Why is Asrock recomended often?

[Locut0s]

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/motherboards/desktop-motherboards/desktop-board-dx58so.html

Yup that's the one. I have one at home. Good board. But like I was saying it's a triple channel system, why the 4th dimm? You can use it of course but it doesn't make much sense to me to have it there.

 

[Seven]

All MBs are pretty much made of the same components. What separates them, are the features, BIOS, and the warranty.

 

[Locut0s]

All MBs are pretty much made of the same components. What separates them, are the features, BIOS, and the warranty.

Component wise sure. But there definitely are boards that are unstable.

 

[chubbyfatazn]

I wouldn't buy an ECS board today, but I've only had good experiences with them. Have a 10-year-old K7S5A still running an Athlon XP 2500 overclocked to 3200 speeds, it's my sister's primary machine. I guess I got lucky, the other three ECS boards I've used still run to this day (including a 7-year-old 939 board).

I'd give AsRock a try if there was a sizable price difference. I'm not looking for super overclock status. My Gigabyte board hasn't given me any issues yet.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

BIOSTAR and ECS we don't even look at for 1/2 a second. lol.

Good. that keeps the prices low for vultures like me. I've never had enough coin in the budget to afford ASUS or Intel boards. Used almost everything else under with good results. I can't justify spending twice as much on the off chance that I will be able to overclock and gain maybe 15% improvment. The math just doesn't add up for me.

ASRock seems to be on a winning streak lately and I look forward to trying some out.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

I've built a lot of systems with every manufacturer's motherboards. Of all the manufacturers, I have had a higher percentage of DoAs and RMAs with ECS, PCChips, Jetway, Foxconn, and...Intel. That said, Intel's RMA process is top-notch so I always consider their products despite some unpleasant surprises in the past. I have had better experiences with ASUS, ASRock, Biostar, Gigabyte, and MSI.

I consistently recommend Biostar and ASRock for builds that will run at stock speeds because they usually offer the best bang for the buck.

Motherboards are essentially commodity products nowadays, and most of the systems I build do not get overclocked so there's no point in paying for OC ability. Even when I am going to OC a system, I still consider Biostar's T-series boards on par with more expensive offerings from the so-called 'top tier' manufacturers.

 

[blckgrffn]

I have a stack of Gigabyte board boxes in the basement from recent builds, I've stuck with them because I have been burned when I tried to go cheaper with brands like Biostar, Foxconn, PC Chips, etc. My current PC is the only PC in the house with a non-Gigabyte board (five others)... well, I guess the new crunchers have nearly free MSI boards in them...

Remember EPOX? I do... It was an awesome ride until all the caps leaked all over...

I liked DFI, but I guess they didn't make it in the enthusiast space. I like Abit, but seems like they suffered the same fate. I had the nifty board with great nforce audio? Good times.

Another vote here for the nice Intel boards for stable if costly builds.

Maybe I'll try an Asrock someday. We'll see, but I like what works and Gigabyte has been excellent for me with Bios support for new processors, the one ASUS S939 board I have used burned me with poor CPU support...

 

[Zap]

Even when I am going to OC a system, I still consider Biostar's T-series boards on par with more expensive offerings from the so-called 'top tier' manufacturers.

I used to love Biostar T-Series motherboards. I use a LOT of their mATX socket 754, 939 and AM2 boards. I started using them with socket 775, but didn't like their layouts (4-pin +12v between CPU and PCIe slot) at the time so haven't used them since, but I would still consider them.

Remember EPOX? I do... It was an awesome ride until all the caps leaked all over...

That was not just an EPoX problem, but affected almost all manufacturers to one degree or another.

 

[blckgrffn]

I used to love Biostar T-Series motherboards. I use a LOT of their mATX socket 754, 939 and AM2 boards. I started using them with socket 775, but didn't like their layouts (4-pin +12v between CPU and PCIe slot) at the time so haven't used them since, but I would still consider them.



That was not just an EPoX problem, but affected almost all manufacturers to one degree or another.

But didn't that fiasco end EPoX? Thank you for the correct spelling

I was dusting one off to give to a friend a couple (few?) years ago, a 754 one I think, and noticed the caps were all bubbly. I just had them buy a new motherboard.

 

[Mfusick]

Asrock is great.

 

[kalrith]

My last 5 boards were Gigabyte, ASUS, MSI, ASrock. I had good experiences with all of them, and I don't see the ASrock as being sub-par by any measure.

I got the ASrock Extreme3 Gen3 for $115 with no rebate. The ASUS and Gigabyte mobos with comparable features were around $200.

 

[gramboh]

I've been on Asus since 2003 (only 3 motherboards in that time though) and Abit before that. Going to consider ASrock for Ivy Bridge depending on what they bring to the table. Seems like you can get the ~$200 Asus equivalent for $150 or so which is quite a deal.

