ASrock's new A-series boards - "waterproofed by conformal coating"?

[VirtualLarry]

How important is this feature for the longevity of the motherboard? Or is it only useful if you spill your drink into the PC.

 

[SOFTengCOMPelec]

How important is this feature for the longevity of the motherboard?

It's usually heat inside electrical components, which causes (speeds up, typically life halves every 10 degrees C extra temperature) chemical and other changes inside components, which eventually "wear out" motherboards. There is also mechanical wear and tear, from any fans (they were fairly common on some older motherboard chipsets) and connector usage.
So, I don't think it would increase the "electrical" life.

My understanding (consider this more opinion than fact) is that the slightest scratch, or missed sections on any coatings, "break" the water -proof seal anyway, so I would not consider it "really" waterproof. More, "splash resistant", if you are lucky.

EDIT: It's possible (I'm not 100% sure), that in very damp (and possibly dusty) environments, the coating may help keep the motherboard running smoothly, and any (what would otherwise have been) exposed bare metal component leads/pads/pins etc more corrosion free.

 

[Bubbaleone]

ASRock's been paying attention to the detrimental effect of high humidity for a while. My Extreme9 has a de-humidifier feature that will automatically start the PC for a long enough period to evaporate any condensation. IMHO, I'd think that in extremely humid tropical and sub-tropical climates a waterproof coating would go a long way toward extending the life of electronic components.

 

[bononos]

Gigabyte has also some anti-humidity tech in their products.
http://www.gigabyte.my/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4197

 

[sin0822]

i saw this conformal coat in person, it is only on the Z87 OC Formula and adds to its price, major things like pins in the sockets(CPU, PCIe, DIMMs) are not coated of course neither are the fan headers, however a lot of the chips are coated with a layer you can see, I wasn't able to see the VRM on the CPU as there was a heatsink. It is actually a coating on the chips, however I am not sure how useful it is against a large water spill as you can't really waterproof a board all the way(because of the exposed parts), but it should deff help with dust and humidity and put some Ln2 benchers minds to ease(especially those who tend to kill hardware b/c of their insulation methods). It is cool but i only see it on the Z87 OC Formula and not the Z87M-OC Formula

 

[Meghan54]

I think I read someplace that the coating was done as a feature for those that cool with LN2 and the like. They have major problems with condensation with repeated runs on their equipment, esp. the motherboard, so can see where this coating would possibly help.

 

[Kougar]

Keep in mind the waterproof coating isn't done on any contact pins. So the socket, PCIe slots, RAM slots, and everyplace else that has pins carrying voltages doesn't have the waterproof protection. For the average user it means it can still be dangerous to spill anything on an ASRock conformal coated board.

I think I read someplace that the coating was done as a feature for those that cool with LN2 and the like. They have major problems with condensation with repeated runs on their equipment, esp. the motherboard, so can see where this coating would possibly help.

That's where I see it being the most useful, yeah. Water won't always kill a motherboard or even damage one anyway, I've had my share of fun with watercooling and people's spilled-on laptops over the last six years to know.

 

[john3850]

Been on water for 13 years without any water damage.
Water is much safer then most drinks.
What would be nice is a waterproof cover for laptops.

 

[Kougar]

What would be nice is a waterproof cover for laptops.

Do you mean a bag to carry one in? Get a neoprene sleeve with a watertight zipper, all ya need.

 

[MrDavid]

I would rather look for beer proofed

Anyway, that feature sounds really strange to me. I dont know if I would really give a thought about that...