Hi all, i ordered a Asrock G31M-GS after it was recommended from you guys. But when it was delivered this morning they sent me the Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L instead, i can use this mobo as it has the same socket/chipset. The gigabyte is a little more in price, It does only support 4Gb ram, but that is plenty for me, my question is, is the Gigabyte a better board or should i stick with the Asrock?

Where did you order from? Substitutions shouldn't happen without an OK. Both brands are about equal. If anything, the Gigabyte may have a little better reputation. The only difference I can see is the Asrock claims to support 1600FSB in overclocking mode. I don''t know if that is a real difference or not because the BIOS options are what determine the overclock abilities and both brands are known for their OC options. You mention the Gigabyte is more money. Is the vendor asking you to pay more? Who did you order from?

Who recommended a G31 board?

from what i see and hear i would say more people would think gigabyte was better than asrock. i dont know if its true but i have seen it said that asrock is asus and it is stuff that asus dont want to put their good name to. does anyone know if that is actually true?

I ordered it from overclock.co.uk and they have not asked for the extra money, only about £7uk. it was Cobra R that said the asrock was good budget board as i want to pair it with a E5200.

I have also been told that Asrock is a BASIC version of Asus.

hi overclock (not to be confused with overclockers) have a caveat in their terms "2.4 If the vendor cannot supply the goods ordered by you, the vendor reserves the right to offer goods of equal or superior quality at no extra cost. If you do not wish to accept the alternative goods offered, you may cancel the order." they still should have contacted you, call them, i'll bet they have no asrock g31 left, as its last years stock, no body is holding stock. the gigabyte is vista compatible , nice! , for later upgrade maybe win7 at a later date. whatever dont worry check your proof of delivery check there is a guarantee ie 12 month warranty, if so dont worry. If your still concerned ring CAB, ask about statutory rights. btw asrock is a brand owned by Asustek i personally use a few (mid price £40-50) of them, not had any issues, ok for desktop office use, asrock are moving into the upper end of the mobo market, it remains to be seen what the quality/price is, but i wont be buying £200 mobos total waste of cash imo.