same problem, which ASUS won't acknowledge, but rather simply issues RMAs when people complain. The replacement boards people get exhibit the same faults. Wishing I had bought the Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H with virtually identical features.

He wasn't specific about what the problem with USB is, but USB is far too important for it to not work properly.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Motherboards apparently aren't as reliable as a pocket knife or a refrigerator. Particularly if you take the complaints found on various online forums at face value.

If you want a board with no online complaints, find one from a little known manufacturer.

I say the above half but only half facetiously. I understand what you are up against and your unwillingness to buy a brand/model that appears to have deficiencies and your reluctance to deal with companies whose customer service is questionable.

But I don't think you have much choice on the customer service issue. None of them are stellar on this point--it just isn't in their tradition like it is for other lines of business where bad customer service will put you out of business in a hurry.

In my experience, Asus is particularly shaky on service.

You are probably going to have to take risks you would rather not take, considering it will be an online purchase with a manufacturer located halfway around the world. Not a pleasant prospect, but I don't know how you avoid it. You will be involved in a game of chance regardless of what board you choose and your number could come up more easily than you would like.

 

[LiquidSnak]

I suggested another that is as capable as that board should be, and under your budget

 

[seekermeister]

I came across this motherboard:

ASROCK AMD 890GX Extreme3 Motherboard 6 Core Ready USB3 | eBay

Which is somewhat more expensive than I wanted, but since I have no personal experience with ASRock, I'm wondering if anyone here has, and can fill me in?

 

[Dwarf]

How about this one? It's cheaper than the one you mentioned.

Amazon.com: ASRock Socket AM3/AMD 890GX/SATA3&USB 3.0/Quad CrossFireX/A&V&GbE/ATX Motherboard 890GX Extreme4: Computer & Accessories

ASRock > Products > 890GX Extreme4 R2.0

 

[seekermeister]

ASUS is still the company I use and recommend. When you do the volume of business that ASUS does, you will have bad products show up. People always are ready to tout that their stuff is broken, or goes above their expectations, but less automatically inclined to leave a good review if their product is working just as it should.

I normally would agree with you, but this user comment deters me on this motherboard:

This board has a faulty USB system that is documented with over 125 messages since Nov 2010 on the ASUS forum. Countless hours trouble shooting mine, without success, led me to the ASUS forum where I discovered I am one of many with the same problem, which ASUS won't acknowledge, but rather simply issues RMAs when people complain. The replacement boards people get exhibit the same faults. Wishing I had bought the Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H with virtually identical features.

He wasn't specific about what the problem with USB is, but USB is far too important for it to not work properly.

I think that I found the Asus Forum thread that the user that I mentioned was talking about:

ASUSTeK Computer Inc.-Forum- Plugging into USB causes video to short...

I have not gone through the entire thread, but at first glance, it does appear that there is a design flaw with this motherboard.

 

[seekermeister]

How about this one? It's cheaper than the one you mentioned.

Amazon.com: ASRock Socket AM3/AMD 890GX/SATA3&USB 3.0/Quad CrossFireX/A&V&GbE/ATX Motherboard 890GX Extreme4: Computer & Accessories

ASRock > Products > 890GX Extreme4 R2.0

The price is nice, but it is short on USB and SATA connectors. Even if it weren't, before I could make a decision about it, I would need some feedback at least on the brand.

 

[1Bowtie]

Feed back is just that someone else's opinion, you'll find 3 that love the board w/no problems and 2 that hate the company and had nothing but problems, there's no guantee's. All these RMA's are caused by user's not knowing how to install things so therefore it's got to be faulty hardware, when in fact there was nothing wrong w/ the item. Buy the one you want there's no guaranties that you can make it work.

 

[seekermeister]

The value in knowing the opinions of others is not in expecting a consensus among them, it is in providing a variety of viewpoints to consider, and then being able to decide which of them have greater validity. If people only relied on their own first hand experience, then there really wouldn't be a purpose for forums such as this one...would there?