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Biostar, Giga, ASRock, MIS... FIGHT!
- Thread starter pinkles
- Start date
QuietIce
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- May 7, 2006
- Location
- Anywhere but there
More than one SATA connector. If you're going to slam something you should do your homework better. 
+1 internal SATA III (6 total), +2 internal SATA II, +1 eSATA (2 total), +6 USB (I think - 12 total), a better audio chip, and a few other odds and ends. Not that any of that matters much to us OC'ers but if the power system is designed to handle all that and you don't use it you'll never have any power issues.
There's nothing I like better than over-kill when it comes to power and cooling.
PS
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the PCB cooling - and yes, it really works. I've had it as part of my ASUS boards for years and Gigabyte started doing it last year (? maybe 2008). There is a definite difference in temps if you set the board down flat on a table, I found that out the hard way ...
+1 internal SATA III (6 total), +2 internal SATA II, +1 eSATA (2 total), +6 USB (I think - 12 total), a better audio chip, and a few other odds and ends. Not that any of that matters much to us OC'ers but if the power system is designed to handle all that and you don't use it you'll never have any power issues.
There's nothing I like better than over-kill when it comes to power and cooling.
PS
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the PCB cooling - and yes, it really works. I've had it as part of my ASUS boards for years and Gigabyte started doing it last year (? maybe 2008). There is a definite difference in temps if you set the board down flat on a table, I found that out the hard way ...
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- Joined
- Jun 16, 2010
I hope it gets a world record or two soon with all that extra stuff! lol!
Just messing with ya, it's a great board I'm sure. I was die hard Gigabyte for the longest time, till the i45 T-Power came along and owned my EP45-UD3P. That said, different platforms, different results.
*sorry for the double post.
I've never had issues with Gigabyte, Biostar, or eVga...Asus on the other hand...
Just messing with ya, it's a great board I'm sure. I was die hard Gigabyte for the longest time, till the i45 T-Power came along and owned my EP45-UD3P. That said, different platforms, different results.
*sorry for the double post.
I've never had issues with Gigabyte, Biostar, or eVga...Asus on the other hand...
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QuietIce
Disabled
- Joined
- May 7, 2006
- Location
- Anywhere but there
With ASUS I only buy top-of-the-line. When they do it right, they do it the best (and it ain't cheap!). When they do it even midway it's not good. I've seen too many ASUS mid-range boards with too many problems to fall into that trap.
PS
I don't think it was you on those double posts. I had a forum hiccup about that time and that often leads to multiple entries, sometimes without the user knowing it until later. I'm just glad you corrected it ...!
PS
I don't think it was you on those double posts. I had a forum hiccup about that time and that often leads to multiple entries, sometimes without the user knowing it until later. I'm just glad you corrected it ...!
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OP
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2009
- Thread Starter
- #25
My vote is for the Gigabyte board. It's 790FX and even 790X predecessors were excellent OC'ers.
For a great cooler the TRUE Black Rev.C and some nice fans just can't be beat ...
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/thulbledrec.html
Fans from quiet through "you'd better use a fan controller or wear earplugs"
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/scsf63cfms12.html
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/pa12mesp.html
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/pa12hisp.html
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/de12trblhisp.html
For an exceptional value and decent performance Yate Loon's are also well thought of around here:
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/yateloonfans.html
Here's a link to muddocktor's TRUE and Megahalems testing thread:
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=629296
This forum is the best! Thanks! I do like my music, and becuase it looks like my crossfire 4870's will block off all the other PCI slots I won't be able to use my sound blaster card
It's the small extras on a piece of hardware that make is special 
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2009
- Location
- Illinois
More than one SATA connector. If you're going to slam something you should do your homework better.
+1 internal SATA III (6 total), +2 internal SATA II, +1 eSATA (2 total), +6 USB (I think - 12 total), a better audio chip, and a few other odds and ends. Not that any of that matters much to us OC'ers but if the power system is designed to handle all that and you don't use it you'll never have any power issues.
There's nothing I like better than over-kill when it comes to power and cooling.
