ASUS P8H61-M LX3 R2.0 LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Pros: I'm a Network Administrator, and I am around computers all day everyday. This little guy is a great motherboard. ASUS always makes exceptional products, and this is no exception. I have had this for over two months now with no problems whatsoever. The reason I bought it was because I needed a great yet cheap motherboard to replace mine at home. I wasn't looking to delve into buying an expensive iCore processor yet, and this motherboard supports all of the new iCore processors plus supports older architectures like the the dual Pentium processors (which I bought for cheap and is working flawlessly as well N82E16819116405).

Cons: The downsides to this motherboard are very trivial, and they are to be expected if you actually look at what you are buying. There are very minimal expansion slots, and if you are using a decent graphics card then do not expect to use any of the other slots. My graphics card (EVGA GeForce GTX550 Ti - N82E16814130744) takes up all of the slots, but that is okay since I only need the one slot anyway. The only other downside that I did not think about happening is the SATA slots sit directly under the end of my graphics card. This was not an issue for me as I installed those first and with right-angle connectors on my SATA cable; but had I not, then I would have had an issue.

Other Thoughts: In my honest opinion, this is an absolutely great motherboard. It is cheaply priced and has everything that you could need on it for even basic gaming. I run Guild Wars 2, Path of Exile, and Diablo III flawlessly using this motherboard in conjunction with the other parts listed above.

Pros: Came on time and on the box reads ASUS as expected.

Cons: Everything else. Went blue screening on me right after I built it. Flashed to the latest BIOS, didn't help. Upgraded the firmware on my SSD, didn't help. Just gives me blue screen within a few minutes after turning on. Spoke to ASUS tech support, but they couldn't offer anything useful. Asked to return the unit. Aside from the fact that the RMA period has expired, my time is more valuable to me than getting another piece of junk.

Other Thoughts: I had problems with ASUS motherboards in the past. A while ago I stopped buying them altogether. This time I decided to give it a try just because it matched perfectly my search parameters. Sorry, but never ASUS again. As a cherry on the top, two days ago my ASUS monitor went blank.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

We're sorry to hear about your experience with the motherboard. Can you tell me at what point does the system BSOD? If it's when Windows loads, it may be due to IDE/AHCI conflict. Please try setting SATA Configuration to IDE (more info at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976#method1 [Microsoft.com]). For BSOD occurring in the desktop, run analysis using tools described here: http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/windows-bsod.html [Dedoimedo.com]) to help pinpoint what the cause is. If you have any questions or need additional support, please email to me below with your hardware setup and configuration to better assist you. Thank you.

For support information, please visit http://support.asus.com. For service, visit http://service.asus.com. For motherboard warranty, visit http://www.service.asus.com/warranty.aspx#!Motherboard%20Warranty/c1c20; Refurbished products/accessories: http://www.service.asus.com/warranty.aspx#!refurbished-warranty/c16us. For RMA status, visit: http://am.eservice.asus.com/rmaweb/search/rmCustomerQueryAction.do?.

Regards,
Benson
ASUS Customer Loyalty
cl-benson@asus.com

Pros: Price, basic features

Cons: PCIe x16 placement to sata plugs

Other Thoughts: My buddy who does builds for work recommended this to me when I needed a new budget set up to do basic gaming. Only thing we ran into - my geforce 560gtx is so large, it prevents usage of top two sata plugs. So if you have a larger vid card, you might want to consider a different board.

Pros: works very well booted the 1st time and no problems

Cons: can not use a lot of video cards in it. but you should know that about micro boards

Other Thoughts: I got this board to keep the family main power computer running while rma a gigabyte mb that has a known problem.

while it may not have a lot of options it is rock solid. its now running a i7 2700k with 8g and 3t of space.

When I get back my other mb going to put this in a box for my mom .

I will be using Asus MB from now on

Pros: Price. ASUS reliability. Integrated VGA. UEFI BIOS. Gigabit NIC. 3rd gen core i series support OOTB.

I use these boards for basic business workstations. I haven't had any issues with any of them. Purchased about 5 so far. All post w/ no issues, run cool.

Cons: No USB 3.0 port(s) but for the price, I guess that's forgivable. No SATA III ports. This is my biggest peave about this board. I'd love to be able to use a SATA III SSD w/ this board but when I do SSD builds, I have to use a different one.

Other Thoughts: I like this board. I usually keep a few in stock for lower end business class workstations. Don't expect this to be a great gaming board or CAD board. It's just a basic motherboard that's solid and reliable.