No, I haven’t mistyped the title of the article. But first, let me explain what I mean exactly.
This summer I realized that the old 2.4GHz P4, which had successfully served as my media PC for 2 years, couldn’t keep up with HD content anymore, so it was time to upgrade. I was looking for microATX form factor multimedia motherboard with integrated graphics, so that it would fit into a slim MediaPC case without sacrificing anything. Having a DVI and S/PDIF was important as well, so that I could take the advantage of digital interfacing with both TV and amplifier.
Also, being a little careful after a not-so-perfect experience with AMD several years ago, I decided to build my system around Intel’s Core 2 Duo E7500 CPU.
After considering several motherboards using the criteria I outlined earlier and also availability, I ended up buying an GeForce® 9300 motherboard from XFX. I set it up and it was working ok for some time until one day it stopped booting. It froze on the disk recognition menu and never went any further. Of course the 30 day period, within I could return the motherboard to the store where I brought it from, was over, so I had to send it to XFX. They promptly sent me the replacement, which… didn’t work properly – 2 of 4 onboard memory slots were not functioning… Oh well. Sent it back again and received the replacement again… This one seems to be OK so far.
Now, even though XFX ships it back for free, I had to pay for sending it there twice. It’s important to note here, that technical support at XFX was very nice, knowledgeable and responsive. But does it compensate for extra 40 bucks and almost 3 months of sending the product back and forth? I’m afraid, not. Would I buy another product from XFX? Not any time soon. Is it because it lacks any features? Absolutely not, it has plenty, but the quality is not there. Mind you, it was one of the most expensive in its class. What would I buy? Most likely Asus – it could be a little bit slower, lack some of the features, but at least it would work, like every Asus I’ve bought before.
