At this moment, I'd say Gigabyte offers the most reliable product. They have the lowest DOA rate at this moment, mostly due to their rigorous testing and QA. ASUS has let their QA slip. MSI has always had numerous problems with their directly sold OEM products. The rebranded boards are a bit better (since the final OEM sets the quality standards). Hint: HP pavillions use MSI mainboards.
I suspect something faulty on the board could be causing poor disk controller performance, you should do a visual inspection. You really really need to put the side cover on. Often removing it *increases* component temperature because it lowers the air pressure inside the chassis and reduces airflow over critical components. It may seem that the opposite is true, but actually what happens is heat pools up in certain areas of the system because of this misdirecting of air. Removing the side increases the number of 'hotspots' because air is no longer routed over critical components effectively, and also not flowing at sufficient pressure. You chassis has been designed with correct airflow in mind; trust me. BIOS flashes are relatively safe as long as: - your floppy drive and diskette are in good working condition,.. i often use a new diskette that has been fully reformatted a few times (the factory formats are often faulty, FYI) - your system is not reset or powered off while flashing (includes crashes from overheating, etc., so the system needs to be in stable condition) - you are able to setup your BIOS on your own (although this isn't really a problem anymore) --- In [email protected], "Rick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Thank you very much for all that info. I must first confess that the > FSB speed is due to me trying a little overclocking :-) There is an > option in the Bios to change this so I have put it back to 9 x 200 MHz > where it should be!! Would I still now need this Bios flash as have > heard of terminal disasters following such procedure? > > Which make of motherboard would you consider to be the most reliable? > > I will also address the other matters particularly the short life span > of Maxtor drives! The system is not overheating and it always runs > with the side of the case off so I can keep putting my hands in ;-) > > Rick > > "N. Thomas" wrote: > > > > Okay here's some issues I see here: > > 1) The CPU FSB should be 9 x 200 MHz. Your mainboard requires a BIOS > > flash to correctly use this CPU. > > http://216.158.218.35/edoc/bios_uploads/6741v37.zip [direct link] > > Please read the instructions before flashing! > > BIOS Version 3.7 allows for support of 3000D and 3100D Sempron CPUs, > > but this may correct your issue. (BIOS Date 3/9/2005) > > 2) Some VIA chipsets and MSI mainboard have issues with slow or > > abnormal performance. A mainboard fault could cause a sudden loss in > > performance. Inspect the board for swollen capacitors or damaged > > components. Inspect the hard drive ribbon cables for tight bends or > > exposed wire. > > 3) Maxtor 6E040L0 has know problems with overheating and unexpected > > short life span. Consider moving your drives to one larger drive. > > * WD and Seagate are recommended manufacturers. * > > 4) A faulty power supply could cause a performance issue with the > > mainboard, try a different one, observing the minimum requirements of > > your system. > > 5) An overheating system may run abnormally or slow, make sure the > > inside of your system is clean and all fans are running. Make sure > > the system isn't too close to a wall. > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Most low income households are not online. Help bridge the digital divide today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/I258zB/QnQLAA/TtwFAA/67folB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> If you have any questions or problems with any aspect of this site, please feel free to contact me directly [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please do not post personal issues directly to the group. To unsubscribe from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thank you for using A-1 Computer Tech Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/A-1-Computer_Tech/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
