In my business, selling systems hardware and software to my customers for the past 20 years I have seen pretty much everything in the PC industry. I have built systems using Intel, Gigabyte, ASUS, MSI, ECS, Tyan, etc. etc. I have had problems with all of them. Someone said in this post they prefer Intel because of their reliability, drivers, etc. I have seen many issues with those boards and with the higher cost and lack of appreciable performance gain they are not the best bang for the buck either. Unless you are working with Windows 95/98 drivers should not be an issue. The best motherboard I had ever come across in my experience was Micronics but they are long gone. I know that those Fry's ECS boards are junk and any motherboard which has a fan for the chipset should be avoided as well. I have seen very good reliability from ASUS and MSI. Gigabyte has given me the most problems over the years. Tyan was crap in the beginning but has improved greatly. We have a customer with a dual Athlon Tyan board and it works great. It's all about experience and trying out different things. Not all hardware works with all hardware and software. Michael Seidner M5 Systems 602-288-8304 http://www.m5systems.net -----Original Message----- From: plug-discuss-admin@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us [mailto:plug-discuss-admin@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us] On Behalf Of Dennis Kibbe Sent: Friday, December 31, 2004 8:48 PM To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us Subject: Re: Motherboard recommendations? On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 10:09:54 -0700 Bupkus wrote: > Victor Odhner wrote: > > My motherboard is messed up, and it's time for me to replace it. > > I don't want to do this again soon, so I'm looking for opinions > > that may lead me to a *reliable* system. [SNIP] I can certainly recommend the ASUS X Series having built a couple of dozen boxes. I especially like the CPU COP feature that monitors the CPU temperature and shuts the machine down before damage can occur. Buy it online from Newegg for about $50 plus $5 (or less) shipping. You'll have it in 2-3 days. Giga-byte is a reliable brand as well, but last I looked the backplane only had two USB ports (the ASUS supports four) and wiring the front USB ports might be more work with the Giga-byte, since, in the past, they did it slightly difference than the others. Directron has a helpful page on understanding the front USB connection. If your current case doesn't offer a good thermal solution for today's CPUs, I'd recommend getting an Antec or In-Win case. Guten Rutsch und ein erfolgreiches neues Jahr! Gewunscht von, Dennisk --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change you mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change you mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss