Why does everyone own an expensive motherboard?

[ShawnD1]

A few weeks ago I built a new file server with the old style Phenom X4 processor. I wanted a motherboard with integrated gigabit ethernet, lots of SATA slots, and support for more than 4gb of ram (doesn't really matter how much more). To find the right board, I sorted newegg boards by price and picked the cheapest one to fit that description.

Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2 - $56 Canadian
-8gb ram (2 slots)
-gigabit ethernet
-1 video card slot
-6 SATA slots
-integrated video (i'm using a 7950GT instead, but it's nice that this is there)

So far this board works perfect and it was dirt cheap. There are also socket 775 boards that are just as cheap and work just as good. With that in mind, why does everyone on Ananadtech own a ridiculously expensive board? In suggestion threads, I'll link to a board that's pretty damn good and maybe $80 with SLI or Crossfire support, then the next 5 people will link to a board that costs literally twice as much and doesn't look like it's any better.

Look at this AM3 board, the ASRock M3A780GXH/128M for $90 US.
-16gb ram (4 slots)
-1600mhz DDR3 (as an overclock)
-3 way Crossfire
-6 SATA slots
-gigabit ethernet
-integrated Radeon 3200 video

That's really damn good for $90 and I remember linking to that board or something like it when comparing platform costs of i7 and AM3. If you're one of the people who owns a $150 motherboard, why did you pick that board and not this one?

 

[fffblackmage]

Low end motherboards don't overclock as well, or might not even allow overclocking. I have a cheapy ECS mobo with Intel P965 chipset, and that mobo doesn't have any kind of voltage control or overclocking options whatsoever. I could overclock actually, but it requires hardware modifications. (It also has integrated video, so it works well for my HTPC)

On the other hand, my EVGA 650i mobo allows overclocking and manual voltage options.

Beyond that, some motherboards can overclock better than others simply because of the high end chipset used, or perhaps better hardware design of the motherboard itself, and better cooling solutions can also aid overclocking.

 

[Fox5]

When you want one or two key features that are only offered by the higher end motherboard, you don't have much choice.
Often times higher end motherboards offer better cooling, or some integrated feature that would cost just as much to add in yourself later.

Some motherboards overclock better as well.
But I agree with you, I tend to go for the cheapest motherboard with the chipset I want.
I do have some brand preference though, like I would never buy a Foxconn board again due to poor support. Gigabyte has rather good support though, and while I've had issues, I believe they were more the chipset's fault than gigabyte's.
Asus is the brand I would buy if money was no concern.

 

[ShawnD1]

Originally posted by: fffblackmage
Low end motherboards don't overclock as well, or might not even allow overclocking. I have a cheapy ECS mobo with Intel P965 chipset, and that mobo doesn't have any kind of voltage control or overclocking options whatsoever.

That sounds like more of a brand name thing. That $56 Gigabyte I purchased has quite a few overclocking features. I can change the "reference", FSB multiplier, CPU multiplier, HT speed, ram multiplier, ram voltage, CPU voltage, and I think it had some chipset voltage too. Luckily AMD has a bunch of black edition chips so I can just change the multiplier and ignore all of that other junk.

On the Intel side, even the cheap chipsets can overclock quite a bit. The cheapest 775 board to support C2Q on newegg uses the G31 chipset. If you google for "intel g31 overclock" you'll find lots of people who have successfully overclocked it to 340-350mhz. My gaming machine uses the Intel 945 chipset and it's about the same as the G31. Stock is 266 and it can overclock to about 350 before it stops working. What's weird is that my E6600 (B2) fails before that chipset does.

With the Intel G31 and 945, 350mhz is about the max you'll get. If you had an E5300 (13x multiplier), you could overclock it to 4.55ghz before the chipset fails.

 

[Sylvanas]

1. Overclockability. Some boards do not offer correct voltage or multiplier manipulation. Example being when the TrD setting for Intel was uncovered only like 2 boards supported changing it and there was quite huge performance gains to be seen by doing so- this is why those boards were recommended. Another example is adjustable northbridge multipliers in early SB600 boards in which some boards had trouble with using, others (the ones with a solid Bios and support) got this working and again brought with them large performance gains over the competition.
2. Bios. Generally- cheapo boards are from manufacturers that with sketchy Bios support and compatibility can be a problem- you don't want to plug your new ram in to find that it isn't supported or cannot run at its proper speeds because of a lowsy Bios.
3. Other features: component quality- has the manufacturer gone out of their way to provide higher quality components that will enhance things like longevity, overclockability, performance gains or additional peripheral support. Other things like energy saving techniques, better cooling come into the equation also.

It should be said that because a board is more expensive that doesn't mean it includes all of the above and that it is better than one of a lesser price. What you will generally see here on the motherboard forums is recommendations based on comparisons with other boards in a similar price range taking into account the features listed above and what is the best compromise. There are cheap boards that are by all means, excellent buys (I can think of many), and there are also other terrible buys in which case people may recommend a more expensive option that is all round just a more sensible choice.

 

[Rifter]

I agree for no OC'ing and a file server that board looks like it will work fine as long as you dont want RAID 5, if you want RAID 5 you need a higher end chipset that supports RAID 5. Also it only has 2 ram slots, if you want 8GB of ram then you need to buy 2 4GB sticks that are still really expensive and will end up costing you alot more than going with a higher end mobo and getting 4 cheaper 2GB sticks. Also most of the high end boards have better features for OCing.

 

[elconejito]

Same reason some people buy cheapo cars, and some people buy pricey cars. They all have four wheels and an engine, and if all you care about is "just getting there" then any car will do. If you want something that feels a little more sturdy (build quality), has more horsepower (overclockability), more GPS/Nav/Stereo/Leather options (eSATA, RAID, other options) then you're going to pay more.

There's no right or wrong answer, but if someone says "Hey I want to a luxury car with all the options, 400hp, 20" rims, and I don't give a damn about MPG." no one is going to recommend a used Ford Fiesta.

 

[sgrinavi]

I am big believer in value (bang/buck), but when it comes to mother boards I have found that the higher quality components, full featured BIOS's, extra heatsinks, multi-phase power management and a good layout make for easy overclocking.

For example on my cheap gigabyte p35 board I spent a week tweaking the board to get 3.6 out of my q6600 CPU, even at that it was not stable without more voltage than I care to use. I stuck the same chip on an abit x38 quad GT board and went to 3.6, stable and cool, on the first try with a simple FSB change. It remained stable undervolted.

By the same token, when I built a PC for my wife to use to surf the web, do some MSOffice and share a printer then I used the cheapest board I could find that had the features I needed. I think I spent $49 on it...

 

[imported_Scoop]

I just got the cheapest P35 board I could get and it happened to be the Abit IP35-E. I don't need raid, one GPU is enough for me and 50% overclock on my E4500. I think it was a pretty good deal for me.

 

[Skott]

Budget boards have their place but many around here like to overclock and get as many features as they can which means buying the more expensive units since they provide that. You dont necessarily have to buy the most expensive of the high end mobos however to get great overclocking and full features. It could be the second, third, fourth most expensive. If you get my meaning. Not all models are created equal so you have to know which ones are good and which ones are bad no matter what their price is.

 

[iCyborg]

I need 2x ethernet, and 2x full PCIEx16 is also desirable. And since overclocking is important for me too, I'm pretty much limited to higher end MBs.
That said, I didn't really have much choice for my last MB, since it was $10 more than the cheapest X58 board available at the time.