Introduction
Ever wondered what’s inside a computer’s hardware that makes it capable of functioning so well, whether it’s being used for gaming purposes, editing a huge file, making 3D animations, or other tasks. The motherboard is the main and vital component of the computer that ties other components like the CPU, hard drive, CPU Coolers, and other essential components.
There are numerous brands that manufacture motherboards including the leading brands MSI and Asus that we are going to talk about and decide which one of the two is better.
MSI stands for Micro-Star International Co. Ltd which is a multinational information technology corporation based in New Taipei, Taiwan. It designs and develops laptops, motherboards desktops, computer hardware, and graphic cards, and related products. MSI is considered to create the best motherboard for gaming. ASUSTek Computer Inc. is another multinational information technology-based in Beitou District, Taipei, Taiwan. It also manufactures laptop, mobile phones, notebooks, motherboards, servers, stations, and the list continues. Asus is designed for professionals for animations, 3D rendering, and learning.
MSI Brand
The company was established by five founders, Hsu Xiang, Huang Jinqing, Lin Wentong, Yu Xian’neng, and Lu Qilong on 4 August 1986. The company has a primary listing in Taiwan. MSI started off in Taiwan and expanded in China. It provides service globally in Europe, Australia, Asia, North and South America. MSI’s offices in New Taipei City, Taiwan are the company’s headquarters. MSI is now considered as a True Gaming brand as it is a most trusted name in gaming and eSports. It has sponsored more than 20 eSports teams worldwide and is a host of MSI Masters Gaming Arena. According to reports, MSI controls 19 percent of the gaming notebook market to become a world leader in this sector whereas other reports claimed that it controls 50 percent of the gaming notebook. MSI has earned US$5,23 billion in revenue in 2020.
MSI Motherboard Features
Tailor making their motherboards towards gaming, MSI aims to enhance the gaming experience like none other. Some premium features that MSI motherboards are equipped with are Core Boost which allows for quick and uninterrupted current delivery to the CPU at pin-point precision, advanced cooling solutions which keeps your pc at the optimum temperature for reliable performance, and Mystic Light RGB which allows full control of lights and graphics connected to your pc. Moreover, to make the installation process safe and easy, MSI motherboards come with an installed I/O Shielding system. In general, the MSI aims for its motherboard to be tailored towards gamers.
Top-of-the-line MSI motherboard available for sale in the market, MSI MEG Z490 Godlike, is the prime example of such features, with heat transfer or dissipation, overclocking ability, and core boost technology. This is likely to be the finest MSI motherboard anyone can find in the market.
Talking about graphics, the MSI MEG Z490 supports multi-way GPU setups, including two-way NVIDIA SLI and three-way AMD Crossfire technologies, enabling to run the latest games at maximum settings.
MSI Motherboards Pros
MSI motherboards are known for gaming, so the most important advantage of owning an MSI motherboard is the ability to run these high spec requiring video games on high-performance settings allowing a very high video quality and finer details. Moreover, due to the cooling technology, they are capable of running high spec games for a very long time. Besides the video output, MSI motherboards are also equipped with very high-tech audio technology, such as Nahimic audio which gives a 360 audio experience, further enhancing the gaming experience.
MSI Motherboard Cons
One of the most obvious drawbacks of MSI is the price. As the motherboards are heavily equipped with the latest tech and features, they can be pretty costly with prices going as high as $2000. Furthermore, another drawback for MSI is that they are aesthetically plain and simple, as compared to their counterparts that usually go for very stealthy designs. Also, one of the common negative opinions regarding MSI is that their tech support is relatively unreliable and sometimes the tech support wouldn’t even be able to recognize the issue themselves. One can imagine how stressful that can be after spending a decent amount of money on a motherboard.
Asus Brand
Asus is a Taiwanese computer and electronics company headquartered in Beitou District, Taipei, Taiwan, founded by 4 hardware engineers that previously worked for “Acer”. It is considered the fifth largest pc supplier since January 2021. ASUS has manufacturing facilities in Taiwan, Mexico, and the Czech Republic. The Asus Hi-Tech Park, which is located in Suzhou, covers 540,000 m square. The motherboard is one of the most produced and sold products by this Asus. It operates around 50 service sites all over 32 countries and has over 400 service partners all over the world. ASUS is considered to be one of the best motherboard brands and a top-three consumer notebook vendor.
The company is innovating new ideas for mobile trends and is developing virtual reality products along with IoT devices and robotic technology. Fortune magazine recognized ASUS as one of the World’s Most Admired Companies in 2015 and 2016. Interbrand has ranked ASUS as Taiwan’s most valuable international brand. ASUS won 4,385 awards and earned US$13.3 billion in revenue in 2016.
Asus Motherboard Features
The feature that makes Asus very advanced is that it has leveraged machine learning and artificial intelligence to optimize the user experience. This works with AI overclocking, allowing the machine to run at its maximum capacity. Moreover, this is combined with cooling systems to prevent over-heating. Furthermore, premium features include PCle 5.0 slots, which are made for advanced video cards giving an aggregate bandwidth of about 512 Gbps. Overall, the Asus motherboard is designed to withstand high-performing computer tasks, and that too for prolonged periods of time.
The latest most popular Asus motherboard is ROG Strix B-350F, which is a typical all-rounder Asus product that handles professional, personal, and gaming tasks well. With intelligent fan and air-cooling systems and PCle slots to protect vital components of the motherboard. The ROG Strix B-350 exhibits perfectly the overclocking mechanism along with system stability that Asus motherboards promise.
Asus Motherboards Pros
All Asus motherboards are designed to be resilient and hard bodied. What this means is that they have a very strong defense mechanism towards damage by heat or shearing. For example, the cooling system expels heat at an optimum rate, Safe slots to allow for stronger PCle slot retention and damage resistance, Lock mechanisms around the SSD, Safe DIMM which is a metal divider for extra support, and Q-DIMM one sided clips allowing simple and secure handling of memory modules. Furthermore, the most talked about the benefit of ASUS motherboards is the AI technology and how easily this works with the overclocking mechanism, pushing the system to its limits in a controlled and safe environment. Stability is the hallmark of ASUS, for instance, the P4T was one of the most stable motherboards ever tested. With 4 1200uF capacitors and seventeen 1500uF capacitors, 82850 MCH, and the CPU socket, combined with the unique board design, even under severe overclocking tests, the board would not crash. Moreover, Asus products, specifically motherboards, don’t usually belong in the priciest part of the catalogs. Basic models can cost around $100 and the most premium motherboards can cost up to $1500.
Asus Motherboards cons
One of the most common complaints and drawbacks when it comes to Asus products, especially the motherboards and performance systems, Is how quickly Asus releases updates. This means that sometimes the motherboard that one buys can be exquisitely outdated only 6 months down the line. Another factor that is talked about a lot is how the setup and installation of the motherboard are not suitable for beginners or even intermediate users, with some people complaining about bugs and errors after installation, while others not even being able to set up the product due to its complex structure even after coming with excessive installation guidelines. Overall, it has been shown to prove that Asus is more suitable for people with advanced level computer skill background to set up and install.
Conclusion
To conclude, Although MSI is tuned for gaming and is easy to use by the masses, even after the drawback of complex installation and setup, Asus motherboards are definitely better than MSI as the pros outweigh the cons by a mile. The main reason for this is, firstly the ability to overclock the pc to its maximum limit while maintaining the stability of the system which is further combined with the AI interface that optimizes the system to the overclocked performance. Secondly, it is suitable for anyone that requires high-performance applications, such as video editing, crypto mining, as well as gamers. Where else, the MSI counterpart is specifically assembled for gamers.
