How Motherboards Are Made (2019) | Taiwan Automated Factory Tour, ft. Gigabyte

We toured Gigabyte's Taiwan SMT lines and factory to show how motherboards and video cards are made from start to finish.
Ad: Buy the Corsair One i140 on Amazon (geni.us/22IWxio)
Making a motherboard mostly involves the surface-mount technology process, but DIP (dual in-line packaging) and product packaging are also important, as is the preceding product testing and EMI testing.
Note: You'd also like our EMI radiation lab tour: • GPU Radiation Testing ...
Motherboard manufacturing is a refined process, but each board still takes upwards of an hour to finalize on the assembly line. About half of the assembly is now done by automated SMT lines, with the rest being manual quality checks and large component installation (like PCIe slots). As for how to make a video card, it follows exactly the same process -- the difference is just which board is being fed through the machines on each day.
This factory is located on Nanping Road in Taiwan, about a 40-minute drive from Taipei 101. Other electronics factories and SMT lines exist predominantly in China, like in Shenzhen, but Gigabyte has shifted operations toward its Taiwan-based factory to help dodge potential incoming tariffs. The company also focuses its higher-end product manufacturing on this line.
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Host: Steve Burke
Video: Andrew Coleman
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[@GamersNexus]

Note that this process is fairly standardized, although Gigabyte has some unique tweaks they made to their machines. We made a comparison to the Z390 Godlike (an MSI board) in this video, so before that confuses anyone, note that MSI follows the same SMT line approach to boards. Gigabyte is, however, the only one doing manufacturing in Taiwan instead of China. Find our video on how PC case fans are made over here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZaTg3Z4bNR0aKs You can support our factory tours from this trip via Patreon or the store: store.gamersnexus.net / www.patreon.com/gamersnexus

[@krioni86sa]

Gamers Nexus, you are everywhere man. Thanks for the great content and take care!

[@jaywastaken]

>Taiwan instead of China You have been banned from /r/Beijing

[@TheBoltcranck]

I think moving to Taiwan looks like the best way to avoid EU-China trade taxes. ^^

[@donb6897]

"Taiwan instead of China" I can think of one country that would take offense to that distinction.

[@broken1965]

Ill take a carton of 2080ti

[@omegaelixir]

How is THERMAL PASTE made?

[@GamersNexus]

Is there interest in this from the audience? Upvote this or other topics you want us to look into. We can arrange them.

[@Nes924]

@@GamersNexus I've been seeing a lot of comments of this and I honestly agree. Loved to see how Thermal Paste is made.

[@DoomWalker42]

@@GamersNexus That would actually be cool to see how thermal paste and thermal pads are made. i assume it is more chemical lab based then factory based.

[@angryxinch8812]

Not sure about thermal paste, but liquid metal is definitely unicorn blood, Harry Potter doesn’t lie 😂

[@fredocuomo5386]

fuck yes...would love to see how thermal paste is made

[@RadioactiveLobster]

Gigabyte workers over the next several months... "Where did this 2 ft long luscious and glorious hair come from?"

[@lanceh90]

Worker: *hand slips, cutting a finger* "Jesus Christ!" Steve: "You called?" Worker: *Pikachu meme face*

[@aaronjackson5882]

Lance! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@ironmantooltime]

@Geo Thomas its the conditioner

[@jimdurt7534]

This is why I came to the comments. Any hair found in your motherboard is proof it was blessed by tech Jesus.

[@ArrizqiRamadhan]

from jisoos

[@iffy_too6465]

that wobbly keyboard at 6:32 really gets under my skin

[@MBDB666]

Love this type of Video. Full circle watching on my Gaming PC, with a Z170 Gigabyte board made in that factory.

[@D3THWaffles]

How it’s Made with your host Tech Jesus.

[@paulschmidt7473]

One of these days, Steve is going to get a hair cut and a shave, and nobody will have a clue who the "new" guy is.....

[@brandonhoffman4712]

How about a remake of California's gold, remade into technology's gold. Could get the voice down just by pinching your nose.

[@abscessedcadaver8221]

@@paulschmidt7473 I guess he's a metalhead so hair must have an special meaning to him beyond aesthetics.

