Foxconn and Biostar Mobo Opinion

[Space_Cowboy]

I'm sure there are plenty of opinions, but I would like to know peoples opinion between Foxconn and Biostar mobo's. What do you think is the better of the two? I ask because I've never heard of these mfg's before.

Thanks

 

[AdriMagnon]

Hi,

What I would do is go to Newegg and look at the reviews on the boards themselves. For example if I wanted to choose between a FoxConnn and BioStar board for an Intel Socket 775 I would go and see the following:

Foxconn G31MV-K LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
20 Reviews (70,15,10,5,0)

BIOSTAR P4M900-M7 FE LGA 775 VIA P4M900 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
4 Reviews (25,50,0,25,0)

Foxconn G9657MA-8EKRS2H LGA 775 Intel G965 Express Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
75 Reviews (36,24,13,8,19)

BIOSTAR G31-M7G DVI LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
3 Reviews (33,67,0,0,0)

The numbers in the brackets are the break down of the percents of stars. For example if it said '10 Reviews (20,10,30,10,30) means that:

5 Stars: 20%
4 Stars: 10%
3 Stars: 30%
2 Stars: 10%
1 Star: 30%

Now the most important parts of this are the number of reviews and the breakdown. I read once that the majority of people on the internet rate items high. There are various psychological reasons for this I won't go into. Also, people have to be REALLY upset to rank something low. So now what I do is add up the bottom 2 Star Rankings and I seperate out the 3 stars ranking:


Foxconn G31MV-K LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
20 Reviews
3 Stars10
1 AND 2 Stars 5

BIOSTAR P4M900-M7 FE LGA 775 VIA P4M900 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
4 Reviews
3 Stars 0
1 AND 2 Stars 25

Foxconn G9657MA-8EKRS2H LGA 775 Intel G965 Express Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
75 Reviews
3 Stars 13
1 AND 2 Stars 27

BIOSTAR G31-M7G DVI LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
3 Reviews
3 Stars 0
1 AND 2 Stars 0

Now amount of Reviews play a role. The more reviews the more likely they are reliable. I usually remove the boards with less than 40 reviews but for this example I'll take it down to two:

Foxconn G31MV-K LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
20 Reviews
3 Stars10
1 AND 2 Stars 5

Foxconn G9657MA-8EKRS2H LGA 775 Intel G965 Express Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
75 Reviews
3 Stars 13
1 AND 2 Stars 27

Using the reviews and the 1 thru 3 Stars I would say that the G9657MA model will likely give me a 27% chance of being unhappy with it and a 13% of being satisified. The G31MV-K gives me a 5% chance of being unhappy and a 10%chance of being satisifed.
Even though the 20 reviews of the G31MV-K isn't enough for me to be confident of the numbers I would likely NOT get the G9657MA because I have a 27% (almost 1 in 4) of being unhappy with the board. I would look for a better board.

Please note this is how I would quickly choose a board. If I had specifications I was working off of (like Max SATA connector, onboard video, etc, I would adjust accordingly). I would also after narrowing down the boards read the reviews to see what the most complained about problems actually are.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions I can try to answer them or explain what I mean better.

Cheers,

Adrian

 

[raybay]

FoxConn boards are very reliable... not great for gaming, but famous for long life and durability, with operation you can trust.
Biostar motherboards are usually very good, but the quality and reliability varies from board to board... More early failures under warranty. So, do your research on the BIOSTAR boards before you decide which one to acquire.

 

[Space_Cowboy]

I hope this helps. If you have any questions I can try to answer them or explain what I mean better.

Cheers,

Adrian

Thanks for the detailed information. I would put money down that you were a statistics major :wave:

 

[Space_Cowboy]

FoxConn boards are very reliable... not great for gaming, but famous for long life and durability, with operation you can trust.
Biostar motherboards are usually very good, but the quality and reliability varies from board to board... More early failures under warranty. So, do your research on the BIOSTAR boards before you decide which one to acquire.

Thanks for your thoughts raybay. Much appreciated.

 

[raybay]

Good Idea to check the NewEgg reviews, except that most of the reviews on NewEgg are made within the first 30 days of use... or first week. Lots of people like boards when they are new... it is under pressure and load that the problems rear their ugly heads.
Look for real specifics in the New Egg reviews. Some of the really bad reviews seem to never make it to the screen.