What to look for if you value stability/reliability above all else?

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Xenphor

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Since everyone has different priorities when looking for a motherboard it can be hard to get an informed answer to this question. I don't need features; all I'm using right now is a video card, onboard lan, onboard sound, and 3 sata ports. I could probably use any size of motherboard be it ITX, micro ATX, or ATX. I don't care about bios features or overclockability. All I want is some assurance that the board has some reputation for not failing.

Unfortunately, all the boards that are marketed as being more "durable" also come with a ton of features that I don't need and are sold at a premium. Is it possible to find a board that only includes the bare minimum, but has been tested extensively for reliablity? I suppose since stability is a marketable feature, you will always pay a premium, but it doesn't make sense to spend that much more for all the other stuff too.
 
Your best best is to look for an older model and purchase accordingly to reviews found on retailers.
 
That seems good although I've noticed that older PC hardware generally rises in price unless it resides in a very specific time period from release.
 
Your best bet is to go with the reputation of the manufacturer from years past. Buying the latest equipment doesn't always mean that it's going to be the most reliable, and buying older equipment may or may not have its own set of problems. In the past, generally Rev.2.0 boards or higher tend to last longer, because the flaws of earlier version(s) were discovered and fixed.

Luck does play a part in it as well, which is why if reliability is the most important thing to you then you might want to consider buying two, so that if you have to RMA one your downtime is only as long as it takes to swap out the motherboard.
 
Its generally best to look into Motherboards that have been out for some time, and have Firmware upgrades out.
I wait for the first firmware/possibly second.
This fixes the bugs....etc.
 
mhenley said:
Your best bet is to go with the reputation of the manufacturer from years past. Buying the latest equipment doesn't always mean that it's going to be the most reliable, and buying older equipment may or may not have its own set of problems. In the past, generally Rev.2.0 boards or higher tend to last longer, because the flaws of earlier version(s) were discovered and fixed.

Luck does play a part in it as well, which is why if reliability is the most important thing to you then you might want to consider buying two, so that if you have to RMA one your downtime is only as long as it takes to swap out the motherboard.
Click to expand...

I've definitely done that. First I had a ASUS P8H61-M (REV 3.0), then I got a MSI
Z77A-G45 (but apparently that got bad reviews), and right now I have an ASUS P8Z77-V LK. None of these have failed but I got paranoid and decided to buy multiples.

What's frustrating is that boards people hype up for a long time can suddenly end up being bad. For example, the ASrock z77 extreme4 was really popular, but now apparently it sucks. There never seems to be a definitive answer, or even multiple answers.
 
I look to make sure there are good heatsinks on the vrms and no electrolytic caps on the board.
 
I look to make sure there are good heatsinks on the vrms and no electrolytic caps on the board.
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I'm not very knowledgeable of electronics; is there an easy way to tell?
 
Xenphor said:
I'm not very knowledgeable of electronics; is there an easy way to tell?
Click to expand...

These are solid polymer capacitors, which is the ones you want.

http://www.pcstats.com/articleimages/200702/ABITAW9DMax_cap.jpg

These are electrolytic capacitors, which you don't want to have on the motherboard:

http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-new/...types-electrolytic-capacitors-1.1-800x800.jpg

I am like you, i don't overclock, just want stability. I 've been following this strategy since 2005 and hasn't failed me. I buy Asrocks. They usually give more features for the same price. I don't buy the ultra cheap ones, just those that are good enough, but on low budget. And i buy 2 for each computer i want to operate, just in case something goes wrong (you can never tell when something can fail and accidents happen). 2 cheap Asrocks can cost less than 1 high end ASUS enthusiast board, while having all crucial modern features on.

Motherboards are the hardest to find pieces, once the socket is superseeded by a new one. So, if something does go wrong, you won't find a new motherboard to replace the old one, unless you roll the dice and buy a used one from ebay. Which i don't like.

I have used only Asrocks since 2005 with no failure yet (even s939 boards still work). Best thing to do is go to Newegg and see how well a specific model is rated by the users and read its weaknesses too.

Go for high TDP support, good heatsinks (VRM area included if possible) and low budget price. Avoid mATX if possible. They should give a good compromise. Most mATX size motherboards use a mix of solid polymer and electrolytic capacitors, which is why i don't reccommend them.
 