[@shaneeslick]

@@paulschmidt7473 NNNNNNoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[@timothyandrewnielsen]

Tech Jesus has been eating a few too many donuts lately.

[@KeppyKep]

That automatic strapping machine at the end is strangely satisfying to watch.

[@WetaMantis]

Slap!

[@Yonex333]

@@WetaMantis It looks like a fast forward video!

[@erikhendrickson59]

It's like a box rodeo!

[@ronbo422]

I'm a U.S. field service engineer for Heller Industries, the supplier of the 1913 MK3 reflow oven shown in this video. I knew the instant you showed the exit-end of the oven, that it was one of ours. Thanks for the work.

[@chadlarson4149]

It's absolutely amazing we used to do this by hand. It's even more amazing that we figured out how to create every component down to microtransisters and make them all work in unison. A history of the progression of computer electronics would be an amazing video to make.

[@virtualpilgrim8645]

Back in the day, in school, I learned to lay down circuit traces with special tape by hand.

[@ramflow8466]

@@virtualpilgrim8645 That's crazy! Do you mind sharing what year that was? I love learning about bits of history through real people.

[@Ainalom]

I wish there was a way for me to express my love for this kind of content rather than just an upvote. Seeing how these products we use and admire daily in their starting stages and gradually grow to a completed product is so genuinely rewarding, intriguing and mesmerizing. It's like watching a magician reveal his magic trick. I absolutely loved this and I hope you guys can get invited to more facilities!! LOVE THIS - MORE PLEASE !!

[@ChronikSpartan]

This is really cool! Always great seeingb"behind the scenes". Nice video!

[@angryxinch8812]

Caught that instantly

[@ChronikSpartan]

@@angryxinch8812 on it 😉

[@LawrenceAngeloVargas]

Love these factory tours.

[@Spazik86]

Love them too. I imagine it needs to be quite a pain in the ass to get into these factories with a camera...

[@andyhutchinson987]

Was waiting to see Steve in a little blue cap, In a few months when your Gigabyte board smells of burning hair you'll know who to blame :-)

[@ssmeshedy]

This is some awesome stuff Steve... been watching all the recent tours.... massive thumbs up 👍🏼

[@txtpeer5179]

Omg i love to learn that kind of stuff ! Ty Steve !

[@suryashekhardas6299]

I absolutely love this factory tour series! Great job steve and to everybody in the Gigabyte factory! :)

[@NFMorley]

Just incredible to watch and think of how labour intensive the building of boards would be without automation (if possible at all!). Thanks Steve (and team!)

[@LiLBitsDK]

how do you think they were made in the beginning? ;-) speaking 386's 286's etc. by 486 they had a fair bit of automation but all the testing was cumbersome (think the first test station from Gigabyte)

[@aleksandersuur9475]

Of course you can do it manually, it just costs you a whole lot more, both in money and labor. When you have one off prototypes and such the boards are pretty much always made manually, setting up SMT lines for a one off is more trouble than it's worth.

[@mrslickdetailer9652]

They are done automation because of another computer.... with a motherboard. Wait how tf did they make the first motherboard??

[@Biggkenny]

Should've asked for a special one made with all the overkill fancy VRMs for your boy BuildZoid

[@LiLBitsDK]

that would be awesome :D would love a custom too but think they are somewhat expensive... but they are not impossible, dunno if Gigabyte does custom boards, but Intel does quite a bit custom

[@iwantmypot]

From all the tech channels, I think GN does the best factory tours. Accurate and informative about each step of the process. Good footage. Not obnoxious. Not much more you can ask for. Keep up the good work, Steve. High-fives for you and the rest of your team.

[@SakiSkai]

You should definitely do more of these factory tours. Amazing content, keep it up

[@emilieh4180]

where is the father board?

[@GamersNexus]

When a motherboard and fatherboard love each other very much...

[@jakeduffy2053]

It left 7 years ago and never came back.

[@teaser6089]

He sadly died a few weeks before the Child board was born :(

[@dickr9345]

He just looking milk still. He's trying to find the best deal, he'll be back!

