Do motherboards have a lifespan?

[kieranmullen]

I have had ones that have lasted forever and other that have died without reason.

Latest one...
SY-7VBA133 System I replaced RAM, HD, PCI Graphics Card, Power Supply and Bios battery and the thing will still not show graphics on monitor.

Its pretty old perhaps not worth investing more time/money into it but I thought I would ask....

KieranMullen

 

[Fredstech]

Well i guess that alot of it depends on the shape it's in . How well it's been kept clean using canned air (and not a vacuum). And if it whether it's been assembled and reassembled many times. The manufacturer has a lot to do with the quality of the board some better than others.


But how long can a board actually last good question

posts anyone

 

[xmojo]

Motherboards have capacitors, which have chemical solutions inside them. Eventually these will become exhausted or deterioate because they have electrical currents passing through them. Just like dry-cell batteries, which will become useless over time and may even leak.

 

[etomasula]

Yup indeed it would seem to me that the motherboard's weakest link is its capacitors. Besides physical mistreatment, capacitors always seem to be the first to go. They start to bludge or pop and the top. They can easily be replaced if you have spares and a steady hand. . . As far as lifespan I couldn't say but brand name is the way to go if you want to keep your system so long it becomes ancient.

 

[BGP_Spook]

Caps have gotten a lot better over the years. Most you will find in computers will act up before they leak out right. So if you computer acts flaky and your motherboard is five years old then your caps may be dying.

I remember when they didn't use lithium batteries. Motherboards would die after as little as six months* because the battery that was soldered to the board had leaked acid into the motherboard's runs.

*Usually do to adverse and some what severe environment thermal cycles. Went to a school that would turn off the heat during Christmas break and AC was a joke four months out of the year.

I remember when cheap motherboards used to be made much thinner and would bend a good deal more than they do now. It was possible to install an ISA card (HA!) and bend the motherboard to the point it would break internal connections.

It is a safe bet to say that motherboards have gotten a lot more reliable since I started into computers as a hobby.

As for the OP, if you swapped out everything except the motherboard with known good components and it still won't boot then it is probably the mobo. Put that Soyo to it's well deserved rest and let the P3 die in peace.

 

[blue68f100]

Yes they do, they work up to the point they die.

In most case they die pre-maturely. The biggest culprit is electrical spikes, that you can not see. Years back it usually came through the modem, phone line. These day it's just dirty power. Alway use a high quality UPS, and protect all inputs (cable, dsl..).

 

[Bache]

I have had ones that have lasted forever and other that have died without reason.

Latest one...
SY-7VBA133 System I replaced RAM, HD, PCI Graphics Card, Power Supply and Bios battery and the thing will still not show graphics on monitor.

Its pretty old perhaps not worth investing more time/money into it but I thought I would ask....

KieranMullen

Mb's will last longer if you invest in one that has Solid Caps, ie. Gigabyte GA-965P DS3.

Now that Gigabyte has started using them, other manufacturers will start.

I think buyers would pay the little extra for solid caps, I will

 

[reconviperone1]

I had a old gigabyte board with a p3 733 in in thats has run forever, i had a socket 939 foxconn board that died in 2 weeks. I guess its build quality, and taking care of your equipment. Everyone know those gigabytes are rock solid, and usually foxconn were good(used to be leadtek and winfast), but that first batch of socket 939 boards sucked