Is this the best motherboard I can find?

[OhioGuy]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128081

I've been thinking about upgrading my system for some time now. Things I
am really looking for in a new motherboard:

1) solid high quality capacitors (my last 2 boards died due to capacitor
failure & swelling)

2) plenty of internal expansion slots

3) a rear serial/com port (yes, I'm still using my external serial modem)

4) AM2+ - to support the new quad core processors

5) & preferably, either onboard ATI 780G or Nvidia MCP78S graphics
with DirectX10 & HDMI out

This board has all of these but #5. It has the solid capacitors that
don't fail like the hashmarked ones on most motherboards. It has a grand
total of 7 internal expansion slots, rather than the 2 or 3 most boards have
these days. It has a rear serial/com port. It has AM2+.

The only thing it is missing in my eyes is the onboard video - ATI 780G or
Nvidia MCP78S.

I'm thinking this might be the closest I'm going to get to what I was
wanting. I've found a couple of places where I can get this board for under
$99 shipped.

I was telling myself that I would only consider boards with the new
chipsets and onboard 780G or MCP78S video, but I can't find anything close
to what I want with those limitations.
(780G boards just came out 8 or so days ago, and MCP78S ones don't even seem
to be out yet)

Maybe I should wait a couple of months to see what else is released?

Have any of you seen a board that has all of these features? I'm half
tempted to just buy this and then try to find a video card, though I hate
buying a separate video card. All of my last 3 systems have had integrated
video. I tend to play old games when I do play them, and rarely any that
focus on 3D. Most of the time I use my system for video compression and
watching video.

What impresses me the most is that there are virtually no reviews in the
bottom 60% - almost everyone who rated these boards put their rating in the
top 40%. It's pretty unusual for motherboard ratings.

I just wish I could find out how long Gigabyte warrants their
motherboards. I had been limiting myself to Asus, because I heard they have
3 year warranties. Anyone know if Gigabyte also has a 3 year warranty?

 

[Ed Coolidge]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128081

Well, 4 out of 5 isn't too bad and it looks to be a decent board too. Oh and
here's what I've found on Gigabytes website:

o All motherboards carry a 3 year limited warranty (First 2 years parts & labor,
3rd year parts only)

The few Gigabyte products I've used have never given me any trouble yet.

As for newer boards with video, you'll have to wait a little be longer as they
don't seem to be as popular as they once were. Now if it were CrossFire or SLI,
it would have been out yesterday!

 

[RobV]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128081

I've been thinking about upgrading my system for some time now.
Things I am really looking for in a new motherboard:

1) solid high quality capacitors (my last 2 boards died due to
capacitor failure & swelling)

2) plenty of internal expansion slots

3) a rear serial/com port (yes, I'm still using my external serial
modem)
4) AM2+ - to support the new quad core processors

5) & preferably, either onboard ATI 780G or Nvidia MCP78S graphics
with DirectX10 & HDMI out

This board has all of these but #5. It has the solid capacitors that
don't fail like the hashmarked ones on most motherboards. It has a
grand total of 7 internal expansion slots, rather than the 2 or 3
most boards have these days. It has a rear serial/com port. It has
AM2+.
The only thing it is missing in my eyes is the onboard video - ATI
780G or Nvidia MCP78S.

I'm thinking this might be the closest I'm going to get to what I was
wanting. I've found a couple of places where I can get this board
for under $99 shipped.

I was telling myself that I would only consider boards with the new
chipsets and onboard 780G or MCP78S video, but I can't find anything
close to what I want with those limitations.
(780G boards just came out 8 or so days ago, and MCP78S ones don't
even seem to be out yet)

Maybe I should wait a couple of months to see what else is released?

Have any of you seen a board that has all of these features? I'm
half tempted to just buy this and then try to find a video card,
though I hate buying a separate video card. All of my last 3 systems
have had integrated video. I tend to play old games when I do play
them, and rarely any that focus on 3D. Most of the time I use my
system for video compression and watching video.

What impresses me the most is that there are virtually no reviews in
the bottom 60% - almost everyone who rated these boards put their
rating in the top 40%. It's pretty unusual for motherboard ratings.

I just wish I could find out how long Gigabyte warrants their
motherboards. I had been limiting myself to Asus, because I heard
they have 3 year warranties. Anyone know if Gigabyte also has a 3
year warranty?

Ed has answered your questions. I haven't used a Gigabyte MB, but
reviews are generally favorable, both on the review web sites and by
customers in general.

In fact, if I were in the market for a new MB at this time, I would
seriously consider this one myself.