Post by thread:[TECH] PC motherboard help/suggestions

Ordered a Supermicro C2-SBC-Q motherboard from Provantage, installed it, powered up expecting a nice splash screen on the monitor - NOTHING. Twice now have switched the P4 and memory between the new board and intermittent Intel board with same results. Intel powers up and runs Linux at least for an hour. The new board powers up the CPU fan, but even with only the power connected, an no memory or other things plugged in, not one beep. Did swap PSU's also. Checked with supermicro techies, they agree it's a MB problem, offered to RMA it. I'm going to try to return it to Provantage for refund. In 2 weeks will be in Atlanta at daughter's near Fry's store. Might take computer along and buy a MB there, maybe even let them install it. I have very seriously thought if it's something I'm doing, but seems to be either very poor products, or a very unusual situation of quality control gamble. All these motherboards show some bare copper on the bottom with small vias not filled holes, I still question is that is a a quality wave soldering job, and if I can look at the board before accepting, a reason to reject?? The Intel boards have no components on the bottom, the supermicro has some small surface mount mainly under the CPU. The older Intel boards were made in Ireland and bulletproof. The later Intel boards I have and the Supermicro were all from China. I would prefer USA made, but not likely I will find that. Trying hard to stay away from China totally. Any suggestions? On 4/11/2012 12:58 PM, V G wrote: {Quote hidden}> On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 10:23 AM, M.L.<spam_OUTmTakeThisOuTlkeng.net> wrote: > > >> Carl, I always look at Asus motherboards first. The Z68 chipset boards >> can do some amazing things and I've never had a motherboard failure >> with Asus or Abit. (Not so for Gigabyte or other cheaper brands.) >> >> >> > I don't think they have Z86 for socket 775. They do for socket 1155. > > I have an ASUS P8-P67 and Core i7 and I've never ever experienced a > motherboard failure with ASUS. I have with other bands like Gigabyte. > > You might just want to build yourself a new computer using modern > components (DDR3, AMD Bulldozer CPU, modern motherboard). It shouldn't be > too expensive actually, since I don't think you're going to be sticking a > $500 video card in there. >

On Sun, Apr 15, 2012, at 09:25 AM, Carl Denk wrote: > Ordered a Supermicro C2-SBC-Q motherboard from Provantage, installed it, > powered up expecting a nice splash screen on the monitor - NOTHING. > Twice now have switched the P4 and memory between the new board and > intermittent Intel board with same results. Intel powers up and runs > Linux at least for an hour. The new board powers up the CPU fan, but > even with only the power connected, an no memory or other things plugged > in, not one beep. Did swap PSU's also. Checked with supermicro techies, > they agree it's a MB problem, offered to RMA it. I'm going to try to > return it to Provantage for refund. In 2 weeks will be in Atlanta at > daughter's near Fry's store. Might take computer along and buy a MB > there, maybe even let them install it. > > I have very seriously thought if it's something I'm doing, but seems to > be either very poor products, or a very unusual situation of quality > control gamble. Sounds to me like the CPU is not exactly the type that the motherboard was tested for. Just because it says on the box doesn't mean it's one that has been tested to work. > All these motherboards show some bare copper on the bottom with small > vias not filled holes, I still question is that is a a quality wave > soldering job, and if I can look at the board before accepting, a reason > to reject?? The Intel boards have no components on the bottom, the > supermicro has some small surface mount mainly under the CPU. No solder on vias isn't a problem. > The older Intel boards were made in Ireland and bulletproof. The later > Intel boards I have and the Supermicro were all from China. I would > prefer USA made, but not likely I will find that. Trying hard to stay > away from China totally. Any suggestions? China is where high-tech manufacturing is done. That's just the way it is. The reasons are beyond the scope of this discussion. Have you considered changing your specifications and buying a ready-made computer with a warranty? I gave up building computers several years ago and I don't miss it. Sure, I don't have a parallel port, but I don't really need one. The one printer I needed one for uses a JetDirect box and hooks to ethernet. Best regards, Bob -- http://www.fastmail.fm - The way an email service should be

On 4/15/2012 11:53 AM, Bob Blick wrote: > > Sounds to me like the CPU is not exactly the type that the motherboard > was tested for. Just because it says on the box doesn't mean it's one > that has been tested to work. > Interesting thought, hadn't considered that. The CPU isn't anything extreme, more middle of the road, dual core P4 3Gig, 800mhz fsb, Intel #930. Now that I have dug into this situation, I believe that is correct, the older CPU is not compatible with the motherboard, and it requires the newer technology Conroe series chip. Will confirm with Supermicro Monday, and probably order a E8400 chip. The data sheet isn't super clear on this, and I thought socket type, FSB, clock, etc. was sufficient to have compatibility, but digging deeper this is not the case! Buyer beware! Getting deeper into this than really wanted, but too far gone to turn back. :( > Have you considered changing your specifications and buying a ready-made > computer with a warranty? I gave up building computers several years ago > and I don't miss it. Sure, I don't have a parallel port, but I don't > really need one. The one printer I needed one for uses a JetDirect box > and hooks to ethernet. > I have kept upgrading regularly, and couldn't see E-recycling new within the last year or so energy efficient PSU, (2) 300G sata HDD, 2 year old ATI HDTV video card. Case is old, but does good job. And I do still use many of the legacy ports. This is actually my 2nd or backup computer, but I try to keep it current also. > Best regards, > > Bob > Thanks much for the thoughts, I think you got the right item.