Motherboard Selection

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KOKJ

n00b
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Mar 2, 2008
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I have used primarily ASUS motherboards in all of my personal builds. They seem to be good mobos but, from my experience, are not for the inexperienced user.

This is where my trouble lies:
I love ASUS mobos because I'm not an inexperienced user but I am building a system for a family member and she is not going to be able to handle any small quirks or oddities on her own, and she lives too far away for me to cruise over every now and then to troubleshoot.

So, which motherboard manufacturers do you guys recommend for trouble-free operation for the long term?

EVGA, Abit, Gigabyte, ECS, etc?
 
If you're not going to tweak at all (or much at least) before giving it to her, will be using an Intel processor, and it has the features you want, then probably an Intel motherboard will be your best bet. See post above mine too.
 
So, are Intel Mobos pretty stable?
Anyone care to recommend one?
 
If you are doing all the setup and testing before you give it to her, just about any motherboard out there will do. Well, as long as you are not overclocking something. :)

Personally, I'd stick with one of the ASUS, abit or Gigabyte P35 or X38 boards. I would not go with a ECS board. While not exactly bad, they tend to be cheaply made and of lesser quality.
 
This has been a very difficult decision for me.

When selecting a motherboard for myself, I want all of the bells and whistles. My family member does not want all the bells and whistles. Speed, reliability and expandability are the main concerns.

I am losing my faith in ASUS motherboards with some issues I've been seeing from my P5W DH Deluxe lately.

Can someone recommend a good, solid motherboard from another manufacturer that is relatively basic but will provide some room for expandability in the future? I will be using PC-6400 RAM in this machine with an Intel E6400 processor for now.

RAID is not important, but at least 4 SATA ports would be nice. This board doesn't have to have anything fancy, just be reliable and problem free.
 
KOKJ said:
RAID is not important, but at least 4 SATA ports would be nice. This board doesn't have to have anything fancy, just be reliable and problem free.
Click to expand...

Most lower-end motherboards have 4 SATA ports, while most mid-range and upper-end ones have 6. If you want 8 SATA ports, pretty much the only games in town are the mid-to-upper Gigabyte P35/X38 series, the cheapest of which is the GA-EP35-DS3R ($122 on NewEgg; a variation on the board that I have and like a lot), and the DFI LanParty LT P35/X38 series, the cheapest of which is the DFI LP LT P35 T2R ($180 on NewEgg). I doubt you need anything as fancy as the DFI though for your uses though.

If you don't care about having only 6 SATA ports, then any Gigabyte or abit mid-range P35 motherboard should suit you fine; if you really only need 4, then the abit IP35-E or the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L would work just fine.

Also, what do you mean by expandability? If you want PCI (non-Express) slots galore, there is always the Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G with 5 of them. If you want something that can take both DDR2 and DDR3 (but not at the same time), there's my board, the Gigabyte GA-EP35C-DS3R. Expandability can mean many different things.
 
farfromhome said:
Most lower-end motherboards have 4 SATA ports, while most mid-range and upper-end ones have 6. If you want 8 SATA ports, pretty much the only games in town are the mid-to-upper Gigabyte P35/X38 series, the cheapest of which is the GA-EP35-DS3R ($122 on NewEgg; a variation on the board that I have and like a lot), and the DFI LanParty LT P35/X38 series, the cheapest of which is the DFI LP LT P35 T2R ($180 on NewEgg). I doubt you need anything as fancy as the DFI though for your uses though.

If you don't care about having only 6 SATA ports, then any Gigabyte or abit mid-range P35 motherboard should suit you fine; if you really only need 4, then the abit IP35-E or the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L would work just fine.

Also, what do you mean by expandability? If you want PCI (non-Express) slots galore, there is always the Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G with 5 of them. If you want something that can take both DDR2 and DDR3 (but not at the same time), there's my board, the Gigabyte GA-EP35C-DS3R. Expandability can mean many different things.
Click to expand...

Expandability meaning a few extra PCI slots. I really only need 1 PCI-Exp slot for one video card. I doubt this person will ever want dual video cards. So, really, just a standard number of expansion slots would be fine. The option of using both DDR2 or DDR3 would be nice for future growth.
I'll look into the GA-EP35C-DS3R like you suggested.

Does it have any glitches or quirks like a lot of ASUS boards have?
 
KOKJ said:
Does it have any glitches or quirks like a lot of ASUS boards have?
Click to expand...

I haven't had a single problem with mine, but all DDR2/DDR3 boards, including the GA-EP35C-DS3R, tend to have more quirks and a greater percentage of people with problems than equivalent non-combo boards, just to warn you. You might be better off with the GA-P35-S3G since stability and PCI slots are what matter to you.
 
farfromhome said:
I haven't had a single problem with mine, but all DDR2/DDR3 boards, including the GA-EP35C-DS3R, tend to have more quirks and a greater percentage of people with problems than equivalent non-combo boards, just to warn you. You might be better off with the GA-P35-S3G since stability and PCI slots are what matter to you.
Click to expand...

Good point. This family member won't really mess with the PC after it's built, so I guess I won't need the DDR3 option.

Thanks for the recommendations.
 
You should keep away from ECS, there cheap...but cheap for all the reasons you should keep well away from them. I remember their Intel Celeron boards had this wonderful knack of losing the BIOS all together and having to be re-flashed every eight months.

Stick to Gigabyte, Asus, or MSI.
 
If he's not going to be messing with the PC after it's built, I think you may be overestimating the number of PCI slots needed. Unless he needs both a sound and network card, 2 slots would probably be enough to cover it, though you shouldn't have a problem finding one with 3 slots. The only thing he may ever use one for is some new interface that isn't out yet (like how some older computers need a PCI card for USB 2.0 or FireWire). Some devices are going to PCIe in the next few years anyway, and you'll likely have 2 of those slots. The worst case scenario is he would have to get an external version of a device, which he may even prefer since you wouldn't have to install it for him. :)

I would try to get one with FireWire in case he uses that.
 
I've been using Asus exclusively for a while now. I would build a PC for a loved one with a Asus with out a doubt.

Lately, I've tried a Gigabyte P35-DS3L and so far, so good.

Cheers!
 
How much is her budget? You'd most likely be better off cashing in on a dell deal for her than building it yourself, unless she has specific needs that the dell deals can't handle. Check gotapex.com for the latest dell deals.

Here's an example:
Dell Small Business - Dell Vostro 200 Mini Tower Desktop with Intel Core 2 Duo E4500, 2GB Memory, 250GB Hard Drive, DVD Burner, XP Home, and 20" Widescreen LCD for $489 with FREE Shipping!
Click to expand...

All you'll need to do is reformat once you get it, install whatever she needs, and you're done.
 
I went with the Gigabyte P35-DS3L motherboard for her. I haven't had a chance to fire everything up just yet, but will hopefully tonight.
 
nismozcar said:
EVGA's customer service is unmatched.
Click to expand...

Which is a good thing, as you'll need it more with a NVIDIA chipset. ;) Generally, only go for a motherboard with a NVIDIA chipset if you want to use SLI. Otherwise, Intel chipsets are a heck of a lot more stable, and generally more overclockable, not that it matters in the OP's case, but stability certainly does! A moot point for this thread anyway, as the motherboard has already been bought.
 
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