Xenphor said:
I've definitely done that. First I had a ASUS P8H61-M (REV 3.0), then I got a MSI
Z77A-G45 (but apparently that got bad reviews), and right now I have an ASUS P8Z77-V LK. None of these have failed but I got paranoid and decided to buy multiples.

What's frustrating is that boards people hype up for a long time can suddenly end up being bad. For example, the ASrock z77 extreme4 was really popular, but now apparently it sucks. There never seems to be a definitive answer, or even multiple answers.
Click to expand...

So none of the boards you've mentioned have failed on you? You changed motherboards because it apparently got bad reviews? I'm assuming it didn't fail on you. The proceeded to replace it with an Asus and bought multiples of it on the off chance that it may fail?

Take reviews with a grain of salt. One bad mobo can change the perception of quality around it. Most all boards are gonna be reliable, it goes without saying and most aren't going to put that on the box to sell it to you because it should be a given.

Read some reviews, compare what you want and like and don't worry about the rest.
 
Xenphor said:
None of these have failed but I got paranoid and decided to buy multiples.
Click to expand...

Look, buying multiple boards, is exactly the right strategy against paranoia. If you don't overclock, longevity shouldn't be much of a concern with 2 boards. Since 2005, i 've only bought boards that were costing 52-68 euros. Some did die or had some problems (like a dead USB port probably by ESD), but it was either an accident (me tinkering inside, probably giving it electrostatic discharge) or unforseeable incident, like PSU dying and frying the motherboard or collateral damage (badly seated VGA, burnt with a flame through the motherboard). By coincidence all were during my early s939 boards and then it became a habbit to buy a spare board too.

Now, since then, i also became more careful about grounding,mounting and better PSUs, so, i didn't have any board fail since then. So, it's not like they die THAT easily. Even more today, that many come with all solid capacitors.

After having bought a total of 12 "el cheapo" Asrocks since 2005 for myself and another 7 for friends that asked for advice, i think one can say that usually the bigger danger is an early death. Either DOA or a board that dies in a few months. It's the same as with hard disks. If the board survives the first semester, usually it will go a long way.

Don't lose your sleep over people complaining, unless there is an obvious motherboard design failure. Most people who complain are usually overclockers too, that beat the crap out of the board. I am a heavy user in normal (not OC) conditions, i do a LOT of multitasking, used to game a lot, do video encoding non stop and none of the boards died on me "out of the blue", without something killing them. The only board that ever died on me "just like that", was an MSI KT400 that came with an OEM PC, that died just after 2 years. My brother, up until recently, in his office, had an Asrock 754 with an obscure SIS chipset i don't remember. A friend of mine, was using an Asrock socket A board up until a few months ago, when i "upgraded him" with my old Asrock s939-Athlon x2 3800+ Toledo, which still runs fine. How BAD can the Z77 Extreme4 can POSSIBLY be, when so cheap Asrocks still run? The one in my signature, has been doing video encoding 24/7 for 2 years now with a 1090T. Before that, i was torturing with video encoding a mATX 790g.

If you are STILL paranoid about longevity, what can i say, buy a 3rd spare... But you would be exagerating. :D

The reason i buy Asrocks, besides the price/features ratio, is because they don't seem to cheap out on crucial components. I 've never had one with insufficient heatsink, causing the chipset to overheat. Even though, i always buy passively heatsinked boards, even when at Nforce era, small fans were popular. I was getting passive Asrocks and they stayed reasonably cool even with very high summer heat. Now they even put solid caps and digital PWM on cheap boards. I use low rpm fans and use compressed air on fan filters and mobo once a month and no problem.

Don't worry too much about it. Just:
1) When you work inside the case, remember to always touch with a naked part of your body the steel of the case. Or get an antistatic wrist band.
2) Make sure you are not using "SupaShaolinMegaPowa"-Made in China PSU.
3) Dust the case.
4) Ensure you have airflow.
5) Relax.
 
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IF you go with a P8Z77 1155 ATX ASUS Sabertooth you receive all that you have requested at a decent price and all MIL Spec as requested with parts...you can verify this on ASUS if you wish ahead of time...Great Board decent Price all the things you wnated...
 
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