[clug] OT: Life-span of motherboards

[Kim Holburn]

At 6:18 PM +1100 2003/11/17, Phil and Marlene Carter wrote:
>Gday all,
>
>This is not a particular Linux question, but I'd appreciate some advice.
>
>How long can I expect a motherboard in a PC to last?

I remember, a long time ago in 1985, a friend, who was a hardware designer, telling me that the chips, after a burn in period of about 6 months, should just get better and could last a very long time.  The main problem would always be things with moving parts which can't last that long. 

But of course things have moved along since then and it's possible that the amount of heat produced in the big chips now significantly affect the chips themselves and heating and cooling cycles could affect chips boards etc and of course systems with no temperature sensors are not going to last too long when their fans die, which is basically inevitable.

>I have managed to cook 2 motherboards (in different computers) in the last couple of months. The boards were about 2-3 years old. I suppose that, given the pace of advances in computer technology, getting 2-3 years out of a computer is not all that bad, but on the other hand, I would have expected more than 2-3 years use out of a motherboard in not-too-demanding home/home office use.

Not overclocking were you?

>
>Is there anything I can do to prolong the life of my new motherboards? I don't know offhand what brand of motherboards I have destroyed, but are some boards better than others? 

Kim
-- 
--
Kim Holburn 
Network Consultant - Telecommunications Engineering
Research School of Information Sciences and Engineering
Australian National University - Ph: +61 2 61258620 M: +61 0417820641
Email: kim.holburn at anu.edu.au  - PGP Public Key on request

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