The motherboard is a large piece among computer accessories.
Shopping malls are like battlefields, and there is a war without gunsmoke between Asus, MSI and the Big Three. All three companies divide their motherboards into different series, the purpose of which is to accurately hit the target customer group and occupy more market share. Below, we compare the main board to a bullet train and the series to a seat, and see what tickets are available.
The seats of the ASUS bullet train are divided into 4 classes:
SPECIAL CLASS: ROG, THE COUNTRY OF GAMERS, POSITIONED AT THE HIGH-END, CONSUMER PRODUCTS HAVE TWO BRANCHES, ROG MAXIMUS (CORRESPONDING TO THE INTEL PLATFORM) AND ROG CROSSHAIR (CORRESPONDING TO THE AMD PLATFORM). Note that you cannot have STRIX behind the ROG because the ROG STRIX is a product with a low positioning.
First class: ROG STRIX, Raptor series, mainly e-sports, positioning mid-to-high-end, canceling some less practical functions on the basis of ROG, making the price more reliable.
SECOND CLASS: TUF GAMING, ESPORTS AGENT SERIES, TUF SPECIAL FORCES SERIES ITSELF POSITIONING MEDIUM AND HIGH, DUE TO THE NEEDS OF COMPETITION, ASUS ADJUSTED ITS STRATEGY, DERIVED TUF GAMING SERIES, POSITIONING DOWN TO MID-RANGE GAMING MOTHERBOARDS, ITS PRICE IS ONLY SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN THE MASTER SERIES OF THE SAME LEVEL OF MODELS, WHICH IS THE MOST NOTEWORTHY SERIES OF ASUS MOTHERBOARDS.
3rd Class: PRIME, Master Series, positioned at the entry level, for ordinary needs.
At a shareholders' meeting in June 2017, ASUS Chairman Shi Chongtang said that MSI was going all out to do esports in the right direction and should learn from MSI. The world's motherboard bosses should learn from MSI, which shows its mind and courage, which is one of the reasons why ASUS has been standing at the top for a long time. It may be that the price of MSI's gaming motherboard is too low, and ASUS has had to readjust the series positioning and put the TUF series in the mid-range to compete.
ASUS TUF GAMING B760M-PLUS WIFI HEAVY GUNNER MOTHERBOARD
GIGABYTE bullet train seats are currently divided into 3 classes:
PREMIER/FIRST CLASS: AORUS XTREME AND AORUS MASTER. AORUS SPANS A LARGE SPAN, FROM LOW TO HIGH SUBDIVIDED INTO: ELITE, PRO, ULTRA, MASTER, XTREME THESE FIVE SUBSERIES. AORUS' LOGO is like an eagle, so it is commonly known as "eagle card", the first three are called "small eagles", and the latter two are "big eagles" (or super eagles).
SECOND CLASS: THE THREE SUB-SERIES OF ELITE, PRO AND ULTRA IN AORUS, AND THE COMPETITOR IS ASUS TUF GAMING.
THIRD CLASS: GAMING AND SUPER DURABLE, COMPETITORS ARE THE ASUS MASTER SERIES.
MSI bullet train seats are currently divided into 4 classes:
State-class: MEG series (MSI Extreme GAMING), positioned as a high-end flagship
First class: MPG series (MSI Performance GAMING), mid-to-high-end
Second class: MAG series (MSI Arsenal GAMING), arsenal series, positioned mid-range. SUBDIVIDED INTO SUBSERIES SUCH AS BAZOOKA (BAZOOKA), MORTAR (MORTAR) AND TOMAHAWK (TOMAHAWK MISSILE), TORPEDO (TORPEDO), ETC. The main force is mortar.
3rd class: PRO series and BOMBER (explosive bomb), targeting mass demand. PRO is mainly used in the industry, and the explosive shell belongs to the arsenal entry-level model, which is actually the same level as the PRO series from the pricing point of view.