[@scottyhaines4226]

He said he went out to get some bread... 15 years ago

[@bgtubber]

8:29 - "33.Test Diskette" lol 💾

[@Amiaaaaaaaaa]

Feminism is getting out of control.

[@sparda9060]

They call it that because its a female slot lol Needs to be tested with a mail disk being inserted into it.

[@raphaalf3952]

dont know, why im replyin to a 3 year old video but, "Diskette " is the German word for Floppy Disc, Gigabyte, being a German company probably failed to translate this particular Schematic.

[@ChrisVanMiddelkoop]

This was so cool. I love factory tours. I found it so interesting their testing setups. A+ video.

[@s1x_o]

As an SMT operator i find this even more interesting, to see similar and different ways how things are done! Thanks for the video.

[@virtualpilgrim8645]

They push buttons differently?

[@0xNamaskar]

6:30 starting a patreon to get that guy a stable work surface!

[@suryashekhardas6299]

you mean gofundme/fundraising

[@georgemorley1029]

He needs to drop the second keyboard leg.

[@Heffay]

went searching for others to notice this

[@zackb951]

Hey Steve and crew, welcome back to Taipei! Don’t let the constant rain get you down! P.S.: go grab some Din Tai Fung!

[@totalrandomtechnolog]

Congratulations to all the Gamer Nexus team, you're doing a terrific job! Also this makes us all appreciate more the work that goes into making computer parts, and electronics in general!

[@TheRealLink]

Wow Awesome! Thank you for taking the time to bring us a unique and semi-rarely seen perspective inside!

[@dtarchon]

Wow. Just imagine all the work/money that went into setting up this operation.

[@cheycheyc]

Interesting to see a board which I recently used in a pc build being actually built lol. Am i the only one who got excited seeing how the boxes got packed with the blue tape 😅

[@MikeHanson]

That application of the blue banding was hypnotic. I could watch that all day.

[@cheycheyc]

@@MikeHanson definitely. It looked like magic how the blue bands was wrapped around box lol

[@leons2004]

I can tell you’ve never worked in a factory because those things are the biggest pain in the ass.

[@michaelclark3192]

Love these videos, as someone who's worked in a few different types of factories I still find it fascinating how things are made.

[@Dreamtwister2k]

Watched a year late but man, I'm glad this video tour was made! Here's hoping that 2021 allow you guys to do more factory tours like these!

[@computerbytes01]

Considering this is one factory for a major brand - amazing how the 3080 ran out. Factory tours are awesome videos

[@colchronic]

I used to loath gigabyte like 10 years ago their quality control was abysmal. Now adays they are actually pretty good. Very neat video, basically a 3d printer on crack 😂

[@freddyng1843]

I never had any problems with Gigabyte mobos. On the contrary I loathe ASUS and ASRock mobos as several of it died within 1 year.

[@MarcABrown-tt1fp]

@@freddyng1843 Seems as per usual; every company has their slip ups. I think they are all good motherboards. features are another thing entirely.

[@danhaywood5017]

For the first time my current mobo and graphics card is Gigabyte and very pleased with the quality.

[@Daehawk]

I love Gigabyte. I really enjoyed seeing that old test bench and reading all the parts that needed testing. Thank you. I miss my old ISA slots lol.

[@ezentia5547]

You guys just revealed the 1660 (non ti) at 12:33

[@Vengir]

Everybody knows it is coming anyway.

[@anticeon]

Its about time

[@sith_happens6419]

a 1660 at 350 buck when you can just got to the 2060 for 285 buck. and have more top end room. in the long run. 1660 is a joke

[@Spazik86]

@@sith_happens6419 Exactly, why they have even made 1660 (Ti), which costs the same as more powerfull RTX 2060. No idea what is purpose of this card LOL

[@oswaldjh]

So much different than back in the 80s when I supervised 50 'parts stuffers' to feed a wave soldering machine.

[@pongisan3658]

I may of missed something but during the assembly when the workers were hand placing the thru-hole components are those wave soldered after?

[@oswaldjh]

@@pongisan3658 If it is a few components that have a large thermal mass, then hand solder. If many smaller components the bottom side SMD parts already there would need to be glued down in the previous SMD placement process prior to wave soldering.

