IntroductionWhen it comes to budget motherboards, the first brands that come to mind are Mingxuan, Meijie, and Onda, often referred to as “sister brands.” The first two share a lot of similarities in their products, with only differences in color patterns and product names. Onda, while having a distinct design, also focuses on cost-performance ratio.Budget brands are not limited to these; Galax also has a stake in this market. Most budget brands adopt a “copycat” approach, using products made by others and simply rebranding them, while making slight modifications to patterns and BIOS interfaces. They lack true innovation and have a strong OEM vibe. Colorful follows a similar path, but due to its massive sales, its motherboards are classified as mid-range, even surpassing ASUS in sales (graphics cards are considered high-end).These brands generally have BIOS that is not very versatile, making them suitable for regular consumers who prefer not to tinker with settings. (In short, they are user-friendly for the average person.)Affordable Prices with Basic QualityThe essence of budget brands lies in their affordability. When comparing similar products (user experience is often subjective), the price is usually lower.For example, the Mingxuan H410M-Terminator motherboard, advertised with “10 phases” of power supply, is priced at only 379 yuan on Taobao, which is actually a price increase after it gained popularity (it was previously 359 or even lower). Despite its unremarkable appearance, it feels like a good deal.The price of the Onda H410SD4 is also only 379 yuan, and it features metal reinforcement strips everywhere. This H410 motherboard, priced under 400 yuan, even has “gold-plated” memory slots.This Galax B460 motherboard, while not visually appealing, is also very affordable, with a price not exceeding 399 yuan according to Tmall sellers, and it’s a B460 model~These motherboards can be even cheaper when bundled with CPUs, and they seem to offer more interfaces than first-tier brands of the same level. Full-speed M.2 interfaces are standard, and the Mingxuan Terminator even has two (one of which only supports SATA), with complete back I/O interfaces and decent power supply (especially the first two H410s). For consumers who prefer not to tinker, they are indeed a good choice, offering high cost-performance and practicality, highly recommended (I personally recommend the Onda H410SD4).Inconsistent Marketing ClaimsBudget brands generally lack rigor in their marketing claims, often filled with loopholes or errors. Manufacturers seem unconcerned about this; if you’ve chosen them, it indicates you’re not someone who enjoys tinkering, and these errors won’t significantly impact your experience.For instance, the new Mingxuan MS-B460 Terminator was initially described as having 5 SATA interfaces, but later in the specifications, it changed to 4 (it is actually 5). The ALC662 chip is correctly described as 5.1 channels, but Mingxuan incorrectly states it as 6 channels (if counting the subwoofer, it indeed sums to 6 channels, but such wording is generally avoided in marketing).Moreover, budget manufacturers often use casual wording in their product descriptions, adhering to the principle of “as long as you can understand it.”I often wonder why budget manufacturers have so few products each generation; why not just build content properly instead of being so casual?Misleading Product DescriptionsThe main issue with budget manufacturers is the inaccurate descriptions of “CPU power phases,” which is a critical parameter.How can this be 8 phases? At most, it’s 6 (for CPU cores) + 1 (for integrated graphics) + 1 (for the controller); they can only claim 7 phases in marketing, and only those who don’t understand will count the inductors.This is not 10-phase either; it’s at most 6 (for CPU cores) + 1 (for integrated graphics) + 1 (for the controller), and they can only claim 5 phases in marketing.Moreover, the marketing of VGT power supply (for integrated graphics) is misleading; who cares about the design of integrated graphics power supply? When paired with a discrete GPU or an F-series CPU, this phase of power supply becomes irrelevant. They boast about the 4 MOSFETs but fail to mention the CPU core MOSFETs, which are likely only 3.Lack of Peripheral SupportBudget manufacturers are notably lacking in peripheral support. On one hand, they lean towards flashy designs, while on the other hand, their integrated sound cards and network cards are quite disappointing.For instance, the ALC662 sound card; how many low-end boards from first and second-tier manufacturers (excluding Colorful) still use this level of integrated sound card? Moreover, budget manufacturers even use this for their mid-range and high-end boards. Other manufacturers typically use ALC887, ALC892, or ALC1200 for their entry-level boards; where do you still see ALC662? The integrated network card is also the old RTL8111, and it’s frustrating that you can’t even tell whether it’s RTL8111E, RTL8111F, or RTL8111H. While other manufacturers’ entry-level boards all use RTL8111H, many low-end products have started using Intel i219-V, and mid to high-end models are transitioning to 2.5G network cards.I was initially shocked, thinking that the new flagship motherboard from this brand used a server-grade 10G network card. But upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the common Intel i219-V. Is this flagship sound card really ALC892?Currently, budget brands cannot be overly trusted to genuinely achieve “low price and high volume”; after all, they need to make a profit. Can you really have both low prices and high volumes? Not very realistic~ Overall, their cost-performance ratio may be slightly higher than first and second-tier brands, but the details do not hold up under scrutiny; as long as they work, that’s good enough.In conclusion:Buy your computer from the Computer Bar review studio’s Taobao storeStore link:Copy this message, ￥jGYUc8WT8Z7￥, to the 【Mobile Taobao app】 to viewIf you enjoyed this article, remember to give it a thumbs up!Welcome to join the official Computer Bar group: 820217939Welcome to the second-hand hardware exchange group: 819905492Follow us on Bilibili @Computer Bar Review Studio, @Wing King or Weibo @Jian Zhen JZ, @DDAA117
