Did ASUS lowered their motherboard quality?

[boldenc]

I just build a new PC with P8Z77-V, this is my first ASUS motherboard in the last 10 years. The board feels cheaply made, also I noticed the PCB is not flat, there is a little bend at the front panel area at the end of the motherboard from the left to right, maybe it is not observed but I can still notice it, and after putting the board inside the case, it is not shown. Should I worry about that little bend? PC is working fine till now.

[owikh84]

Most prolly a refurbished mobo you got there.
I dont think Asus RMA will dump a dead board into dustbin or anywhere else.
Anyway the bent PCB wont affect performance or reduce shelf life of the board

[zanzabar]

ever since the x38 parts asus has been pushing the rog really hard and taking basic features from the others. also why would you spend $180-200 on a midrange board on the 1155 platform.

[BeepBeep2]

Yeah, from 1-10 I would have to rate the ROG boards 11...their midrange boards are just average... maybe a 6.5. But I wouldn't say that the midrage/lower range are taking basic features. Gigabyte boards in the same price range often have less from what I see.

[deachus]

I have had no issues and nothing but great performance from my Asus boards and I have owned and built over 20 in the past 3 years, ROG, midrange and low end.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

[dctokyo]

Did ASUS lowered their motherboard quality? No but this thread did

[boldenc]

Did ASUS lowered their motherboard quality? No but this thread did

I'm only sharing my thoughts, this is the first ASUS board I used in the last 10 years, I thought the quality should be higher for a 190$ motherboard.
I was using an MSI Z77A-GD65 and the quality and features is far more better, it died so I wanted to try ASUS.
I wonder how a 190$ motherboard doesn't have clear CMOS button!!

[trance565]

do any asus boards have them? my z77 saber doesnt have it, it has a easy flash button, where if i put a new bios file on a usb drive and plug it in to the right slot, i can push the button on the IO ports to flash em.

my gigabyte ex58 ud4p had it, and it was the first time i'd ever heard of it. maybe it's a gigabyte exclusive type thing?

[BeepBeep2]

I'm only sharing my thoughts, this is the first ASUS board I used in the last 10 years, I thought the quality should be higher for a 190$ motherboard.
I was using an MSI Z77A-GD65 and the quality and features is far more better, it died so I wanted to try ASUS.
I wonder how a 190$ motherboard doesn't have clear CMOS button!!

I think you are a little spoiled...

What board are you using though? My M4A89TD has one and it wasn't excactly a high end board. (Though AMD)...my only intel board is a MIVE so...


@trance
Yes, all the ROG boards have a CLR CMOS button, and MSI's quality is sh** IMO, also the boards are slow for benching which is why nobody ever uses them. The Sabertooth isn't marketed as a high end OC board, it is supposed to be a workstation oriented board hence no CLR CMOS button.

[l0ud_sil3nc3]

I'm only sharing my thoughts, this is the first ASUS board I used in the last 10 years, I thought the quality should be higher for a 190$ motherboard.
I was using an MSI Z77A-GD65 and the quality and features is far more better, it died so I wanted to try ASUS.
I wonder how a 190$ motherboard doesn't have clear CMOS button!!

hmmmm better quality you say. . .

[boldenc]

hmmmm better quality you say. . .

I'm talking about the build quality, not the performance.
Performance and OC on the ASUS is better than the MSI. Stability is better too.
My only concern that the PCB quality looks cheaply made when you have the board in your hands. That's the only con I wanted to say.
Also it lacks some features which every motherboard has it now.

[Conquistador SW]

I think you are talking about another kind of quality. For me better quality means: better stability (which results in good overclocks) and everything working correctly and not dying.

All my 24/7 crunchers use ASUS because they simply do not fail and and stability is number 1 priority.

I cant speak for MSI and ASRock (used only few motherboards from them, ASRock seems to make nice boards and they all worked fine) but I personally really dislike Gigabyte.
From the ones I used, only one is still working (the one in my sig) and even that one whines, which I hate because it is in a HTPC. And it is the only board in my collection right now that has random lockups.

