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Did an AnandTech review influence the mainboard choice in your first computer?

The first motherboard(s) I puchased based in part on Anandtech reviews were the FIC PA-2007, Shuttle (Spacewalker) HOT-569 and HOT-603.

My first motherboard purchase was either (IIRC) Biostar 8500TVX or QDI Explorer circa 1996. God its been so long now my recollection definitely is less than perfect.
 
I used to buy 386 and 486 mobos based on appearance and the chipset used. I had "favorite" chipset vendors. Most of the mobo makers back then were generic, or that's what they sold at the computer shows.

I don't think I got into semi-name-brand mobos until the Pentium or slightly later era.

My Abit BX6-2 was a great mobo for my PII days though.
 
Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
I used to buy 386 and 486 mobos based on appearance and the chipset used. I had "favorite" chipset vendors. Most of the mobo makers back then were generic, or that's what they sold at the computer shows.
Click to expand...
Its funny how big OPTi chipsets were back in the 386/486 market. QDI, Biostar (a.k.a. Bioteq), and FIC were big players back then, too.
 
Threads on particular forums influence my mobo purchases, as i've learned reviews tend to be extremely lacking in the real world info i need to make a decision. Unfortunately even forum users cannot always see the issues i seem to run into...

An example would be my DFI UT P35-T2R.
The AT review praised this board like no tomorrow, but when i got it, i discovered it was beyond impossible to stably run my 8 GB stock, underclocked, or OCed on the board unless i used one certain, & only one, RAM ratio.
4 GB was great of course, but how dare i actually stress things with 8 GB :roll:

Gigabyte UD3P was a similar situation, though i based that purchase off forum discussion more than anything.
Again, 4 GB = fun times; 8 GB = flakey crappiness.

My very first PCs i built before knowing about AT though...
 
Nah, Anandtech didn't even exsist when I purchased my first mobo (CT 386WB+), I've still got that board and it's 386DX-33 cpu around somewhere.
 
Lord, that's way too long ago. Yes, Anandtech influenced the choice. The forums had some valuable information. My first build was an early Pentium. Since then, I've probably assembled 10 or more.
 
Originally posted by: tcsenter
Shuttle (Spacewalker) HOT-569
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Not my first mobo purchase (back in 1990) but the first article I read at anandtech was that one on the HOT-569. I ended up using that board in a LOT of builds for clients, and got one for myself.
 
My first comp's mobo was something I randomly picked up on sale at Fry's (Shuttle nForce 2 AN35N-400). The only thing I cared about was that it was not an ECS mobo. I've tried 3 different ECS mobos but none would POST or boot into windows.

My next comp would be my current one. nforce 650i ultra This one I did look at a lot of reviews for, including anandtech's.
 
Well, my first computers were all pre-built, so no, Anandtech didn't help with those.
It didn't help with the first motherboard I actually bought either. The very first was some Asus VIA KT333A mobo that the local comp shop recommended after my old mobo died. The first real motherboard I purchased was a shuttle nforce 2 mobo, probably the same as blackmage's. It was a cheap nforce2 motherboard with good overclocking and dual channel ddr.
Anandtech's review of the Gigabyte p965-s3 did influence my choice for my next computer though, as it seemed like the best price/overclocking motherboard available for the core 2 duo at their launch. Otherwise though, I just go on chipset and feature set, motherboards are like video cards these days, the differences between them are usually too small to care.
 
Nope. AT didn't exist back then. My first "system" was a home computer. The second was pre-built. The first board I picked was for an upgrade on my second system. It was a 286 board with an AMD 16MHz cpu soldered on it and 1MB of RAM 🙂
 
Originally posted by: Zap
Originally posted by: tcsenter
Shuttle (Spacewalker) HOT-569
Click to expand...
Not my first mobo purchase (back in 1990) but the first article I read at anandtech was that one on the HOT-569. I ended up using that board in a LOT of builds for clients, and got one for myself.
Click to expand...
Circa 1988 ~ 1996 was the golden era of system building, when it was fairly easy for a small system builder to compete with the big OEMs across the entire spectrum and people actually had their computers repaired because it was cheaper than buying new. A lot of small shops began to disappear beginning around 1996. I learned the hard way, by starting my first business just before things started to get really tough. And being my first business, really didn't see it coming or know how to respond until it was too late. If I were to do it over again, I would concentrate on computer services primarily, and only build systems > $800.
 