PS
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the PCB cooling - and yes, it really works. I've had it as part of my ASUS boards for years and Gigabyte started doing it last year (? maybe 2008). There is a definite difference in temps if you set the board down flat on a table, I found that out the hard way ...
Dual 10/100/1000 RJ-45 also. Very nice (I run dual on my UD5P, and when you do things like downloads and browse, there is a noticeable speed increase).
Also, the 2 0z. Layers do help a load! When I bench with my system out of the case, I don't (didn't) have anything to put it on, so it sits hot on the table, but I can tell it's noticeably cooler with this board (as opposed to my last board).
And two more things I feel should be addressed:
1. Dual physical BIOS Roms. I've never had it happen, but say you were updating your bios and you BSOD'ed, normally you would be pretty F*cked, this would prevent any data corruption in the BIOS Rom.
2. 8+2 phase power. I know that people talk all the time about how quality is more important than quantity, but the chokes and Phase on the Gigabyte boards are very high quality as well as the capacitors. When you take that into account it is like this: 4+2 high quality or 8+2 high quality. IMHO, more is better when the quality is equal.
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2010
- Location
- Colorado Springs, CO
I think that Biostar knows what they are doing by underpricing the competition. Yeah it's no Crosshair IV but they are selling a lot of those TA890FXE boards. I have had nothing but good results with my Biostar board. I don't push it that hard but that's OK for me. Also their customer service has been first rate.
On the other hand there is a thread on another forum where the guy sent his Gigabyte board back three separate times and they kept sending him replacement boards that had burn marks. That was a cheaper Gigabyte board so I'm not going to say anything bad about Gigabyte as a whole. But I for one have experienced zero problems with Biostar products.
Here's a link to the five way 890FX board review...
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-890fx-crosshair-iv-formula-890fxa-ud7,2640.html
On the other hand there is a thread on another forum where the guy sent his Gigabyte board back three separate times and they kept sending him replacement boards that had burn marks. That was a cheaper Gigabyte board so I'm not going to say anything bad about Gigabyte as a whole. But I for one have experienced zero problems with Biostar products.
Here's a link to the five way 890FX board review...
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-890fx-crosshair-iv-formula-890fxa-ud7,2640.html
QuietIce
Disabled
- Joined
- May 7, 2006
- Location
- Anywhere but there
I've got nothing against Biostar, overall. I've only had one of their boards (a 790GX) and they handled the RMA so-so. I burned out a power chip on a board with no heatsink on those chips (something I avoid like the plague now!) and although they wanted a pic of the burned chip (yes, it was that obvious) they did replace the board - but I had to pay to ship it to them. 
I still run that board but I don't OC it. If it couldn't take a Phenom 9950BE at stock speeds (even though it was on their CPU list) then I sure don't want to put any strain on it ...
I still run that board but I don't OC it. If it couldn't take a Phenom 9950BE at stock speeds (even though it was on their CPU list) then I sure don't want to put any strain on it ...- Joined
- Apr 24, 2010
- Location
- Colorado Springs, CO
One reason that I don't push the OC that much on my current board. Pretty sure that the TA890FXE has VRM cooling however. Definitely they did a much better job with the 890FX board.
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2010
I have no experience with Biostar's budget boards...or any other companies for that matter...I never buy anything that isn't near the top of the line (chipset wise) and without heat sinks on the VRM area from anyone. They all get really hot.
I think Biostar and Asus, and a lot of other companies for that matter might be in the same boat as far as entry and midrange hardware goes. Mixed results. They really focus hard on their top of the line products, and seem to really skimp on their entry and entry-midrange stuff (probably cause they don't expect hard users to buy their entry stuff). The only company I have seen that is not blatantly guilty of this is Gigabyte...seems all their boards are pretty solid in my opinion. When I recommend a Biostar board, it's because I have personally seen it work pretty well..not simply because it is Biostar...I doubt I would recommend any of their entry level stuff. For that I would go Gigabyte.
I only speak highly of the T-Power line up from Biostar, cause they have always been good to me. As to the rest of the line up I have no opinion. Biostar will charge shipping with their RMA (most others do to), but other than that the process was very painless for me. Much better than my experiences with Asus and Gigabyte. eVga and XFX seem to be the absolute best in CS that I have dealt with. Again, all this derived from my personal experience...you may have the complete opposite results.