Also, I don't know why you would want a clear CMOS that bad. I have overclocked many ASUS board and if the overclock fails, it recovers automatically by going back to default settings the second time it tries to boots. Sounds like a better feature to me than some stupid switch because it will remember the setting you put in before and don't have to change all these settings again. And if you really need to cleas CMOS, the pin thingy (forgot name) works just as well.

I don't know what you mean with PCB quality, they all look fine to me.

[kuroikenshi]

I think you are talking about another kind of quality. For me better quality means: better stability (which results in good overclocks) and everything working correctly and not dying.

All my 24/7 crunchers use ASUS because they simply do not fail and and stability is number 1 priority.

I cant speak for MSI and ASRock (used only few motherboards from them, ASRock seems to make nice boards and they all worked fine) but I personally really dislike Gigabyte.
From the ones I used, only one is still working (the one in my sig) and even that one whines, which I hate because it is in a HTPC. And it is the only board in my collection right now that has random lockups.

Also, I don't know why you would want a clear CMOS that bad. I have overclocked many ASUS board and if the overclock fails, it recovers automatically by going back to default settings the second time it tries to boots. Sounds like a better feature to me than some stupid switch because it will remember the setting you put in before and don't have to change all these settings again. And if you really need to cleas CMOS, the pin thingy (forgot name) works just as well.

I don't know what you mean with PCB quality, they all look fine to me.

One of the largest suppliers in Australia told me about 30% od their asus boards sold last year had been RMA'ed... Asrock... None,

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

[Conquistador SW]

One of the largest suppliers in Australia told me about 30% od their asus boards sold last year had been RMA'ed... Asrock... None,

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Interesting. I wonder if that are maybe the low end motherboards or something because I mostly buy mid-high end motherboards.
Or maybe I just have been very lucky.

And I can believe that ASRock is good. I bought a few for some friends and they are still working fine, although not 24/7 and not with very high overclocks.

[solofly]

Did ASUS lowered their motherboard quality? No but this thread did

I thought of the same thing...lol

[zanzabar]

Yeah, from 1-10 I would have to rate the ROG boards 11...their midrange boards are just average... maybe a 6.5. But I wouldn't say that the midrage/lower range are taking basic features. Gigabyte boards in the same price range often have less from what I see.

they are missing bios options for ram that get saved for rog only.

and i am not saying that the quality is lower just that they pull some bios options. the other thing is that with 1155 asus is priced about $40-50 over every one else, but people keep buying them so i guess it is working.
i have the m4a89td pro and it is defiantly a high end board

[BeepBeep2]

they are missing bios options for ram that get saved for rog only.

and i am not saying that the quality is lower just that they pull some bios options. the other thing is that with 1155 asus is priced about $40-50 over every one else, but people keep buying them so i guess it is working.
i have the m4a89td pro and it is defiantly a high end board

Yeah, but all manufacturers usually pull bios options like that. However I think most of the options are left available for the Z77 lineup.

[cab]

Now they have DIMM sockets with only one clip... if you buy their real cheap stuff it will be clip-less and you'd have to bend the mobo until the DIMMs pop out.

[BeepBeep2]

Now they have DIMM sockets with only one clip... if you buy their real cheap stuff it will be clip-less and you'd have to bend the mobo until the DIMMs pop out.

I would prefer clipless slots. The clips are useless. The DIMMs aren't going to fall out.

[JohnZS]

ever since the x38 parts asus has been pushing the rog really hard and taking basic features from the others. also why would you spend $180-200 on a midrange board on the 1155 platform.

This is true! I went from an ASUS P4P800-SE to a P5E3 and the quality of the X38 based P5E3 was awful, it had a lot of issues with the BIOS too and design, using a 4Pin 12V connector to power the Motherboard opposed to the 8Pin EPS 12V connector to power the motherboard as on ALL other X38 based boards.

