On Friday February 7 2003 09:11 pm, David E. Fox wrote:
> > A few weeks ago I had a memory module, a 512MB DDR-333MHz (from
> > Seitec?), replaced because it gave troubles to the GA-7VRXP
> > mother board I had then.
>
> My first guess would be faulty / shoddy SIMM modules. Tell your
> vendor you want Crucial memory at least for starters. They're
> supposed to be among the best. I am not familiar with your
> motherboard so I'm not aware of SIMMS vs. motherboard issues.
>
> It is highly unlikely that it would be anything linux related but
> linux does tend to stress components more than Windows does,
> especially in processor-heavy things like compiling. If you do have
> shoddy RAM, that's one place where it is likely to show up first.
>
> > Ed Vaessen
For several years (increasingly since ~1998), there's been a
tendency by some mother board and PSU vendors to use slightly
cheaper, but very substandard capacitors, and other parts on their
boards and in their PSU's. Abit has long been the worst offender,
with 10 to 15%, and recent 21+% DOA or failure rates. But since last
fall, MSI, Asus, and Gigabyte (the board involved), several others,
have also had high failure rates due to faulty caps and other
problems.
The last three vendors I mentioned have long had a good solid
reputation, but for those who thoroughly investigate boards just
before building a system, they've fallen into the unacceptable or
chancey category. IME, it's also the reason cheap boards, ECS, PC
Chips (sold under 20+ brand names), and the like should be avoided.
Motherboard and PSU are the very foundation of any system, and this
is the very worst place to start out skimping or taking chances.
Ed's point is also very important. Care should be taken to only
buy high quality ram modules. Good ones are Crucial, Samsung,
Corsair, Mosel Vitelic-Siemens, and a few others. Also generic
modules that claim to use ram chips from suppliers I've cited should
be avoided. The quality and design of the pcb the chips are on is
equally as important as the chips used on it. The same is true for
the quality and design of the motherboard the ram sticks are used on.
All three have to be top quality, for good reliable ram performance.
The whole subsystem is gonna be no better than the weakest link.
As to PSU's, whether for an Intel, AMD system, or other Cpu
system, I'd suggest only using those that AMD recommends. Most all of
'em will also have the needed Intel P4 connector.
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_869_4348^4376,00.html
Now I know some of y'all get upset, even take it personally when
hardware you recently purchased gets slammed ....but, You won't find
quality PSU's, motherboards, and ram in any ready made systems (Dell,
Gateway, Compaq, etc) and only rarely from smaller vendors and shops.
If you don't want to assemble your own system, the best best is to
find a trustworthy shop and have the system built using components
you specify or deliver to them. Just like with painting your house,
90% of the job is preparation just before the final work. In this
case, careful investigation of current hardware quality and
suitability is the preparation. Quality will vary over time, even
from reputable vendors.... it's always a moving target. Another
reason is the very latest and greatest is often chancey, no matter
how flattering the (Windoze) hardware sites' reviews are.
In my own situation, this oc'd Tbird/Soyo/Sparkle/Crucial, Mosel
box is ready for retirement. It's using a mix of ancient pc100 and
pc133 sdram (8ns & 7.5ns chips), all runnin reliably at 135mhz
(7.4ns), cas2. Unfortunately the current state of hardware and the
wide spread use of win-hardware components (particularly on
motherboards) has discouraged me from building a new system until I
absolutely have to ;( As always, Y'allsMMV
--
Tom Brinkman Corpus Christi, Texas
Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft?
Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
