Is there a list of Socket A motherboards which are immune from the plague

[p9142]

Moderators, if this is posted in the wrong area please move it.

I just found out that my motherboard has the plague. I thought it was rust or something until I came to this site which has such a wealth of knowledge about the issue. I am considering re-capping, but would rather just buy a new socket A board. I noticed that there are quite a few Socket A boards on ebay up for sale, and was wondering if there was a list somewhere of boards which didn't suffer from the shoddy capacitors. If anyone has a link to a list please post it here.

[p9142]

Re: Is there a list of Socket A motherboards which are immune from the plague

For anyone else that is interested in this question, it looks like the Abit NF7-M is a good Socket A board. From this review I saw this:

Something I was extremely happy to see was that the NF7-M was only using Rubycon capacitors, nothing else.

[shadow]

Re: Is there a list of Socket A motherboards which are immune from the plague

This is a really difficult question. The main problem is that the capacitors used often different in each revision of the board. Some manufacturers just seem to use what is on hand at that time.

So you can compile a list of good capacitor Socket A motherboards, however many times there will be good capacitors on 'bad boards'.

Having said this, I heard that Abit is good too. Oh and avoid Gigabyte with motherboards from around that time. There is an extremely high possibility that it will have Choyo and Supacon capacitors on it. I know because I am running on one now! It has lasting me five years so far with bad capacitor brands . Still going strong!

[p9142]

Re: Is there a list of Socket A motherboards which are immune from the plague

Thanks for the reply. Is there a certain vintage where the problem is more prevalent. I tried running some searches for mobos with kt333 or earlier chipsets and found tons of bad boards. However when I search for mobos with kt880 I don't see any troublemakers.

[kc8adu]

Re: Is there a list of Socket A motherboards which are immune from the plague

that abit was likely the best socket a mobo ever.
was made after abit went thu the badcap fiasco.
as far as boards immune to the plague its a crapshoot.
best bet is just recap a otherwise good mobo and forget it.

[gg1978]

Re: Is there a list of Socket A motherboards which are immune from the plague

I've got an Abit NF7-S V 2.0.. AFAIK all of them had good caps.. I also have 3 Asus A7n266VM/AA's, and all the caps on them are good too..

[starfury1]

Re: Is there a list of Socket A motherboards which are immune from the plague

no world of experience on the best or worst motherboards made do I have
but yeah your question might (as suggested) be better to look for a decent made reliable board from that period which has the options your after and then if it is subject to badcaps replace them or sent it out to be recapped
(depends on where you are)

I dont think any MB makers was untouched by the badcap fiasco.

TC does I think mentions the worst period of this on the website somewhere.
(the legend is, a stolen half baked formula was unleashed on cap makers)
(and if they weren't crap caps before they are now with this crap in them)
1999 2003 something like that

Seen your other post , if it was me Id recap if you are happy with the system.

Cheers

[WNG]

Re: Is there a list of Socket A motherboards which are immune from the plague

I have an Abit NF7-S V 2.0, it's my main system. All good caps. A great board.
You can also try posting the question to:
http://www.socketaplus.com/

[p9142]

Re: Is there a list of Socket A motherboards which are immune from the plague

Thanks for all the great replies everyone. I have decided to go with a new board since I need SATA anyway. Does anyone know about the ECS N2U400-A? Right now my options are:

ECS N2U400-A (refurbished)
MSI KT880 Delta (used)
Abit NF7-M (refurbished and expensive)

I haven't seen anyone complain about the plague in any of these boards.

[p9142]

.

[starfury1]

Re: Is there a list of Socket A motherboards which are immune from the plague

well again never used any of the above
but if by "refurbished" you mean recapped with good caps
(if needed and it wouldn't hurt anyway)
KC8's opinion and a few others around here I hold in high regard

Abit from reviews I read in the past they do have very good ones
when I was looking around at the time an Abit
(not sure of the model now)
was one on the short list
I ended up with Gigabyte cause I got a good deal price wise on it

so money wise even if its a bit $$$ its probably the one Id go for.

