Question Which mobo brand is best now?

[pcslookout]

I know Asus use to be

 

[BoomerD]

I don't know that any one brand is the "best," but for a couple of decades, ASUS was my "go to" for motherboards. From everything I read last year when planning my new build, they've been having lots of quality control issues. For the first time ever, I built with MSI. (Z690 MAG Tomahawk WIFI DDR4) It's decent...but has a few glitches that BIOS/EUFI updates haven't addressed. (wonky Intel V225 network chip that just drops connection, and a wonky audio chip that also just stops working. BOTH are irritants that "fix themselves" with a reboot.
ALL manufacturers seem to have their problems. To me, it's how the company deals with those problems.

 

[In2Photos]

There is no best. Each vendor has good boards and bad boards. And some good boards can still have problems. That being said I have always preferred MSI boards since I have had good experiences with them. I have several systems that have been running for 10+ years (one is currently 15 years old).

I don't know that any one brand is the "best," but for a couple of decades, ASUS was my "go to" for motherboards. From everything I read last year when planning my new build, they've been having lots of quality control issues. For the first time ever, I built with MSI. (Z690 MAG Tomahawk WIFI DDR4) It's decent...but has a few glitches that BIOS/EUFI updates haven't addressed. (wonky Intel V225 network chip that just drops connection, and a wonky audio chip that also just stops working. BOTH are irritants that "fix themselves" with a reboot.
ALL manufacturers seem to have their problems. To me, it's how the company deals with those problems.

I don't think the Intel network thing is an MSI exclusive problem. It seems to happen across all motherboard vendors. But I get it being annoying. My daughter's Gigabyte board had a similar issue (Realtek NIC). Disabling the Ethernet in the BIOS, booting, and then re-enabling the Ethernet seems to have fixed her problems, although her issue was connectivity on bootup. It either worked or it didn't. Once it was working it would stay working.

 

[DigDog]

MSI for low end. Asus but they have recently been involved in a rather vile RMA scandal.

 

[BoomerD]

There is no best. Each vendor has good boards and bad boards. And some good boards can still have problems. That being said I have always preferred MSI boards since I have had good experiences with them. I have several systems that have been running for 10+ years (one is currently 15 years old).


I don't think the Intel network thing is an MSI exclusive problem. It seems to happen across all motherboard vendors. But I get it being annoying. My daughter's Gigabyte board had a similar issue (Realtek NIC). Disabling the Ethernet in the BIOS, booting, and then re-enabling the Ethernet seems to have fixed her problems, although her issue was connectivity on bootup. It either worked or it didn't. Once it was working it would stay working.

I know there are a lot of complaints about the Intel network chips…225 and 226 both seem to have issues…with no updates from MSI to address it.

 

[Mahboi]

Seems like the broadly well-liked is now Asrock.
But as already mentioned, it's really board-wise.

 

[poke01]

I wish AMD and Intel made boards.

 

[Muadib]

I hear Asus support is horrendous now. My last two builds have been on Asus motherboards. I have to build a pc for my nephew, as I promised that I would when he got his degree. I'm not sure what I'm going to use.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I hear Asus support is horrendous now. My last two builds have been on Asus motherboards. I have to build a pc for my nephew, as I promised that I would when he got his degree. I'm not sure what I'm going to use.

They have been the worst of the worst for a fair number of years. I have not bought from them NIB in probably a decade or more. I do have the TUF GAMING X570 and it has been solid for a few years now. I have an ASRock B550M ITX/ac and no complaints. And an ASRock deskmini. The rest are Gigabyte because they always had the best features for the money when I was shopping. The oldest is a AORUS ELITE B450 that is over 5yrs old and has seen my son through college and heavy gaming.

Traded a friend a MSI Tomahawk B450 system for a couple of shotguns and it is still getting the job done for him. Basically any well reviewed board that isn't Asus is my recommendation. Punishing them for anti consumer behavior is the only way to affect change. And they will leave you out to dry if anything goes wrong so avoiding them is fiscally responsible.

 

[igor_kavinski]

I'm not sure what I'm going to use.

If it's not a fancy PC and you prefer reliability over LEDs and bright colored flashy heatsinks, get a boring green PCB CSM mobo from ASUS. Like this: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1768542-REG/asus_pro_b650m_ct_csm_amd_b650.html

This is what I find very desirable about it:

An innovative moisture-resistant coating protects the motherboard in humid environments, such as factories, libraries, data centers, and internet cafes. It also minimizes internal corrosion by preventing adhesion and migration of moisture, prolonging the life of the motherboard. For long-term reliability, the ASUS Business motherboard is equipped with anti-sulfur resistors that provide excellent resistance to sulfuration by being constructed in a high-grade ceramic body. With anti-sulfur resistors, the ASUS Business motherboard can be operated in harsh environments. Corrosion-resistant stainless steel back I/O panels bonded with chromium oxide have a lifespan that's three times longer than ordinary panels. You also get Overvoltage Protection, ESD Guards, LAN Guard, and more.

Or if you want to pay a bit more: https://www.asus.com/me-en/motherboards-components/motherboards/csm/prime-b650-plus-csm/

I got my friend the non-CSM green B660 which is running fine since Alder Lake Core i5 launch in Q1 2022. Would've been the CSM one if it had been available when I was shopping online.

Here's a review: https://www.servethehome.com/asus-pro-b660m-c-d4-csm-review-and-making-corporate-fun-intel-nvidia/

 

[Shmee]

Asus has had issues and horror stories regarding RMA and customer service for over 20 years. It is not a new thing.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Asus can suck it -

 

[bigboxes]

I have Asus motherboards in all my active PCs. Main rig runs 24/7 for 3 years now. Server runs 24/7 for 7 years now. HTPC in living room is using a P6T Deluxe v2 circa 2009. I RMAd my Asus router about 7 years ago. No problem.