I guess my point is, don't ever skimp on motherboards. By skimp I don't mean always buy the most expensive brand....but rather the upper range boards from whatever brand you go with. The motherboard will at the end of the day make or break your system.
Now, as to the overall pricing among brands, you get what you pay for...think about it...Biostar doesn't advertise, there are no ROG key chains, they don't have all the bells and whistles, they don't poop a new BIOS every week, you get minimal adapters/cables, minimal documentation, and quite possible the ugliest packaging ever, lol. You do get a pretty solid board capable of some extreme overclocking in the right hands..and they have the records to prove it.
Here lately for me, I've just been trying to budget better. I used to go to NewEgg, sort by highest price and buy whatever brand it was...Intel EE processors, $400 "Classified" motherboards, $400 kits of RAM with fans...etc. And all that stuff worked and worked very well, I have no complaints. But unless you planning on running Dice/Phase/LN2 on them...most of the time you can buy much cheaper stuff and still have a formidable computer.
My current system (the main parts) in total cost just a tad more than what I used to pay for a processor (just the processor)...and it plays all my games just fine.
So, when someone comes in with a "money is of no concern attitude"...then I say go for it! Top of the line Asus will not disappoint, top of the line Corsair is fantastic RAM...etc. But, when someone comes in asking about parts on a budget...then I start looking around at the bang for buck stuff.
Sorry for my rambling on, lol, slow day in the office ha ha!
I think Biostar and Asus, and a lot of other companies for that matter might be in the same boat as far as entry and midrange hardware goes. Mixed results. They really focus hard on their top of the line products, and seem to really skimp on their entry and entry-midrange stuff (probably cause they don't expect hard users to buy their entry stuff). The only company I have seen that is not blatantly guilty of this is Gigabyte...seems all their boards are pretty solid in my opinion. When I recommend a Biostar board, it's because I have personally seen it work pretty well..not simply because it is Biostar...I doubt I would recommend any of their entry level stuff. For that I would go Gigabyte.
I only speak highly of the T-Power line up from Biostar, cause they have always been good to me. As to the rest of the line up I have no opinion. Biostar will charge shipping with their RMA (most others do to), but other than that the process was very painless for me. Much better than my experiences with Asus and Gigabyte. eVga and XFX seem to be the absolute best in CS that I have dealt with. Again, all this derived from my personal experience...you may have the complete opposite results.
I guess my point is, don't ever skimp on motherboards. By skimp I don't mean always buy the most expensive brand....but rather the upper range boards from whatever brand you go with. The motherboard will at the end of the day make or break your system.
Now, as to the overall pricing among brands, you get what you pay for...think about it...Biostar doesn't advertise, there are no ROG key chains, they don't have all the bells and whistles, they don't poop a new BIOS every week, you get minimal adapters/cables, minimal documentation, and quite possible the ugliest packaging ever, lol. You do get a pretty solid board capable of some extreme overclocking in the right hands..and they have the records to prove it.
Here lately for me, I've just been trying to budget better. I used to go to NewEgg, sort by highest price and buy whatever brand it was...Intel EE processors, $400 "Classified" motherboards, $400 kits of RAM with fans...etc. And all that stuff worked and worked very well, I have no complaints. But unless you planning on running Dice/Phase/LN2 on them...most of the time you can buy much cheaper stuff and still have a formidable computer.
My current system (the main parts) in total cost just a tad more than what I used to pay for a processor (just the processor)...and it plays all my games just fine.
So, when someone comes in with a "money is of no concern attitude"...then I say go for it! Top of the line Asus will not disappoint, top of the line Corsair is fantastic RAM...etc. But, when someone comes in asking about parts on a budget...then I start looking around at the bang for buck stuff.
Sorry for my rambling on, lol, slow day in the office ha ha!
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2009
- Location
- NYC
I have never used Biostar or ASRock motherboards so my vote is towards Gigabyte since I love their bios but the board is the priciest one so if others on here have good things to say about the Biostar then I guess that's your best bet.