BTW the SATA is the older spec but doubt you'll notice any real world difference
and I am guessing any from that period will be SATA 150

it seems to be a sort after MB
US Ebay one mob has 9 them for us $90
but I dont like some of thier feedback
Ebay of course is
"let the buyer beware"

As I said I have no personal experience with any of the above
just my personal preference

[tazwegion]

Re: Is there a list of Socket A motherboards which are immune from the plague

Are you going to be overclocking? AFAIK the KT880 wasn't as good OC'ing as nForce chipsets, not a big fan of ECS (personally) so I'd go with the MSI/Abit platform

FYI... I just grabbed a MSI KT333 Ultra out of a stockpile here, and they were fitted with what looks like HJ Panasonic's, Nichicon HM's & a sprinkling of 1000uF 6.3v Teapos

[tazwegion]

Re: Is there a list of Socket A motherboards which are immune from the plague

Quick post script...

Newegg have new/refurbished PC Chips socketA motherboard for $41.00 USD, but it'd still be more economical to get your original motherboard recapped me thinks

[p9142]

Re: Is there a list of Socket A motherboards which are immune from the plague

Are you going to be overclocking? AFAIK the KT880 wasn't as good OC'ing as nForce chipsets, not a big fan of ECS (personally) so I'd go with the MSI/Abit platform

FYI... I just grabbed a MSI KT333 Ultra out of a stockpile here, and they were fitted with what looks like HJ Panasonic's, Nichicon HM's & a sprinkling of 1000uF 6.3v Teapos

No, actually I'm trying to underclock and use this system as a PVR. I'm not sure if the KT880 will give problems underclocking as well.

[starfury1]

Re: Is there a list of Socket A motherboards which are immune from the plague

Looks like an interesting project
forgive the noob question here but what the advantage of underclocking? heat noise?
never really looked into it but The thought has passed my mind
since most pvr's dont have networking abilities (well none that I know of)

Sounds like a good project thread actually

[shadow]

Re: Is there a list of Socket A motherboards which are immune from the plague

The main advantage is that heat output is much much lower. Therefore it is possible to have one nice slow moving (and almost silent) fan cooling the CPU. It can also significantly lower the overall ambient temperature within the case, therefore less (or ideally no) case fans are required. Most PC's used in this sort of purpose only have two fans, the CPU fan and the power supply fan.

This is very important with equipment around the entertainment area (TV, HI-FI etc.) since fans and moving parts cause noise. Extra ambient noise is usually undesirable.

[Junk Parts]

Re: Is there a list of Socket A motherboards which are immune from the plague

I vote for the Abit! Even if it has bad caps its worth fixing Mate. Very nice boards. I had the old Abit VL6 with the crap caps. Give Kc8adu a PM. He may have something in stock and done he could sell you. He recapped my Dell PSU and did a most wonderful job of it too.

[kc8adu]

Re: Is there a list of Socket A motherboards which are immune from the plague

I vote for the Abit! Even if it has bad caps its worth fixing Mate. Very nice boards. I had the old Abit VL6 with the crap caps. Give Kc8adu a PM. He may have something in stock and done he could sell you. He recapped my Dell PSU and did a most wonderful job of it too.

nothing on hand right now.
had an nf7 but our shop pc tech nabbed it.
maybe tc has something on hand.

[dood]

Re: Is there a list of Socket A motherboards which are immune from the plague

Anything you recap is effectively immune from badcaps

Let me see what I have... are you looking for microATX? I may actually have one done already.

[p9142]

Re: Is there a list of Socket A motherboards which are immune from the plague

Looks like an interesting project
forgive the noob question here but what the advantage of underclocking? heat noise?
never really looked into it but The thought has passed my mind
since most pvr's dont have networking abilities (well none that I know of)

Sounds like a good project thread actually

Underclocking results in power savings. It is a good idea for the eco-conscious out there. For a PVR, the thing will probably running at all times, so saving power is a good idea. I think I am going to have to ditch the Socket A becuase I can't figure out how to undervolt and underclock on the fly like you can with the new chips. Plus upgrading to a newer AMD chip + board is just as cheap as getting a decent Socket A on Ebay.