Listing of parts for Motherboards?

E

EINREB

Member
I am looking to build a new computer and need advice. (Sounds familiar?) I have build 2 new ones in five years. In that time period, of five motherboards ordered, I had to return 4, (The other working one I bought in a computer store), recently I had to do it with 3 of out of 3. They just do not work out of the box, and I do not know enough about them to figure out what was wrong with them. The last one I returned was deader than the proverbial door nail, the fans would not even run! (and it was not the power supply.) Don't the manufacturers not even do the simplest tests on them before shipping them out? It makes me gun shy as far as MOBOs goes. The question is, are their brands that you should stay away from because of poor Quality Control?
What I am looking for also is somewhere available, but I can not find it. That is a comparison of Motherboards of one brand in table form, where they list the model number, its main specs and features and CPUs that will work in those boards. Some of the members have given me links to that information in some of the posts I have placed, and they were of great help, but they were for specific model boards. I wonder how they were able to find the information so that I can do the same for other boards I am interested in.
Any comments or suggestions?
 
Intel_man

Intel_man

VIP Member
just don't buy the bottom of the barrel motherboards on the cheapest chipset out there and you should be fine. Set sights for a particular chipset, look around for the ones with the most reviews. Read most of them and filter out what they say and see if it's an underlying issue with the board or if the guy just had bad luck or didn't know what the hell he was doing.

Be sure to read reviews from multiple sources/sites.

mobo quality varies depending on the particular chipset/socket and the specific model. Can't really blanket cover any brand as terrible.
 
E

EINREB

Member
Intel_man said:
..........mobo quality varies depending on the particular chipset/socket and the specific model. Can't really blanket cover any brand as terrible.
Click to expand...

I am not really trying, that is why I asked that question. The two MoBos in question happen to be from MSI, one worked after being replaced, (MSI 880GM-P51) the other one I have to return as yet. ( MSI 970A SLI Krait Edition). I have no idea what kind of chipset they are using or what I am looking for.
The goal is to get an reasonable fast system for General and Internet use, I am not interested in any kind of games. (If I was, I would probably buy an dedicated game computer, like a PlayStation, or XBox)
To have those tables will help to make a decision what to chose of the many variations that are available to the builder for a particular MoBo.

Following is a link to a kind of table I am looking for. This one is for the MSI 970A. I like to get a way to get information on other, as yet to be determined, MoBos.

https://www.msi.com/file/test_report/TR19_3395.pdf

I still don't know which chipset this board uses and what it signifies, but at least I could chose the processor I wanted to use.
 
Intel_man

Intel_man

VIP Member
If you're looking for AMD products, you're best to ask @Darren. He's the resident AMD fanboy here.

But as for using those types of tables to look for, that only tells you what processor is "supported" for that motherboard. It doesn't go beyond that. What you mentioned about having doa mobos and unreliability stems from very economical motherboards.

I guess the first question for you to start things off is, what processor are you planning on buying? I can walk you through the process I mentioned above once we have the foundation planted (ie. picking the processor). A total budget helps too.
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Check to make sure your standoffs are in the correct places. Motherboard shorting out against the case is number 1 issue.
 
Laquer Head

Laquer Head

Well-Known Member
There is no way that one person can have that many defective boards.. It is 99.998% chance that you are doing something incorrect, as the end user.. Nobody can be that unlucky!
 
E

EINREB

Member
beers said:
If you're blowing through that many mainboards then you're doing something wrong.
Click to expand...

With a brand new installation, I do the following before I even mount the board in the case to see what works.

1. I have an harness from an old case that has an ON/OFF and a RESET button with associated LEDs. I use that as controls and connect it to the MoBo.
2. Without adding anything to the board, no memory, no drives, etc. I connect the MoBo to a known good power supply.
3. I connect a Fan to a system fan connector. (Or use the Processor fan.)
4. I switch the system ON.
5. I listen for any beeps. I should hear at least one.
The fans (PSU + SYS) should run. This indicates that the board switches on. I had cases where this did not even happen.

From here on, I add the peripherals one by one, or if I feel confident, a few at the time. (Everytime switching off the computer) First the memory, then the Display. I can see now the BIOS coming up. (I had boards failing here.) I can see what is working or not.
Then I add the Drives, (HD and DVD), Keyboard and Mouse. I can see now if the BIOS detect these components. ( I had failures here)
If all works, the computer should be working now.

If I do something wrong, or neglect something, I like to hear it the opinion of the members. I have put several computers together using the above procedure, but I do not do it very often, and had my share of failures.

---------------------------------------------
In regard to my original question, maybe I should just notice what members list in their postings what they use, and then, if I like it, duplicate what they have. In that way I do not have to try to find out what will work together and what not.
 
beers

beers

Moderator
Staff member
EINREB said:
1. I have an harness from an old case that has an ON/OFF and a RESET button with associated LEDs.
Click to expand...
Don't. Different boards can have different pinouts
EINREB said:
2. Without adding anything to the board
Click to expand...
EINREB said:
5. I listen for any beeps. I should hear at least one.
Click to expand...
Without a cpu you will likely not get anything for post or diag beeps. I don't get why you want to power it on with nothing installed.
EINREB said:
If I do something wrong, or neglect something, I like to hear it the opinion of the members.
Click to expand...
You need to revise your entire building procedure.
 
Laquer Head

Laquer Head

Well-Known Member
I feel like the OP is putting way too much thought into assembling a PC and then further relying on old switches and random processes to make a 1 hour job into a catastrophe, repeated over and over.

A basic tower is like, what 7-8 pieces, really doesn't need the amount of prep and thought that seems to be happening.
 
E

EINREB

Member
beers said:
Don't. Different boards can have different pinouts
Click to expand...

I follow the pinouts as indicated in the instruction manual. Most boards have at least two NO switches and 2 LEDs available.( ON/OFF - RESET switches, ON/OFF-HDD leds)to be used with the tower you use. Some have connections for a external speaker, too.
My harness has individual pin outs on the leads, not a fixed connector.

beers said:
You need to revise your entire building procedure.
Click to expand...

Give me a suggestion how to do it. That is what I was asking for in my posting.
 
Laquer Head

Laquer Head

Well-Known Member
EINREB said:
I follow the pinouts as indicated in the instruction manual. Most boards have at least two NO switches and 2 LEDs available.( ON/OFF - RESET switches, ON/OFF-HDD leds)to be used with the tower you use. Some have connections for a external speaker, too.



Give me a suggestion how to do it. That is what I was asking for in my posting.
Click to expand...

Stop using a crappy old harness first off.

Install your cpu to the board, cooler, ram, put i/o shield into case, install the standoffs, install the board, install psu, connect..see if it posts!

Worst case scenario you have to remove what 9 little screws...but seriously you are way overthinking this process of building a PC

You should be able to throw a build together and be installing the O/S in under an hour for most regular systems (obviously custom wiring, WC loops etc take their time)
 
mistersprinkles

mistersprinkles

Active Member
You're doing something wrong. You are either killing these boards yourself or you are not skilled enough to diagnose computers that don't want to post, or both.

I have built approximately 30 computers. Do you know how many DOA motherboards I've had? Zero. I had one board die on me after 8 months. A good board. Asus P5K Premium (P35). It blew a mosFET. Other than that I have gotten every other board to post. You are doing something wrong. I have built with the CHEAPEST and most expensive boards. Never had a DOA board.

It's definitely you.
 
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