sold a bad motherboard

[silvergoat]

Re: sold a bad motherboard

check for the trace around the caps ..maybe the trace got damaged
i have asus P5E that have a damage trace around NB HSF screw
fixed it with wire jumper

3 asus board (P5E, Maximus Formula , P5K Premium) all fine and overclock well

Can you explain a little more about this, and how to fix problems like this if they come up....I thought I would have to do that, but the back end of the mobo looked to gooped up to even see the lines on the PCB.

I have to admit, the fact that I got it to power up tells me these boards are pretty resilient.....

[TBoneit]

Re: sold a bad motherboard

I find it odd that so many are down on ASUS motherboards. I ran one of the P4P800 series motherboards 24 hours a day for weeks at a time doing batch video encoding where the CPU is at 100% and never a problem.

My current I7 first gen motherboard and the system I built for my Brother using a second gen I7 both use ASUS motherboards and never a crash.

Maybe because I don't overclock and they have Intel chipsets? Intel boot drives and Seagate or Hitachi data drives. So far no problems. Not that I'm superstitious but knock wood for luck.

The only non Intel Processor and chipset I use is a cheapo laptop that gets used 2 or 3 times a month for online banking / Billpaying. Intel boot drive there too as I have no patience.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: sold a bad motherboard

I don't overclock.

Asus are generally under built, over priced, commonly crap caps, undersized MOSFETS, and prone to ASDS.

Should you have a problem their customer support will run you though hoops hoping you'll give up in frustration and go away vice following through with an RMA.
- It's like their standard policy.

The P4P800 series are prone to USB failure due to inadequate EMI protection on the ports.
It's actually due to a design error in the Intel chipset but it was known and should have been corrected for on the mobo.
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[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: sold a bad motherboard

I don't overclock.

Well i do. Not for competition or anything, for daily use, so it has to be 100% stable. While ASUS boards tend to reach higher clocks, they have trouble maintaining them. My current main computer is based on a Gigabyte P35-DS3. This board has been run at stupid FSB speeds and maximum NB voltage ever since i got it 4 years ago, no problem. It had a couple stupid BIOS bugs in the earlier revisions but it's been trouble free with the last, which is 2+ years old already. The bugs were only affecting overclocking btw, for a non-enthusiast they wouldn't have caused any trouble.

Admittedly, i did buy it new, and it has all poly caps.

[severach]

Re: sold a bad motherboard

I don't overclock because I only own old stuff. If I wanted my Core 2 E6300 to go faster I wouldn't overclock. I'd buy the next chip up. Overclocking only makes sense on the leading edge. If you have an i7 995x or an Phenom II X6 1100T then overclocking is appropriate. If your i7 98x is too slow then buy the next chip up.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: sold a bad motherboard

Overclocking only makes sense on the leading edge.

That, my friend, is one of the stupidest things i have ever heard. The very origins of overclocking come from getting more computing from less computer. Overclocking became mainstream with the Celeron 300A, which allowed enthusiasts to get PII performance without spending the big bucks. And that chip of yours has a lot of untapped potential - anything Conroe will overclock like mad.

[retiredcaps]

Re: sold a bad motherboard

The only time I have overclocked was back in the 8088 days. I ramped it up from 4.77 Mhz to 8 Mhz. That was the days of compiling Turbo Pascal on floppy drives.

If anything, I underclock. I use AMD dual cores and set it to underclock so I'm running about 1Ghz in power saving mode.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: sold a bad motherboard

I underclock my laptop too. But for me it's merely an extension of the existing power saving techniques - i use RMClock, clock changes are done dynamically, on demand. When i play something on my laptop, it returns the CPU to normal frequency and switches the GPU from under- to overclock.

[lti]

Re: sold a bad motherboard

On my computer, the FSB is set to a faster speed than the chipset officially supports, and it is still a lower frequency than the CPU is designed for. I have the multiplier turned up to the maximum supported by the motherboard to compensate. The computer came from the factory with the FSB set where it is now, so it is actually factory overclocked.

Unfortunately, the motherboard had to be replaced to make the computer stable.

[severach]

Re: sold a bad motherboard

Overclocking became mainstream with the Celeron 300A, which allowed enthusiasts to get PII performance without spending the big bucks.

That was the first and last processor I'm overclocking. I had two and they ran fine for several months. Then they developed problems so I had to clock them back down. Fearing the damage might be permanent I replaced the systems with the next processor up. For what I got over the small time I got it it wasn't worth it and it continues to be not worth it to this day.

Not only would I purchase the next processor up to get my overclock fixx, I'd do it a year from now when the processors are much cheaper. That's exactly what I did. I had a bunch of Dell Optiplex GX280 2.8Ghz P4 that were running perfectly fine. I didn't need any more speed. When I saw that I could get Optiplex 755 with Core 2 Duo for what I could sell the GX280 for, I jumped. Had I cared about speed I would have spent much more.

Overclocking is also fine for those who are looking for the thrill of success and agony of defeat. Don't fool yourself, the agony is part of the thrill. I want neither. I just want it to work and for the foreseeable future that means no overclocking and the "i" word.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: sold a bad motherboard

E6550 @ 3.61GHz for 3 years rock solid. I used to run it at 3.73 when i had only 2GB RAM, with 8GB the board wouldn't go as fast.

An overclocked system can be stable if you know what you're doing. Anyway, the two of us are different in more than one aspect - i avoid brand name desktops like the plague.

[TBoneit]

Re: sold a bad motherboard

I don't overclock.

Asus are generally under built, over priced, commonly crap caps, undersized MOSFETS, and prone to ASDS.

Should you have a problem their customer support will run you though hoops hoping you'll give up in frustration and go away vice following through with an RMA.
- It's like their standard policy.

The P4P800 series are prone to USB failure due to inadequate EMI protection on the ports.
It's actually due to a design error in the Intel chipset but it was known and should have been corrected for on the mobo.
.

That's interesting on the USB ports. I ran that one I had for several years with externals hooked up to the USB ports some of the time. I finally sold it on to someone and last I heard it was still running.

When you say EMI do you mean RF being picked up on the USB cable?

I will say that so far (Knock Wood) the Intel SSDs I have used in mine and my Brothers have been good. I did back them up and update the firmware for the 320 Series bug fix.

Cheers

[PCBONEZ]

Re: sold a bad motherboard

From wikipedia:
[-THE- place for semi-accurate politically correct information!]
_

Since mid-2004, the large motherboard manufacturers noticed an increased complaint ratio with motherboards equipped with ICH5. A cause was the insufficient ESD tolerance of certain ICH5 steppings.

In particular, when connecting USB devices via front panels, the chips died by discharges of static electricity. Intel reacted to the problem by shipping ICH5 with increased ESD tolerance. Effective ESD preventive measures on USB ports are difficult and costly, since they can impair signal quality of the USB-2.0 high-speed signals.

Many motherboard manufacturers [PUT ASUS HERE] had omitted the necessary high-quality safety devices for front panel connectors for cost reasons.

-

In other words Intel thought Asus [and probably some others] would be bright enough to follow the recommendations in the ICH5 TPS & Design Guide to put in appropriate ESD protections for the front USB ports, but they weren't that bright and didn't.
So, Intel had to redesign part of the chip so Intel didn't get blamed for the mobo mfrs skimping on ESD parts.

When they have that kind of cheap-down in play on a board they advertise as high quality I have to call BS!
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