Out of all the motherboard companies that went out of business, how did Biostar survive?

[UsandThem]

Today when I saw this review over on Tom's it really made me question how Biostar has managed to stay in the retail motherboard business?

They only offer a couple of models (usually 3-4) for each chipset, and they almost never review very well because they always seem to make some really bone-headed decisions, but somehow they still are still offering consumer motherboards. Many times they implement a very poor VRM design, yet they price their offerings in the same price range as the "big 4" (Asus, MSI, GIgabyte, and Asrock) do.

Take for example the motherboard review I linked to above. It's a $600 Intel Z690 motherboard, that thermally throttles running the CPU at stock, and then they don't even offer the best or current generation of onboard sound? On a $600 motherboard, really?

In the U.S. market at least, nobody ever inquires about buying a Biostar motherboard on the forums that I have seen, so maybe they have better options / lower pricing in markets like Asia?

I mean companies like Abit, DFI, Soyo, Epox, and Shuttle going out of business, Intel deciding to leave the motherboard market altogether, and ECS leaving the North American market, how has Biostar been able to stay in business all of these years?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

While they don't do the DIY boards anymore, Shuttle is still around - https://us.shuttle.com/ I used to have one of their AMD XP barebones SFF systems bitd. With an ATI all-in-wonder, that thing was a fantastic HTPC. It had the MCP APU with DD 5.1 hardware acceleration from the Xbox. I also used their nForce chipset boards for a number of builds.

Biostar still being around, I have no idea about. Everything they make that gets reviewed is hot garbage. Their graphics cards are as bad as their mainboards -

 

[Leeea]

BIOSTAR Launches ethOS Mining OS Supported Boards For Ethereum - Legit Reviews

www.legitreviews.com

I see you looking at me suspiciously. I know what your thinking. How dare you accuse me of that!

 

[Shamrock]

I agree, EPoX was the best manufacturer I ever used. I had that mobo for 10 years.

 

[RLGL]

Abit in my book was the best!

 

[PingSpike]

Biostar has a strong brand in Asia IIRC.

 

[igor_kavinski]

There's always a market for cheap crap. But, to be honest, I have never used a Biostar motherboard so can't say anything about their quality or reliability.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

There's always a market for cheap crap. But, to be honest, I have never used a Biostar motherboard so can't say anything about their quality or reliability.

I had a Biostar motherboard once...Once!

It was way back in the super socket 7 days. Bought a Biostar M5ALA? at one of those computer shows they would have every few months. It would alternate with gun shows, at the same venue. Used it with a K6-2 500 and it was a flaky board.

 

[CU]

The Biostar in my sig is still going strong. It even overclocked pretty good. Although I still have found memories of my Abit BM6 and wish they were still around.

 

[PingSpike]

I also had a z77 Biostar motherboard that I bought used which I was quite happy with. It was still working well when I sold it. It actually had a bananas amount of bios options.

I can't comment much on VRMs, but the board was stable. I haven't overclocked since I had an e2180. I stopped because it seemed like a waste of effort.

 

[dlerious]

I miss Abit and DFI. I always thought Biostar were more prevalent in the pre-built market.

 

[Hotrod2go]

I wonder the same thing as the OP, cause over here in Australia, popular online retailers never have stocked this brand for many years already.

 

[bigboxes]

I miss Abit and DFI. I always thought Biostar were more prevalent in the pre-built market.

I miss Abit. A lot. DFI? Meh. I was never one to spend countless hours trying to get it stable. The last DFI motherboard I had I threw it in the trash. I've still got a working Socket A Abit motherboard.

 

[UsandThem]

I had a little time earlier today, and I was curious of what Biostar's motherboard pricing was in the U.S., and their availability is pretty non-existent through the major retailers.

I was shocked to see how little retailers like Newegg and Amazon offered. They must do a killing over in Asia, because I just don't see how they keep the lights on with their U.S. presence. And $600 for a Biostar motherboard (even if you could find a place to buy it? Nope.