Originally posted by: tcsenter
If I were to do it over again, I would concentrate on computer services primarily, and only build systems > $800.
Click to expand...

Well, I guess it's a good thing that my business concentrated on service. I owned it from 1995 to 2005 and sold it. It is still in business to this day. We basically made sure our prices were reasonable and our service great. This helped build our reputation until we were known as the best repair shop in the whole county. I think what also helped was that I didn't badmouth competitors and I didn't BS customers. That kind of behavior seemed all too common and IMO makes the more astute customer distrust you as a service provider. I also had some great employees (which really helped). One of them still works for the current owners of my former business and others have gone on to bigger and better things (including enjoying lifetime bans from Anandtech Forums 😱 ).

Wow, totally off topic. Back on topic...

I loved Shuttle motherboards of the time and did a lot of overclocking with them. Initially I wasn't too sure of them since at the time they were another new brand for me, but the Anandtech review was pretty positive so I kept using them. The most recent Shuttle motherboard that I purchased for my personal use is sitting in my garage right now. Forgot the model but it uses the 965PE chipset and is socket 478. It was working fine until about a month ago when it would no longer POST. Culprit - bulging/leaking capacitors.

Reviews (whether "professional" or forum) can definately influence my purchasing decisions. Now, I'm no noob and I have eyes too, so if I do encounter issues then I won't keep buying the product after the first sample.
 
My first self-assembled PC was from 2006, and Anandtech did indeed influence me to get an Asus P5W DH. Anandtech writer said they liked the board so much they were getting more for their test mobos to use with other items. It was a fine board to start with - as was C2D.
 
anandtech wasn't around when i built my first computer. I was working for tandy at the time(late 80s early 90s) and was able to buy some boards from them for cheap.
 
Originally posted by: Zap
Well, I guess it's a good thing that my business concentrated on service. I owned it from 1995 to 2005 and sold it.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure why, I just didn't want to be in the service side of things. I wanted to primarily be a reseller and system builder, but that takes capital, which I tried to do using a combination of my savings and credit lines. Bad idea. lol ( I'm glad I can laugh about it now 😕 )

 
Nope. This site wasn't around then. It was a 486 board. Before that I just bought complete pc.

Dip switches and motherboard jumpers , oh the horror.

Imagine having to reach inside your pc with motherboard manual in one hand, tweezers in the other, flashlight in the mouth, trying to change dip switches so you can overclock. And doing that every time you wanted to try a new setting.
 
Originally posted by: Stumps
Nah, Anandtech didn't even exsist when I purchased my first mobo (CT 386WB+), I've still got that board and it's 386DX-33 cpu around somewhere.
Click to expand...
Same here, My first built from scratch was 486 DX 33 Vesa Local Bus. Even though I was Computer PC Tech but due to funds and no needs for the PC I never made one for my self.
However It use to be one Kick Arse Computer though
486 DX 33
VL Video Card Diamond Viper 2 Meg
VL Datatech IDE Bus /IO card.
Now me being a computer tech I had a chance to play with lot of hardware so I knew which was faster then others
 
I wish I had found this website before I started shopping and bought my first mobo five years ago:frown:. I definitely wouldn't have ended up with a Soyo mobo. At that time customer service was spotty at best. My system that is built around the Soyo mobo has lasted me five years though.
 
no, it didn't influence my decision, but i did read it before i purchased. the main thing that influenced me was that many other people had the same mb so i knew i'd get more help if i needed.

don't get much help now from anandtech forum though...
 
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