MEG is a high-end series of MSI motherboards
Note: The current e-commerce exclusive, industry version, Internet café version, and name are not divided into the above four series, but actually belong to third-class tickets, such as ASUS's e-commerce board and PRIME class, MSI's e-commerce board wind belongs to the PRO series. Usually, a few small changes are made to the third-class seat to become an e-commerce model, such as changing the color of the seat to a cloth cover (motherboard, memory slot color, etc.).
Is it that the higher the level, the better the quality?
In general, no.
Why is it in general, because in theory, the high-end motherboard material is good, the repair must be low, but how much lower? The repair rate between 1% and 1.1% is not meaningful for the average user. In fact, looking for 100 ROG and 100 master motherboards, also not turning off for a year, may find a bad one, and maybe the master is not broken, the bad is ROG. The motherboard is not a new thing, big brand manufacturers have accumulated decades of research and development experience, and have a mature set of quality control standards. Any electronic accessory has a probability of damage, and since high-end motherboards are usually overclocked, the probability of repair may be greater. When the train rolls over, a kingclass seat is no safer than a third-class seat. The difference is that the special class seat is a seat with massage, and the third class seat does not have these, and those who do not want to study the configuration difference can probably understand it this way.
MSI MAG B660M MORTAR WIFI DDR4
Which ticket should we ordinary consumers buy?
First of all, exclude the state-class seat, the price moisture is too large. This level of products, the main purpose is to establish a corporate image, so in the pricing should be as high as possible.
First class, it's not interesting. Many of these motherboards are not practical. For example, more glare effects, stronger power supply capacity. One might think: this must be better for overclocking! Yes, but ideals and reality are not the same. First of all, more than 1,000 yuan expensive, may be able to exceed 0.1GHz (note that it is still possible, the CPU is not good, the motherboard is not good). Second, there may be a higher repair rate. Why? Because you overclock, overclocking will bring a surge in power consumption and temperature, just like climbing a mountain, climbing 7,000 meters only 10,000 yuan, 8,000 meters costs 20,000 yuan, but 8,100 meters costs 30,000, and every time you rise a little later, the price paid will increase significantly. If it is not super, it is not interesting to buy this type of motherboard, because the price of the motherboard includes this function, and it is a waste to buy it without it.
Second-class seats, for users of high-end models, you can focus on this series.
What about the third-class seats, are they all wooden chairs and rotten sofas? No, usually this is the best choice for most users.
The webmaster uses a third-class motherboard
(Pay special attention to the 5 words in bold: usually.) What if it's a high-grade ticket for a special sale? Sometimes when the discount is large, the price-performance balance changes)
The third-class seat can be said to be the most important series of each manufacturer, is the main force to seize market share, not only to maintain a good reputation in quality, the cost does not dare to save, but also to suppress the second-tier brand in price, the pricing is low, which leads to relatively thin profits. In fact, the "factory rebate" for high-end motherboards to sellers is much higher than the rebate for third-class seats, and of course manufacturers earn more.
The two main players in the mid-range
ASUS TUF GAMING B660M-PLUS D4 HEAVY GUNNER MOTHERBOARD: 1099 YUAN
MSI MAG B660M MORTAR Mortar Motherboard: 1099 RMB
Looking at the price, I know that this is a pair of wrongdoers, similar in strength, and martial arts between Bozhong. If you compare carefully, you will find that the mortar has a slightly higher power supply and sound card configuration, obviously, this is competition. In the field of motherboards, for the same price, ASUS's brand is better, and if MSI does not add a little configuration to it, then why don't we choose a product with a better brand?
The two armies are at war, and if neither the time and place are advantageous and one factor does not have an advantage, it is better to surrender early.
Some people ask, each has its own advantages, then it seems that it is not a good choice, you can't buy one each.
There is a simple way: which one to do the activity discount, I am the head of the wall, and whichever side has a large discount will fall to which side.