[@zodiacr]

I like the idea of your explaining everything at the tech factories so much that I'm going to support you (channel, ppl behind the scenes too) and buy stuff from your store. Tshirt and a mug are my favourites. Thanks Steve.

[@marklamutt]

Really love this content! Fascinating to see how the components are made that we take for granted when we open the box.

[@thomasharrick]

Anyone else see the "GTX 1660" Non-Ti? I think we just leaked something here, Steve. 12:24.

[@EVPointMaster]

Does it actually say 1660 anywhere? I can't see it...

[@thomasharrick]

@@EVPointMaster Yeah, 12:24, on the box.

[@EVPointMaster]

Yeah, nvm on a big screen I can see it now. Although it's not really in focus and the bright colours are bleeding a bit. Also reviews of the 1660 are up at this point

[@Spazik86]

Who cares about 1660 shit, if you can have RTX 2060 for price of 1660(Ti).

[@firebirdude2]

In short... exactly the same way every other PCB is populated. LOL

[@mrthesquid]

This "how its made" series is pretty amazing. Thanks for the great content.

[@DanielLopez-up6os]

These factory vids are AWESOME every-time, Thanks man!

[@WhiskyLima]

Very interesting to see. I didn't realise they still had people solder parts to the boards these days!

[@davidfuller581]

More placement than soldering but yes, there's still a good deal of handwork. Bit through hole components are one of those things that are more efficient to do by hand on a mostly SMD product. If it was all through hole (this is rare in most devices at this point), there are different types of pick and place machines that also bend the leads for the through hole components and then instead of using a reflow oven, they use wave soldering.

[@ChittyBang66]

12:17 GTX 1660's just moving along.

[@happygiraffe9787]

The amount of time and effort you put to these is insane! Enjoyed the video, thank you for posting this.

[@flipfloplogic]

Thanks for the tour Steve! This was very interesting to watch. I've always wondered how mobos are made.

[@megan_alnico]

This video just makes me want my own pick and place machine.

[@peterjansen4826]

I doubt that you would still want it after having been exposed to the noise for a few days. :)

[@megan_alnico]

@@peterjansen4826 Does it "click clack whirl whirl"? "Buzz buzz zap zap"? The exhaust fan from my laser cutter was pretty bad, and the CNC machine made a loud wine. I'm pretty sure I'd could get along with this in my garage, with the appropriate head gear. Maybe..

[@peterjansen4826]

@@megan_alnico I am pretty sure that you need some ear protection. :) It is amazing how much the process has been automated, that is the only reason why motherboard are so cheap, for now. We might get problems when we have wasted too much metal and not properly recycled it.

[@neon_necromunda]

It's come a long way since I used to make msi motherboard's

[@neon_necromunda]

Everything was processed by hand except the trace line's each PCB layer was done individually. We then sent the motherboard PCB to msi for the components to be machine installed and soldered etc..

[@teaser6089]

How much did you guys do by hand in those days?

[@dubberzify]

Really enjoying these factory tours, i hope they are real content winners for you as i want to see more!

[@muttBunch]

Steve, thank you for this adventure. This is insane. Loving it

[@andymiranda1036]

Somewhere a lucky gamer is going to find a strand of tech Jesus hair soldered onto their motherboard and thus actually be reliable

[@CallMeTonyga]

Did you get any cool souvenir? Like a blank board with traces?

[@SolomanTiger]

These factory tours and "how stuff is made" videos are awesome, heading to the store now!

[@4.0.4]

These videos are awesome! Hope more companies agree to tour you so nicely.

[@ccgert]

6:30 Is it just me or did the rocking keyboard while the tech was using it bother you as well?

[@dongurudebro4579]

1 day Latency to move just one row!? No wonder that i have problems ocing my memory on Gigabyte boards! ;-)

[@teaser6089]

Just imagine if you would have actual one day latancy. My dad had to program for the Dutch gouverment once. But programmers were pretty expensive(this was 20 years ago) so my dad had to write the code on a piece of paper and an other person wrote that code into the computer, cause that person costed less per hour. So my dad had to deal with an one day latancy in a sense, cause he could only see his code in action a day later to see if it all worked.