 

[killster1]

Today when I saw this review over on Tom's it really made me question how Biostar has managed to stay in the retail motherboard business?

They only offer a couple of models (usually 3-4) for each chipset, and they almost never review very well because they always seem to make some really bone-headed decisions, but somehow they still are still offering consumer motherboards. Many times they implement a very poor VRM design, yet they price their offerings in the same price range as the "big 4" (Asus, MSI, GIgabyte, and Asrock) do.

Take for example the motherboard review I linked to above. It's a $600 Intel Z690 motherboard, that thermally throttles running the CPU at stock, and then they don't even offer the best or current generation of onboard sound? On a $600 motherboard, really?

In the U.S. market at least, nobody ever inquires about buying a Biostar motherboard on the forums that I have seen, so maybe they have better options / lower pricing in markets like Asia?

I mean companies like Abit, DFI, Soyo, Epox, and Shuttle going out of business, Intel deciding to leave the motherboard market altogether, and ECS leaving the North American market, how has Biostar been able to stay in business all of these years?

because no one wants to pay extra for quality, they see bottom of barrel and buy it and then sell it for more or use it for a build. RIGHT? DFI was my hands down favorite, then abit, but they spent to much money on designing the motherboard with quality parts and builds that they could not compete with cheap skates. the average biostar motherboard has always been imo 35-65$

oh i see the 600$ biotstar board made you mad ;P most the boards arnt 600 right? its super fluke they did for fun or for like publicity.

 

[UsandThem]

oh i see the 600$ biotstar board made you mad ;P most the boards arnt 600 right? its super fluke they did for fun or for like publicity.

People can make their own decisions on what they're willing to pay for a motherboard, and I am for sure not the target market for motherboards that cost more than the CPU.

But if I was in that target market, I wouldn't be choosing Biostar (as their history / brand does not scream "premium" in any way).
Biostar = "I'm too cheap to pay for Asus / Gigabyte / MSI / Asrock" choices.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Biostar might be one of those companies that acts as a training ground for engineers. They pay them very little but it allows the engineers to get their foot in the door and they move on to greener pastures after gaining experience from enriching Biostar.

Also, Foxconn might be the best mobo maker in the world. I really like how stable Dell and HP's office PCs are. Never seen them throwing up hardware related bluescreens in normal use. I think most of their PCs use Foxconn manufactured mobos.

 

[bigboxes]

Also, Foxconn might be the best mobo maker in the world. I really like how stable Dell and HP's office PCs are. Never seen them throwing up hardware related bluescreens in normal use. I think most of their PCs use Foxconn manufactured mobos.

I never had a Biostar motherboard, but I had a Foxconn. Worst. Of. All. Time. Cheap POS.

 

[igor_kavinski]

I never had a Biostar motherboard, but I had a Foxconn. Worst. Of. All. Time. Cheap POS.

Hmm...what kind of problems did you face?

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I think most of their PCs use Foxconn manufactured mobos.

Most PCs use Foxconn or Pegatron manufactured mainboards.

Who designs them on the other hand also matters.

 

[CropDuster]

Had a Soyo K7 back in the day. Think they went bust too?

 

[igor_kavinski]

Had a Soyo K7 back in the day. Think they went bust too?

They went bankrupt and all assets ended up in China. Probably a local brand there now.



Maybe they changed their name to Maxsun?

 

[zir_blazer]

I'm almost positively sure than Biostar had a bit of glory around 2006 with their Biostar TForce series in the nForce 4 IGP (GeForce 6100/6150) timeframe, since I recall it being popular at some point. No idea when they stop being popular.

 

[RLGL]

I once had a board from Soyo. I was quite stable until the magic Pixie dust emitted from the case.

 

[mv2devnull]

The only "issue" with Soyo board that I had: their latest BIOS versions did not fit in -- their later revision boards must have had a larger chip to flash to.

Abit and Shuttle I've seen, but not used personally. Don't recall seeing Biostar even at shops (but they apparently are there even today).