 

[aigomorla]

Asus is NOT the best... it never was the best.
There are special niche's in ASUS, like the top top ROG line, but that would get absolutely destroyed by eVGA Dark Series.

As for what boards are left.... not many...
For Intel, i would probably still go eVGA Dark.
For AMD, i would probably go MSI, or ASRock.

The only ASUS product i would think of buying is probably a STRIX GPU.
But even then, its only because eVGA no longer does Videocards.

 

[Mahboi]

The only ASUS product i would think of buying is probably a STRIX GPU.

Interesting, cause I keep hearing that ASUS is heaven and hell depending on tier, their high end cards are great, but lower end cards (6 class and below) are just terrible.

 

[igor_kavinski]

but lower end cards (6 class and below) are just terrible.

Maybe. My friend in UK has a used ASUS Dual model 3060 12GB that I found for him on eBay. He's pretty happy with it and been doing a lot of Stable Diffusion stuff with it as well as some gaming. He certainly appreciates the quietness coming from the MSI P100-106 that spun its fans so fast that you got scared that it would explode or the fans would come undone!

 

[aigomorla]

Maybe. My friend in UK has a used ASUS Dual model 3060 12GB that I found for him on eBay. He's pretty happy with it and been doing a lot of Stable Diffusion stuff with it as well as some gaming. He certainly appreciates the quietness coming from the MSI P100-106 that spun its fans so fast that you got scared that it would explode or the fans would come undone!

its true, even in regards to RMA...

Like RMAing a RoG product over a regular has its differences, but when it boils down to it, ASUS sucks period for RMA.
They have been like Shmee states for 20yrs now.

Infact my very first refusal for RMA for a legitimate RMA was from ASUS.

 

[Shmee]

Interesting, cause I keep hearing that ASUS is heaven and hell depending on tier, their high end cards are great, but lower end cards (6 class and below) are just terrible.

Yeah, I know the Strix 3090 was considered THE best air cooled card for some time. As for 4090 cards, I am not sure, but I wouldn't touch those due the connector issues. I don't think Asus makes Radeon cards anymore? I know MSI stopped. These days I would probably just be buying Sapphire, Powercolor, or Asrock cards, or maybe XFX.

I still wish EVGA would come back and make Radeon / Arc cards. Before my 7900XTX, my last card was an EVGA 3090 FTW3 ultra, probably the 2nd best air cooled card of that generation.

 

[aigomorla]

I still wish EVGA would come back and make Radeon / Arc cards. Before my 7900XTX, my last card was an EVGA 3090 FTW3 ultra, probably the 2nd best air cooled card of that generation.

EVGA is not coming back.
I wish the owner would of just sold his company and let someone else handle the drama with Nvidia, instead of trying to flex and end up being seen by Nvidia as Hans and Franz on SNL.

Even now, the company is burning down to its last layer, and i don't see them lasting much longer.

 

[Mahboi]

Yeah, I know the Strix 3090 was considered THE best air cooled card for some time. As for 4090 cards, I am not sure, but I wouldn't touch those due the connector issues. I don't think Asus makes Radeon cards anymore?

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=asus+xtx

They do, they do. (It's literally a 4090 cooler but with an XTX inside)

I know MSI stopped. These days I would probably just be buying Sapphire, Powercolor, or Asrock cards, or maybe XFX.

Bought the 7900 XT Pulse, apart from the fact that my case it soo small for such a large GPU, it's great. 0 spin on idle, not that noisy on load.

I still wish EVGA would come back and make Radeon / Arc cards. Before my 7900XTX, my last card was an EVGA 3090 FTW3 ultra, probably the 2nd best air cooled card of that generation.

EVGA is not coming back.
I wish the owner would of just sold his company and let someone else handle the drama with Nvidia, instead of trying to flex and end up being seen by Nvidia as Hans and Franz on SNL.

Even now, the company is burning down to its last layer, and i don't see them lasting much longer.

Yeah EVGA basically noped out, but it's likely that it was already on the way out. The way Kingpin basically bought his old atelier and just works independently shows that they were ok with it dying.
Eventually some depts will get bought out and possibly help build a new EVGA.

 

[Shmee]

Ah, so there are Asus 7900 cards. That is good, I think. Do you know how they perform / review, especially given the Geforce cooler being used?

 

[igor_kavinski]

Do you know how they perform / review, especially given the Geforce cooler being used?

ASUS Radeon RX 7900 XTX TUF OC Review - Amazing Overclocking

The ASUS Radeon RX 7900 XTX offers fantastic overclocking potential. Thanks to a triple 8-pin power input, the XTX is no longer power-limited, and the amazing quad-slot cooler ensures the card stays cool and quiet at all times. After manual overclocking, the performance uplift to RTX 4080 was an...

www.techpowerup.com

Great temps.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Getting this train back on the tracks: Anyone have experience with NZXT boards? They are lookers, I'll grant them that.

MAXSUN/SOYO has a few boards that seem to be rated okay now. Others that are garbage tier like most Biostar.

EVGA tend to be too pricey.

 

[In2Photos]

Getting this train back on the tracks: Anyone have experience with NZXT boards? They are lookers, I'll grant them that.

MAXSUN/SOYO has a few boards that seem to be rated okay now. Others that are garbage tier like most Biostar.

EVGA tend to be too pricey.

I may be wrong but I remember watching a video review for an NZXT board and them mentioning that it was basically built by ASRock and uses a modified ASRock BIOS.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Thanks, I took a quick look. The board is indeed from ASRock. The N7 B550 was the one I picked to browse. It would be nice if the bios versions had the release date. But other than that seems fine, just a bit overpriced.