I'm looking to build a new PC in the very near future. I currently run crossfire but may try SLI out, so I'd like a board capable of either. I think that means I'll be looking at the z68 series of MBs. I've been partial to the Gigabyte boards and the Asus boards, but have been burned in the past to what I think may have been quality control. The last Asus board I bought was the P5B Premium Vista board and I think I had to RMA it about 5 times. I also had problems with some of the earlier Asus boards too. I've done fine with the Gigabyte boards, but I like the features offered on the Asus boards better. So I guess my question is: have I just been on a very unlucky streak with the Asus boards or was the Vista era a bad time for Asus. I plan to run one of the i7 CPUs without overclocking. I run everything at stock speeds. Thank you in advance for your help.
Heh, I like Asus mobos as much as you do because of the same reasons. I would just ignore those features with Asus and go with Gigabyte. Checked out the GA-Z68XP-UD4 ? Budget ? Must have features ?
Thanks, I've been looking at that Gigabyte board as well as the the Asus Maximus IV Extreme-Z board. My only real requirements were USB 3.0 and Crossfire/SLI capable. I figure when I have the funds put together I'll re-evaluate whats available, I'm just trying to gage the companies product reliablilty.
That board which I recommended, GA-Z68XP-UD4 (B3 ofc) does have USB3.0 ports. Rear panel: 2 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports Internal I/O Connectors: 1 x USB 3.0/2.0 header And SLI support. Source: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3849#sp Sure you checked that yourself. As for the reliability. Bad products come out from every company. I have personally had enough of Asus, up to you if you want to give them another shot. I bet that failure rates from GB and Asus are "about the same"...
Just as a little note all Z68 boards are "b3" even if not stated in the name as the revision happened before the chipset launch. I can recommend my mb the Z68XP-UD4, its pretty much the same as GA-Z68X-UD4-B3 but has a hdmi port to use the sb graphics quite nice to have to hand imo.
