Which of these two motherboards would you use?

[balane]

I'm building two C2D systems right now. one for me and one for somebody else. For most of it the parts were provided to me. I can pick either one of these main boards at this point. I can't decide which one of these is better. Picking any other motherboard is not an option, I know there are better boards out there.

I'm going to use an E6400, 2 x 1GB DDR2 800MHz G.Skill, 8800GTS card.

Which one would you take? I don't plan on overclocking right away but I wouldn't rule it impossible in the future.

Thanks.

Intel
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813121035

ECS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813135022

 

[lxskllr]

I like the ECS board. It has a few overclock options, and it's a good bit cheaper.

 

[methyL]

I would recommend the motherboard from Intel, I´ve always had problems whit the ECS motherbords.

I´ve tried diffrent kind of motherboards from ECS, but it went out to be as much unstable as all the other ones i have had.

So my chiose would be the motherboard from Intel.

 

[bendixG15]

Lotsa bitches about ECS boards on these forums

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

FWIW, I've never had much luck with ECS mobos, but all the intel boards I've had a pretty rock solid.

- JaAG

 

[Operandi]

Two evils?

ECS is junk, Intel makes quality boards, it's that simple.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

the intel board easily

 

[corkyg]

Go Intel in this case. You get what you pay for. Cheapness is a waste of money, and it leads to personal stress.

 

[balane]

Originally posted by: Operandi
Two evils?

ECS is junk, Intel makes quality boards, it's that simple.

The only reason I phrased it like that is because it seems like people only like really expensive stuff. I'm just wanting to assemble a relatively fast but mostly a very solid system that can play current games decently. Both of these boards are very cheap and very close to each other in price.

I will go Intel with this simply because it seems like it will be the most dependable. But there is an issue at New Egg reviews stating it won't take any RAM that requires more than 1.8v. That's a concern, my RAM is g.Skill 1.8-2.0V and for others this has been iffy.

 

[Sunner]

Intel boards are boring.
No overclocking, never breaks, good compatibility, just sits there all day and leaves you nothing to fiddle with.

ECS on the other hand is an adventure.
Tech support, RMA's, finding compatible components, making sure you're not buying any of their made up stuff, etc, lots and lots of fun for the whole family.

 

[Slugbait]

But there is an issue at New Egg reviews stating it won't take any RAM that requires more than 1.8v. That's a concern, my RAM is g.Skill 1.8-2.0V and for others this has been iffy.

Yup, it's becoming quite common that RAM compatibility is hit-n-miss with the latest Intel chipsets. Sometimes it's just a matter of a newer BIOS. Do your homework, overclockers might be a good place to find success stories on the mobos you're considering with the right RAM.

But otherwise, yeah, I'd go with Intel over ECS any day also. It's worth the extra few bucks to save hours (or RMAs) of pain. And don't expect to overclock with the Intel board.