[@dongurudebro4579]

@@teaser6089 wow thats bad! ^^ Well the goverment and IT is just broken...

[@Dreamtwister2k]

Wow! Thanks Steve! Really amazing video. Very cool to watch how everything is assembled. Awesome content. 👏🏽

[@Cardcitysports]

This is some really interesting stuff! As always thank you for the great content GN team!

[@NeoChromer]

4:00 Is that real time speed.. holy shit..

[@GamersNexus]

Yes! It's very fast!

[@NeoChromer]

@@GamersNexus We are so screwed when they rise up..

[@1pcfred]

@@GamersNexus it would have been nice to hear how many millimeters per second they were traveling. With CNC travel speed is a thing. Acceleration is a big thing too. How fast the axis gets going fast. Those machines were running balls out.

[@CuteLittleMiku]

Z390 Godlike is an MSI board though....you mean Xtreme right... gigabyte doesn't like this mistake.

[@GamersNexus]

We've seen a lot of factories in the last 2 weeks. Like 4 per day. Sorry! To be fair, it's the same process for MSI motherboards.

[@CuteLittleMiku]

@@GamersNexus that's fine... gigabyte might not like this...we don't care... actually I think gigabyte and us just all don't care...

[@timserious7678]

U from Gibabyte ?

[@GamersNexus]

@Scooby Dooby Neither of them really care at all.

[@Noise-Bomb]

Scooby Dooby Well I can just draw from my personal experience but all my gigabyte boards were bulletproof to this day. And that's with heavy oc over long periods. Can't complain over gigabyte.

[@lknanml]

AWESOME video. Love these mini docs/how it's done clips.

[@BuzzKiller23]

I'm loving these factory videos. Keep it up guys!

[@gloeckle]

6:33 that keyboard makes me cringe!

[@dylanwebber763]

I can never unfeel the horror I just felt

[@electronicrescue]

this cannot be unseen :)

[@mintydog06]

It wound me up too, I could not work with that thing.

[@predatortheme]

You guys would be surprised how old and legacy some manufacturing machines look when it comes to the displays/keyboards/mouse

[@bashoot]

its cuz the environment is filthy and nobody cares about how premium their keyboard is, its disposable.

[@Ray2001ify]

But that wobbly keyboard

[@TigTex]

This is some high quality content and very interesting for PC enthusiastics. Keep them coming!!

[@ALaz502]

Best PC hardware channel on KZbin. No bullshit, only good info and hot takes. Although I find it hilarious how Steve literally looks like he's in pain every time he smiles. 😂

[@umeng2002]

Which machine installs the buggy and broken BIOSes?

[@kishenpankhania363]

I think the same one which caused a bios update to send 1.5+ volts into first gen ryzen cpu's and fry them

[@snauspockets9924]

I have three Aorus boards and all work and OC flawlessly. Guess I am just lucky...

[@kishenpankhania363]

@@snauspockets9924 reading reviews on boards I've found that there are the most complatints about reliability on Gigabyte boards then any other, but given how many they make I doubt its actually that many that are defective

[@Amiaaaaaaaaa]

@Kishen Pankhania Wasn't there one that sent like ~1.74 volts? (idk I have only heard this from a person I know and he uses a Z87 w/ 4690k I think).

[@snauspockets9924]

A friend of my brother's plumber once told my ex fiance's sister's baby-sitter that a gigabyte board burned his house down....pass it on!

[@Whisperblade]

I had to laugh when you mentioned the waranty card inclusion in the box, Gigabyte warranties are useless (In Australia unless you can actually speak Chinese and call Taiwan support).

[@tzuyd]

Absolutely. Gigabyte Aus are shysters.

[@g00rb4u]

Maybe that's your problem, using mainland Mandarin dialect when calling Taiwanese territory.

[@Pabula]

Impressive video and very interesting tour, thanks for sharing it.

[@thec4ke]

These are awesome, I'd love to see more factory tours!

