Discussion How much would you (or have you) paid for a mainstream (consumer) motherboard?

[UsandThem]

With the price of consumer motherboards really skyrocketing over the last 5 years or so, how much would you (or have you) paid for a motherboard for a personal build?

For me, the most I've ever paid was $189 (Gigabyte GA-Z170X-UD5 in 2015), and I have sort of a mental block going past $200 for one.

 

[esquared]

I think the most I ever paid was around 175 for this Abit K7 RAID board.

ABIT KT7-RAID Socket-A KT133 ATX

www.anandtech.com

I would go to 200, or a little more, for a board with more bells and whistles.

 

[crashtech]

$200 seems to be the sweet spot for me lately, so I had to check two choices to encompass that. I'd pay more if the board happened to have what I want, for instance I would easily pay $249 for a fanless X570 board.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I paid $130 or so for my GA-P35-DS3R, fairly premium mid-range Core2-era board.

I also bought a few DFI X48 boards, just because, but I never really used them much in my own rigs, I don't think. I still have one BNIB, even. Those were possibly more than $200.

I paid $110-130 range for my Asus B450-F ROG STRIX Gaming ATX board (new), as well as my Gigabyte B450 AORUS PRO WIFI ATX (new).

I really don't see much reason to pay more, although I could be convinced, if the board makers and chipset vendors could make a compelling price/performance or value/$ argument.

I'm doing great with a B450 board and my Ryzen R5 3600 and my RGB DDR4-3600 RAM... although I do average one serious freeze/crash every few weeks. Then again, I'm generally mining on my rig, which kind of pushes the limit on things. OTOH, I was doing a 5-day PrimeGrid race on the CPU, while mining on the GPU, and it never skipped a beat. So I don't quite know why my rig acts up once in a while.

for instance I would easily pay $249 for a fanless X570 board.

I would consider that. I've been willing to "stretch my (previous) budget limitations" with my Ryzen rigs, they offered enough performance and value, to consider "stepping up" into their price category, from the budget gear I used to use.

 

[Muadib]

$300 for my ASRock X570 Taichi motherboard is the most I've ever paid for a board. And sadly it's not fanless.

 

[DigDog]

about £100. maybe juuust a slight tad over that, but i start getting annoyed at the price. Anything above £130 is way out.
This is assuming an overclockable mobo - none of that home-market B stuff.

 

[Ajay]

Most I've spent is, I think, $250 for my x58 P6T. Most I'd spend for a high end system is ~$350. I don't upgrade very often any more, so quality is paramount for me.

 

[kschendel]

I don't see an X570 in my near future, but if it happens, it's going to be the Aorus Xtreme at $700 because I hate fan noise with a passion. Fortunately I'm pretty happy with my current setup and I may wait for Zen 3, or for Intel to get the thumbs out, before moving on.

 

[crashtech]

It's a little disappointing that they can't come up with more fanless solutions to the X570 problem. Many of the possible remedies might involve limiting users to particular cooling configurations though, so perhaps it's understandable that, to keep the boards universal, a fan would be considered necessary. But we all know what happens to crappy little fans after a year or two, and whether replacements can be had is a very valid concern.

 

[Shmee]

I think my most expensive motherboard, at least what I can remember, is my Asus X99 Deluxe I bought for around $350 or so if I recall.

 

[Iron Woode]

I paid $170 CDN for my Asrock B450 Fatal1ty Gaming ITX/ac motherboard.

The most I ever paid was $225 CDN for my Epox 8RDA+ motherboard.

 

[PW5843]

Last MB i bought was 2014 - ASUS SABERTOOTH Z97 MARK2 paid $175.

Im in the process of putting together a new system and the boards im looking at are in the 220 - 280 range.
Since i look for something that can last 5 - 6 years.

Still debating the x570 vs Z390 chipsets.

 

[Lithan1282]

I've spent as little as $50 (For a low power consumption micropc build using a chip adapter that limited what bios features would be usable anyway), but usually $80-120 was my price range, with the rare times I'd bump it a few dollars over that when it meant I got a big upgrade for little additional money. Current build is the most pricey Mobo I've ever owned ($230 retail), but I got it in a barebones kit. While I can see WHY it costs so much more and I'm really liking the quality... I still would never pay $230 (or even the $200 it's selling for new) for it. $140 would probably be my top line price... but it always depends on alternatives. With viable B450 boards out there in the $70-90 range... hard for me to justify $130+... There have been era's/gens when anything under $100 was a microatx POS with no features... and then you're often comparing a $110 board using subpar components vs $140 board with solid components, better bios, more features, better warranty, etc... A lot easier to consider the latter board in those cases.

 

[Lithan1282]

The most I ever paid was $225 CDN for my Epox 8RDA+ motherboard.

That was my last board before I stopped seriously overclocking. I must have got it refurbed though, Only $130 iirc. (Or maybe it was just that much cheaper in the states?)

 

[Iron Woode]

That was my last board before I stopped seriously overclocking. I must have got it refurbed though, Only $130 iirc. (Or maybe it was just that much cheaper in the states?)

I bought it brand new at the time when those boards were only a few months old, so right at their peak way back in late 2002.

 

[Markfw]

Mainstream ? about $200 is the sweet spot IMO. You get quality without ridiculous amounts of bells and whistles you don't need.

Now is x399 mainstream ? I think I have like about $350 in most of mine. I did go $500 for the MSI x399 board with 19 phase vrms, to OC the 2990wx.

The MOST I ever paid was for an SR-2, I think it was like $600, even more than the dual Opteron motherboard I bought in 2002 for $450.

 

[Kenmitch]

I try to stay around the $150 price point after bundle/discount savings.

 

[killster1]

depends on needed features and ports, you just CAN NOT buy a decent motherboard for less than 200 nowdays. unless you want 5 usb ports and crappy audio in a tiny form or go with a substandard brand ;P but we all choose diff things to spend our money on. most people's dinner cost 200$ when you go out to eat why spend less on a motherboard you will be using for yearS? (i love 8 usb3 ports 6+ sata 2+nvme optical/good audio codec/ decent cooling solutions.. if the board has alot of copper cooling on it maybe even worth more $$

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I tend to stick to about $200 for each of the components.

 

[Oyeve]

On average a hundred bucks. The most was for a first generation pentium 66.paid 300 for that. It was more of a professional workstation mobo.

 

[keithw75]

I usually pay between 300 and 450 for my motherboards. Built some X99s and then some X299s. I wouldn't pay more than $500 unless there was an extremely enticing reason.

 

[AnnoyedGrunt]

I paid about $120 for my ASRock B450 ITX motherboard. It is available now for under $100 I believe. It has the 1220 audio codec, Intel LAN, decent layout, etc. Really happy with it.

IMO it is an excellent board at an excellent price, and why for me $150 is about the max I’d pay for a “normal” desktop mobo.

-AG

 

[KentState]

I'd pay no more than $1k for a desktop motherboard.

 

[Ajay]

So, just spent $300 for a MSI Meg x570 Unify. Had all the features I wanted, solid 6-layer board.

 

[yeshua]

It's always been at most $200 for me but apparently nine years ago a $200 MB was a whole lot better than the one I bought three months ago.