HOWEVER

Having just said all of this I adore my Rampage Extreme and I think the build quality is awesome. My next motherboard will be a Rampage Extreme based board (be it Socket 2011 or 1155 equivalent), I have yet to decide yet.

It seems to me that ASUS are stripping the low and middle end, yet maintaining the high quality and prestige at the high end and enthusiast end.

However a clear CMOS jumper should be a standard feature should it not? I am quite surprised the Sabretooth does not have one.
John

[Allubz]

Now they have DIMM sockets with only one clip... if you buy their real cheap stuff it will be clip-less and you'd have to bend the mobo until the DIMMs pop out.

LoL'd.

-

I don't see how this thread would be able to proof anything with regard to mobo quality. First off, opinions will be spread, subjectivity takes the lead. Second, without any data to back up claims, not even the slightest of argument can be posed.

That said, my two Zotac experiences are terrible to date, I've heard similar reports; still, can't tell whether they're worse than ASUS.

[Stijndp]

I think problems with motherboards are more related to the hardware they have to work with. But it is the motherboard sellers who say it's ok before fixing it all and that is on them.

For instance I destroyed 2 Rampage II Gene simply by filling all 6 mem slots (not even OC'ing). Then I switched but my i920 got stuck at 4.8GHz on a Rampage II Extreme with 6 mem slots filled. That RIIE system I still use today but I have to use it at 2.66 with only 3slots mem because even at 3.2 memory starts tripping. Never had a board that degraded so quickly.
Same with EVGA 680i SLI. My 3rd one was half ok but very bad stability anyway. No manufacturers could get 680i to work decend for the first months. I still have my QX6700 laying around because nobody wanted them without decent boards to use them.


I swore myself never to early-adopt anything motherboard related anymore. All manufacturers sell specifications and none of them care about fixing important flaws that their customers will be hindered by.
Reviews never talk about quality, even the biggest sites. A lot of motherboard reviews are simply a telling of all the specs, some extra pictures and how far a certain CPU got overclocked. If Asus or EVGA or MSI or Gigabyte or ... see that they are judged by looks and a bit of overclocking, then why would they try to do any extra effort to make a board truly stable?

[jcniest5]

I'm only sharing my thoughts, this is the first ASUS board I used in the last 10 years, I thought the quality should be higher for a 190$ motherboard.
I was using an MSI Z77A-GD65 and the quality and features is far more better, it died so I wanted to try ASUS...

A better quality board died? So, don't complain about a "lesser quality" then if it would outlast the other one, that's what counts.

[CrazyNutz]

I would prefer clipless slots. The clips are useless. The DIMMs aren't going to fall out.

I dislike the single clip DIMM slots. It's not that i'm concerned with them falling out, It's a PITA to get them to come out. Dimms are supposed to go in level, and come out level:


The single clip slots promote incorrect DIMM removal. I do my best to make them come out level, however I've seen people strip them right out on a sharp angle. Makes me cringe everytime I hear the pins on the clipless side scrape.

Other than that Asus boards have always been on my trusted & favorite list. Quality, longevity, and stability have always been top notch on every Asus board I've experienced.

[srsparky32]

I dislike the single clip DIMM slots. It's not that i'm concerned with them falling out, It's a PITA to get them to come out. Dimms are supposed to go in level, and come out level:


The single clip slots promote incorrect DIMM removal. I do my best to make them come out level, however I've seen people strip them right out on a sharp angle. Makes me cringe everytime I hear the pins on the clipless side scrape.

Other than that Asus boards have always been on my trusted & favorite list. Quality, longevity, and stability have always been top notch on every Asus board I've experienced.

i agree with this. the two clips on either side were nice to have. single clip is good too, but like you said. a lot of people dont know what theyre doing.

also.... my R3E was warped, but the board still worked. my WS however was perfectly straight. i guess its the pick of the draw?