[@theeskimo9875]

Gigabyte should improve their bios before making motherboards

[@thelittledetailscr7231]

I have a z390 board from gigabyte. Bios seems fine to me. 5.2ghz oc on 8086k.

[@megapet777]

@@thelittledetailscr7231 5 mhz is not that much xD

[@thelittledetailscr7231]

@@megapet777 lol you get what I'm sayin

[@jayr55555]

I was just about to comment that. There bios is so outdated and needs improvement...

[@KingHalbatorix]

navigating a gigabyte bios is like running through a labyrinth while blindfolded and tied together at the ankles I'm happy with the hardware but god *DAMN* do I miss the bios from my old asus board

[@Mr_Spock512]

Where are the Allen wrench and tweezers? Really disappointed ... hope they screwed with confidence at least.

[@benbmusic88]

Loving these factory tours!

[@iangorham2247]

These factory tours are super interesting, to the point where I explicitly went out to buy some merch to support this - Keep it up!

[@omegaelixir]

Yeah, he can finally stop using parts from ancient Egypt

[@killersberg1]

Was it a requirement to say "Skilled workers"?

[@fckinnonstick9919]

Asus ROG boards next Pls. :)

[@aaaarrrg3773]

"How it's Made" can suck it. This is by far the best walkthrough on board manufacturing I've seen.

[@TheMangoAssassin]

I'd love more of these 'How it's made' style videos. Keep it up GN

[@adjoho1]

THAT'S OFF IT"S HEAD. Gamers Nexus leading the pack YET AGAIN.

[@spaghettikink1998]

12:20 I spy an unreleased GPU...

[@gamamew]

At least it's a 6GB card, not like the crappy 1060 3GB

[@thevortexATM]

awesome! love this kind of behind the scenes content!

[@jsbedard]

Great description job, kudos Steve and team!

[@lashyndragon]

"Gigabyte has moved a tremendous amount of manufacturing to Taiwan" 😏 Ah yes, good ole China tariff war

[@MarkHsiehAisinjuro]

Taiwan and Thailand are two different countries. This is made in Taiwan.

[@lashyndragon]

@@MarkHsiehAisinjuro I meant Taiwan. Thaiwan is a hidden country like Wakanda. You've probably never heard of it pssshhh

[@danielson_9211]

Blah still owned by China, remember when Clinton sent a carrier over there and China threw a fit and told the USA go ahead and try it, then the USA backed down?

[@WetaMantis]

@@lashyndragon Elbonia too, though they only export mud.

[@Shineinpoverty]

Ah, Taiwan, best China.

[@wanaraz]

For me this is one of the best video's ever on youtube.

[@SirNickyT]

I love these videos. I don't know why but they're almost therapeutic for me.

[@0FFICERPROBLEM]

Hey *Gamers* Nexus! What are all these technical in depth looks at factories and crazy OC labs in Asia huh? Shouldn't you be talking about Fortnite skins and visiting the Doritos and Mountain Dew factories?

[@romansh1357]

This is what we all need more this is great video !

[@war77el]

[12:37] 😂 The only station with VIGOROUS automated action. THAT was satisfying. AWESOME tours being done! Steve and the crew picking up the slack of "How It's Made" & "How Do They Do It" 🤔👍

[@BramSLI1]

Excellent reporting, Tech Jesus! This is why I subscribed!

[@danw3735]

Thanks Gigabyte for giving me years of problem free computing. my preferred m/b and vid card maker, cheap and reliable mostly.

[@Map_of_Your_Head]

loving these factory tours

[@freelancer1499]

I know it is late but this is Solid content bruh! Love the insider looks!

[@fleptronic]

Dude, your content is so good, it's ridiculous. Kudos!

[@MageThief]

Really interesting video, hope that you have more videos like this in the works.

[@johnsmartt1993]

Dude this is awesome that your making these videos ive always wanted to see that

[@JesseGunter]

I work at a PCB factory, we got a lot of the same SMT line machines. NXT, Eberhard, etc. Solder pots, relay machines, connector machines, wiring harnesses, all sorts of fun stuff.

[@rospincasocl3741]

Why is it so incredible satisfying to watch fully automated processes?!?!