I've traditionally build AMD systems, at first because of better
price/performance, and nowadays just to keep Intel honest. For amd
systems, amd chipsets are good stuff.
As for diags, it really varies by maker and board. Budget boards come
with fewer goodies than high-end boards. Gigabyte, asus, and msi seem
to be good consumer brands, but every manufacturer will put out a
lemon or two.
On 3/21/11, Craig Lalley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Dave,
>
> It's been awhile since you built a PC? :-)
>
> The new motherboards have built in error code LEDs, similar to the LED on
> the old HP3000. During the boot processes, codes flash, i.e 1F, FF, etc
>
> If the issue is memory a specific code will flash, indicating the DIMM
> (sorry, I don't remember all the codes). Granted these are on the higher
> end mother boards.
>
> If you are shopping now. Watch out for the Sandy Bridge chipset issue.
> Most of those boards have been pulled from the market, best to keep your eye
> out.
>
> Also, right now would be a good time to wait for Intels z68 chipset, due in
> May.
>
> What type of system are you trying to build? Inexpensive, mid-level or
> workstation?
>
> -Craig
>
>
> --- On Mon, 3/21/11, Dave Powell, MMfab <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> From: Dave Powell, MMfab <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: OT: Motherboards & hardware diagnostics
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Monday, March 21, 2011, 4:20 PM
>
> Looks like I might be putting together a new PC by buying components from
> NewEgg instead of my normal build-to-order routine.
>
> Does anybody know if there are any significant differences in hardware
> diagnostics that come with motherboards from different manufacturers? (Asus,
> MSI, Gigabyte, etc).
>
> I'm thinking mostly about boot-from-CD diagnostics. (Don't care about
> Windows troubleshooting and wouldn't expect that from a mobo company
> anyway).
>
> Good diags can save a lot of hassle, for example when a PC crashes and one
> support person says it looks like Windows corruption, but memtest86
> (downloaded it because that box came with only lousy diags) says memory
> errors and the new memory they send fixes it. Or when replacement memory
> doesn't fix a problem but good Dell-specific diags say "DMA error" and
> replacement mobo fixes it.
>
> That's the kind of diagnostics I want. But I'd rather they come with the
> hardware if possible, partly because I've had bad results with diags older
> than the machine, or diags intended for other machines, partly to save the
> hassle of downloading new diags, and partly because the only diags I have
> seen that could tell the difference between bad memory and bad DMA were
> machine-specific ones that came with the boxes.
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--
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"He's old enough to know what's right and young enough not to choose
it. He's strong enough to win the world and weak enough to lose it." -
Neal Peart
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