 

[hardhat]

I've been a big fan of Gigabyte boards, but I'll probably consider an asrock for my next build. They have great features for the price. The only thing I wonder about is BIOS updates for CPU and RAM compatibility.

 

[Rvenger]

But didn't that fiasco end EPoX? Thank you for the correct spelling

Yes, but their slow response to support and continuing to put bad caps on the boards with newer boards is what killed them. They finally got it right when it was too late

 

[blckgrffn]

Yes, but their slow response to support and continuing to put bad caps on the boards with newer boards is what killed them. They finally got it right when it was too late

Ah, right. I believe I wandered into their support forums and left feeling like I had made a big mistake in building out several rigs based on their boards. Their prices and performance were decent at the time... maybe that has been what has shied me away from brands like Asrock since. I am actually considering an Asrock build from MC, they have a decent AMD board that is only $90, so with $40 off a 960t could be had with mobo for ~$160...

 

[Wolfsraider]

I have the asrock gen3 extreme 3 and I own 4 other asrock boards dual vista 775's and dual sata boards.

They always have limitations 4x agp , hdmi problems even in the new gen 3 in new bios, but overall they are decent boards.

I always have at least one feature that doesn't work as advertised. the gen 3 still needs work to be a great board imho. but it does get the job done.

 

[n7]

Can't speak for other Asrock boards, but mine's been superb.

 

[bononos]

Asrock was a subsidiary of Asus and was supposed to compete in the OEM arena.
But recently Asrock got totally spunoff under Pegatron and so they are quite free to do what they want. Which is why Asrock expanded into the retail diy market and increased their range to high-end mbs from rather basic models.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Asrock = ASUS made in China. ASUS = ASUS made in Taiwan. Or something like that. Imho, the mobo is too important for me to trust to ASUS's Chinese subsidiary Asrock, so I prefer buying the Made in Taiwan ASUS.

I always thought both manufacturered/assembled their mb's in China. Asrock definitely has mb factories in China. Some quick searching found Asus has 30+k employees in Suzhou but I don't know if they manufacture mbs. http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=151469 The above thread and wiki explains the Pegatron restructuring and also claims that Asrock oems Asus mbs.

 

[dajeepster]

I liked DFI, but I guess they didn't make it in the enthusiast space. I like Abit, but seems like they suffered the same fate. I had the nifty board with great nforce audio? Good times.

actually they did with thier "lan party" series.

i have one of thier p55 itx boards... i put an i5-750 in it... the thing booted up to 4.3GHz... i almost shit a brick.. it was defaulted to overclock.. there was smoke in my seat from me trying to get to it fast enough to shut it down before anything caught on fire.

but they soon left the enthusiast business after i got this board.


but if you really need PCI... they have an i7 board with 7 PCI (not PCi-e)

DFI lga1155 board with 7 PCI

 

[Diogenes2]

but if you really need PCI... they have an i7 board with 7 PCI (not PCi-e)

DFI lga1155 board with 7 PCI

Good luck trying to find one to purchase..
http://www.dfi.com.tw/products/Prod...d=9&subCategoryId=66&productDetailsPage=false

 

[Rvenger]

Asrock was a subsidiary of Asus and was supposed to compete in the OEM arena.
But recently Asrock got totally spunoff under Pegatron and so they are quite free to do what they want. Which is why Asrock expanded into the retail diy market and increased their range to high-end mbs from rather basic models.

I always thought both manufacturered/assembled their mb's in China. Asrock definitely has mb factories in China. Some quick searching found Asus has 30+k employees in Suzhou but I don't know if they manufacture mbs. http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=151469 The above thread and wiki explains the Pegatron restructuring and also claims that Asrock oems Asus mbs.

Asus and Asrock both manufacture motherboards in China. I am not sure if Asus even manufactures anymore in Taiwan.

 

[reallyscrued]

It starts with the letter A.

 

[DaveSimmons]

My Dell work PC from mid-2008 has a Foxconn G31 and it's been solid. In late 2010 I replaced a failing Gigabyte P35 motherboard with a $35 Foxconn G31, and it's worked perfectly since then too. My Biostar T-series socket 939 boards were great and I still have one that was working a few months ago when I last tried it. So cheap doesn't always mean bad.

I've been trying to pick a motherboard for a new i5-2500K, and from the newegg customer comments every brand and model has DOAs, dead ports, BIOS issues, and other problems that affect some buyers, even the 5-egg boards.

ASRock seems like as good a choice as Asus these days for stock speed or a non-extreme overclock, as long as you don't win the bad-board lottery.

 

[airdata]

The only asrock board I've owned was very nice. I think it was the 890 am3 board... all bells and whistles. Worked very good.

I was going to get another for a build i've been commissioned to do but from reading reviews the bios may need updating to work w\ the FX cpu... so may be going gigabyte instead.

 

[Vic Vega]

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