Motherboards Longevities

**dune** · February 10th, 2007, 05:29 AM

Hi all.
For motherboards longevities which one is better in the world.
for example some motherboards's capacitors blow out after 1-2 years.
I've seen it before for some mobos specially some MSI mobos.
today MSI mobos are good or not ?
even for performance or longevity?
Thanks.

**NooNoo** · February 10th, 2007, 08:15 AM

I have a working pc chips m571 - supposedly the worst company for short lived hardware... but this one keeps on going.

Dune, you cannot simplify hardware like this, it just takes one bad batch of components to a ruin a manufacturer's reputation.

MSI are a good mid price range board as a rule... but everyone gets a DOA every now and then.

**Ferrit** · February 10th, 2007, 09:20 AM

Have to agree with NooNoo.
I have had a couple DOA MSI motherboards but none that went from capasitors in a number of years.

**slgrieb** · February 10th, 2007, 01:32 PM

Yes, this isn't easy to quantify. 8 or 9 years ago (When I didn't know better), I sold lots of PC Chips mainboards. In general, I found that they were either DOA, or ran forever. Unfortunately, the DOA rate was just to high to deal with.

Still, MSI, Asus, Gigabyte, Intel, and ECS have been good performers for me. I'd say a decent mainboard should last at least 5 years, but it is somewhat a matter of luck.

**[joecomp]** · February 10th, 2007, 10:05 PM

-power supply
-how the power is supplied and protected
-components and voltage etc.
etc. etc.

Anyway I'm not the old school PC builder. I'd just look for the features your looking for in a motherboard and then figure out what company expands those features and has readied some future adaptations. I don't think any one company is really the best nowadays, but I do like ASUS motherboards personally. I have a laptop still running for it's eighth year on a PC Chips board. I barely use this laptop but none the less still goes perfectly. Thats not saying much for a desktop but i think its a valid point. Also keep in mind the most expensive boards don't mean great quality. It may just mean there is a new technology involved that not many boards offer yet. I like to go with a more proven board, a board that has up to date features and no new technologies that haven't been out for more than 6 months to a years time.

**dune** · February 12th, 2007, 01:32 PM

I read all your comments.
The interesting thing is that I've had a PC-Chips motherboard also.
I'm not kidding.It was really good.
So the CONCLUSION of this thread I think is maybe "LESS IS MORE"!!!

Thank you all.

**NooNoo** · February 15th, 2007, 04:40 AM

No the conclusion of this thread is that even pc chips managed to make a few good boards - but the vast majority died the day after the warranty expired!

**Atodini** · February 15th, 2007, 07:08 AM

I've a slightly different "take" to the established opinion on capacitor failures - which kills more motherboards than most other causes IMHO. Whilst I completely concur that poor quality power supplies will do capacitors no good at all over time I'm beginning to suspect that this might not be the only reason for the failures.

I've noticed that the caps which bulge and fail are most often the caps for the voltage regulators located adjacent to the HSF. I have in front of me an K7S5A with all 4 capacitors adjacent to the HSF bulged and leaking. Needless to say this mobo is dead, it posts but is completely unstable!!! The computer has a Q-Tec branded 450w power supply which checks out correctly on my Antec PSU tester....

In this case the hot air from the HSF was vented directly over the capacitors. Most electrolytic capacitors are designed to operate at no more than 40 degrees C usually. The heat output from this processor, a 2.4 AMD thunderbird, could easily exceed that. Slow roasting might well be just as terminal to capacitors as dirty voltages methinks!

Just a thought / discuss??

John

**dune** · February 18th, 2007, 04:24 PM

Maybe, though we discuss about it because we've seen
it before some mobos working for years even as workstations or audio/video
mix/rendering or other professional jobs 24 hours a day instead of some mobos even with the same power supplies.
So, we discuss it comparatively.
But it's good if we could learn about it more & more even a little bit.
Beacause "a little bit" may help a mobo live more longer.
Sometings we cannot change like CPU fan specially Intel's seocket 478.
It's strongly bend the motherboard...

**[joecomp]** · February 19th, 2007, 03:32 AM

re: Atodini,
capacitors may raise an issue but In this instance there may be a more specific reason for an early capacitor failure, bulge or leak etc. Heat can play a role but only if there is poor air flow under the case cover. I don't think any reason can describe it better than poor workmanship(I use the word workmanship lightly), something in the process anyway(overlooked quality control). This doesn't mean the same product board will do the same as another similar model produced next in line. It may once again be a bad batch or board from the line of production. I'm sure companies must use the appropriate heat wrapping material to avoid this cause of damage and test for this purpose.

You may want to read here, it's a little hard on the eyes but a fair read for choosing a MOBO. Just change the background colour with your browser if you have such abilities.

**asm** · March 17th, 2007, 08:24 PM

The problem was one of chemistry and identified in 2002. Most motherboards made after 2004 should not be having the same problems.

http://www.niccomp.com/taiwanlowesr.htm

links covers it

**slgrieb** · March 18th, 2007, 12:45 PM

Chemistry certainly is an issue and has been addressed by the IEEE website and others as well. However, I'm seeing this as a leading cause of failure on current motherboards. My personal opinion is still that too many manufacturers are choosing to use sub-standard components just to save a few cents.

Gigabyte has never been my favorite motherboard, but I really think they should be commended for their introduction of solid capacitor boards. It's nice to see an effort to improve quality in a market dominated by price and "features".

**geoscomp** · March 18th, 2007, 06:52 PM

I've even seen a number of new boards from reputable manufacturers come in with slightly swollen caps these days..But I'm going to agree with Atodini..most of the bad caps I've seen these days are either very close do the direct heat from the HSF, or are in a position (i.e. at the bottom of a memory chip) where even a good case will have disruptions in the air flow.

**Garak** · March 21st, 2007, 07:59 AM

for capacitors issues, catch it at the right time and you'll be fine. its when the voltage for the other components is ramped up, that the damage occurs...