What's in a name?

[METH]

I am somewhat new to building PCs by most standards. I never even touched more than a pocket calculator until a year and a half ago. to make along story short I replaced some very destructive vices, with PC gaming, and inorder to afford a decent gaming rig I had to learn to build it. so now I have about 10 builds under belt, and I realize I still have so much to learn. what I have learned ,I learned by trial and error and reading. here is my delimia
I am building my 27 yr old son and his family a computer for christmas.
my grand kids need one, my daughterinlaw wants one to keep up with all the gossip, and my son wants to join my 'BATTLEFIELD 2 CLAN/TEAM' i DONT HAVE VERY MUCH MONEY TO WORK WITH!!! here is what I have so far

intel 2.93 celeron D 512 cache 533 fsb
1 gig of pc 3200 ddr
nvidia 6600 gt
80 gig maxtor HDD

now I have to get a motherboard, and there are some things that are a must

upgradeable components i.e eventually to a p4 cpu
dual channel
hyperthreading
533/800 fsb

MY wife and myself both have ASROCK MOTHERBOARDS I have a p4S55FX+ and she has a p4v88 they have been very good and reliable mobos. on my rig I overclock the cpu and the video card and run a pent 4 3.0 800 fsb OCed to a 3.23 and my ASROCK mobo has been stable, and controls the heat and really preforms. I play battlefield2 on med without any lag issues or any problems at all I AM VERY HAPPY WITH ASROCK

BUT! other gamers I talk to say ASROCK IS JUNK! that I really should have a ASUS, or a ABIT [actully ASROCK owns ASUS from what I heard from a ASUS stockholder??}
if the specs are identical the same chipset everything says it is alike what makes ASUS,or ABIT so much better than ASROCK, other than the name???
I have to get my sons mobo this week, he already has a celeron d cpu which I know is a negative for gaming, but will still do the job with limitations, as long as the rest of the system is decent. I am really considering getting him a ASROCK P4V88 it meets every requirment I need.
I am also looking at a ASUS p4s800 the only diffrence is the chip set
the asrock has a -VIA vt8237 chipset and the ASUS has a sis655fx chipset
which is the exact same chipset I have in my ASROCK P4S55FX+] ACTULLY there is no diffrentce between my mobo and the ASUS p4s800 is the name on the heat sink, can someone explain to me without bring personal opinon and prejudice into the picture why I should spend 25 dollars more for a ASUS mobo over a ASROCK/ I have asrocks so I know they are dependable but I never had a ASUS.

like I said I still have alot to LEARN, teach ME why the name means so much more.
thx meth

 

[vnf4ultra]

First, welcome to Techspot.

I've heard(whether it's true or not I don't know), that asrock boards are asus designs that were ok, but rejected for one reason or another and sold under the "value brand" of asrock.
It may be easier to get support for an asus than an asrock, and I do like asus's site better than asrocks, I can't comment on how their support is though.
If you've had good experience with them, there's no reason to switch if you don't want to.
I used the Chaintech vnf4/ultra board, even though others told me that chaintech is a "cheap" company, and I might regret it. So far I've been very happy with chaintech. So the point is, just because people say a company's "crap", doesn't mean they are.
I've seen mostly good things about the new asrock 939 dual sata II board, so that's a plus for the company.
Does asrock have a shorter warranty than asus, or are they the same?
That might be something to consider.

Some of asrocks features are truely unique and innovative, like the dual socket boards, upgradeable combos, etc.

Hope this is useful.
Vnf4ultra.

 

[METH]

YES IT WAS! like I said I am pretty much self taught and I really take heed to what other people say. and one thing I have learned being part of the geek community, is alot of what you hear is opinion more than fact, like the anwser to the age old questions
intel or amd?, nvidia or ATI?, white bread or wheat? where in actuallalty[?] they are all good products, it just comes down to ones prefrence
but it is reassuring to hear what I think my acually be ok :haha:
th warranty is one thing I really overlooked, luckly so far I have never had to use one. thx for pointing that out

 

[sllewe]

I too have heard alot of "bad" stuff about Asrock. Never owned one though, and actually i have heard more good things then bad. I know howard has one, maybe he could give his opinon

/starts yahoo to get howard


Sean

 

[howard_hopkinso]

As for Asrock. Yes I`ve got the Asrock k7s8x mobo. Had it two years now with no problems at all.

I also know several other people(5 to be precise) with Asrock boards, and so far none of them have had any problems either.

I am aware of the bad press they receive, particularly on these boards.

I certainly wouldn`t have any hesitation getting another Asrock board, based on my experiences so far.

Just my 2cents

Regards Howard

 

[sllewe]

/shuts off yahoo because howard read my mind

 

[METH]

well guys thx for the reassurance I went ahead and ordered a p4v88, I found with my ASROCKS aslong as i have the bios updated I have no issues what so ever I did have some problems when I went to a nvidia 6600gt as far as it not rendering very well in bf2 but I was told to update the chipset/agp driver and it is awesome!!!! I like here so far helping post, with out any snide remarks about this is better than that or this sucks ect, I like that I hope to learn some useful tips and who knows maybe even offer one every now and then

meth

 

[MXHowes]

I got a ASRock K7VT6 in Dec '04 and it died last week. When I first got the system I had big problems (turned out to be bad memory, nothing to do with the board) but I was never, EVER, EVER, able to get a support reply from ASRock. Once you buy the board you are on your own. I would lean tward the ASUS just because of the many special support forums out there if there is aproblem.
Jim

 

[sllewe]

I got a ASRock K7VT6 in Dec '04 and it died last week

Point Proven

 

[OLBY]

gd pc for that time