First off I like Asus and the PC shop I work at has been using them for several decades in customer builds. Asus boards are some of the strongest stoutest motherboards known to man. This does not apply to just ROG boards.
One story I like to tell is about one system hooked to special satellite via modem during a thunder storm. Guy called saying the internet didn't work. We dispatched a Technician only for him to find a smoldering STILL RUNNING system. the lightening hit the modem set it a flame while melting the ASUS motherboard all the while it chugged away no issue.
That board served as an AWESOME conversation piece for years it's tragedy the boss got rid of when moved to a new location. The kicker is we have more ASUS survivor stories like that. And have always sold Asus Mobos ave for the occasional other brands.
On that note is does still provide marketing kits and or banners to re sellers and partner like they used to? (we have some really old one)
A few things that bother me with last few builds i've done for customers it may not be an issue with your latest boards. The first things that drives me crazy is the bios defaults to IDE mode. this is very notable problem, say you install an SSD in the build for the customer, you set it to AHCI and hit save and that's the end of it right? WRONG!!!
Not if but, WHEN the bios gets reset sometime in the future it can cause BSODS or SSD degradation. Why you might ask? AHCI enables some important features for SSD longevity. Then when that machine's RTC battery runs out and the BIOS/EFI settings reset, including AHCI, Walking an inexperienced customer through the BIOS which you don't remember off the top of your head is not easy task and results in them to bring the machine over or a costly service call.
Same goes for Intel virtualization, it is disabled default. Also in once instance if my memory serves me correctly SMART was disabled but, i can't remember if that an MSI board or an Asus.
On my personally i build a few years ago. I opted for an AMD 990FX chipset because i wanted a chipset that the best chance of future CPU support so the 990FX was the obvious choice even if the 980 and 970 are almost identical (more on this later).
Well i need to carry over all my old parts PLUS second video card for crossfire. no problems right? Well for most people maybe so but, i have a PCI Asus Xonar which is Superior to the PCIe version for 2 reasons. The onboard PCIe version is known to cause bugs even with unified drivers (at least my friend has had some with his PCIe Xonar) and it requires an floppy drive style 4 pin power connector which screws up cable management and the hiding of cables.
On top of having to support TWO dual slot video cards AND a PCI Xonar it has to be black blue (my next complaint). Asus almost fit the bill and BOY did i want an ASUS board Especially a TOP END ASUS board So I looked on new egg and look what I found,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131876http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131877http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131851And that last board got my hopes up untill i noticed the slot layout. That's right the 1 PCI slot on the board would be covered by the second video card.
Well that sucks, sp I got AsRock it's has it's issue but, it works but, an Asus board would have been so much nicer to have.
My next complaint.....
COLOR COLOR COLOR COLOR COLOR...... COLOR IS EVERY THING!!!
http://www.million-dollar-pc.com/As PC enthusiast i take pride in my build. I take pride in PC that can deliver good to top notch performance AND look good while doing it too just like a high end sports car.
If you think i'm gonna put a Black and red or Black OD green in my black and blue machine that i spent all my time specing and building and detailing.. well your are sorely mistaken i'll go to another brand if i HAVE to i do not want to but I will.
I really like asus and really came to appreciate asus after working tat the computer store and with my poor experiences with my old Foxconn. i'd much prefer Asus.
You know the plastic to make all the slots and plugs probably cost a company like asus pennies on the dollar let alone the entire slots, which you probably source form a company like foxconn like most MFG.
Why on earth won't you make your motherboards in more than 1 color? All I want is simple old school black and blue theme. I'm not genuise but, as far as i know i'd be a matter of sourcing the different color slots and changing or adding an extra number on the the end of the model number. I'm not asking the world here.
The chipset debacle, So i used to have a foxconn destroyer. i loved it till the AMD six cores came out then foxconn destroyer owners learned that the 6 core (at the time) wouldn't and couldn't be supported because the chipset while being correct wasn't/new enough or wired correctly. This is why i opted for the 990FX this time around. (when i build my current AMD rig a year or 2 ago)
PS: for a good crossfire setup you need AT LEAST 1 slot between the bottom of the top card and the top of the bottom card so the top card has air to draw from for cooling. 2 + slots of distances helps maximize the cooling of the top card.
Also i apologize for type, spelling and grammar errors, i'm no word smith or poet.
