How long do motherboards last?

[hackmole]

My friend bought a Toshiba laptop 2 years ago. Last week it would not power on. The power light would come on but then it would just shut off. He took it to the geek squad and they said the motherboard went bad.

Is this what we can all expect, motherboards to go dead after only 2 years? I don't even understand why a motherboard would go bad anyway unless there was some kind of power surge or short of some kind.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

My friend bought a Toshiba laptop 2 years ago. Last week it would not power on. The power light would come on but then it would just shut off. He took it to the geek squad and they said the motherboard went bad.

Is this what we can all expect, motherboards to go dead after only 2 years? I don't even understand why a motherboard would go bad anyway unless there was some kind of power surge or short of some kind.

Sometimes MB's do go bad after only two years. However, in my experience, most last long past their usefulness. Bottom line, slap your friend for going to geek squad and get another opinion from someone who knows what they're doing.

 

[Phishy714]

I once went to geek squad to see if they were really as bad as I thought and everyone said.

I had an old HTPC laying so I simply unplugged the power button wires that go from the case to the motherboard, took my comp into the best buy and proceeded to say "I don't know what happened. It won't power on at all anymore, it was working fine last week."

I dropped it off there, and they said they would contact me when they figured out what was wrong. They had the comp for 3 weeks. In the end, they ended up saying that it was a motherboard/cpu error that probably originated in the PSU.. They quoted me $600 to fix it.. when the parts themselves were probably worth $300.

I said hey look some wires! plugged them in, and had them plug the case back into an outlet and viola! it worked.

Yeah, these guys are bad.

 

[neilsabo]

^I kinda feel sorry for people with ZERO knowledge about the electronics they buy/own and get suckered into throwing their money down the drain by store salespeople/tech support etc

i can't believe that there are actually people who pay BB $100 to set up their TV

 

[tcsenter]

I had an old HTPC laying so I simply unplugged the power button wires that go from the case to the motherboard, took my comp into the best buy and proceeded to say "I don't know what happened. It won't power on at all anymore, it was working fine last week."

This is a completely invalid experiment. Look, nobody is going to pay anyone five or six hours to check for every conceivable explanation, because that would put the bill @ $175+ even before you've fixed anything. $300 computers are NOT $15K automobiles.

Wires (secured with hot glue and snap-fit terminals) are NOT just 'coming off' on their own inside a computer case. Someone had to be inside there mucking around and pulled them off. If you fail to inform the technician that you were inside the PC mucking around, there is absolutely NO reason for them to suspect that highly secured wires would be leaping off terminals on their own.

What you tell the technician can affect their troubleshooting priority and mindset. If they haven't found the problem within the amount of billable time that 95% of persons are still willing to pay for a troubleshooting fee before you've even fixed their computer, which is at most about 1.5 hours, and the computer is completely non-op (will not even POST), you're going to tell them "probably the motherboard or PSU, maybe both".

But then I would also not tell them its definitely this or that, either. I'd just straight up tell them, "I think its this or that but I can't be sure because, you know, I don't want to run-up the bill to half (or more) the value of the computer just to definitely pin-point the problem."

 

[phenixdragon]

^I kinda feel sorry for people with ZERO knowledge about the electronics they buy/own and get suckered into throwing their money down the drain by store salespeople/tech support etc

i can't believe that there are actually people who pay BB $100 to set up their TV

I work in IT, this is how I get paid/ If everyone knew how to do it, I would not be needed and would be doing something else. It is like a car tech, they charge a lot because you (well others) can't fix their own cars. You are going to pay to have it done. To the people who pay, this is a fair deal. They decided that what they are paying is worth the service they are paying for. This is call capitalism, trading what you have for what some else has, both parties win. But again, if everyone knew how to do it there would be no IT because everyone can do it.

 

[Maximilian]

^I kinda feel sorry for people with ZERO knowledge about the electronics they buy/own and get suckered into throwing their money down the drain by store salespeople/tech support etc

i can't believe that there are actually people who pay BB $100 to set up their TV

Theyre the ones getting hired for geek squad

 

[DBissett]

On luck as much as anything. I've had name brand MB's fail in less than a year, but currently use two desktops that have been running flawlessly for 4 and 8 years.

My friend bought a Toshiba laptop 2 years ago. Last week it would not power on. The power light would come on but then it would just shut off. He took it to the geek squad and they said the motherboard went bad.

Is this what we can all expect, motherboards to go dead after only 2 years? I don't even understand why a motherboard would go bad anyway unless there was some kind of power surge or short of some kind.

 

[mikeymikec]

I regard less than 6 years to be premature (ie. "shouldn't have died yet"), 6 as borderline reasonable-ish, more than 8 reasonable/decent.

I've got a server with a P3-866 in and an Intel board which must be (I would guess) from 1999. I ought to replace it, really!

 

[red454]

I work in IT, this is how I get paid/ If everyone knew how to do it, I would not be needed and would be doing something else. It is like a car tech, they charge a lot because you (well others) can't fix their own cars. You are going to pay to have it done. To the people who pay, this is a fair deal. They decided that what they are paying is worth the service they are paying for. This is call capitalism, trading what you have for what some else has, both parties win. But again, if everyone knew how to do it there would be no IT because everyone can do it.

Bingo - and you can add programmers, electricians, firemen, plumbers, doctors, butchers, masons, etc...

As for the OP's question - I would say it is not unreasonable to expect 10 years out of a desktop mother board, assuming it is properly cooled and kept fairly clean. Less from a portable as they get knocked around a fair amount. And a lot depends on if it is powered up 24/7.

 

[Hulk]

This is a completely invalid experiment. Look, nobody is going to pay anyone five or six hours to check for every conceivable explanation, because that would put the bill @ $175+ even before you've fixed anything. $300 computers are NOT $15K automobiles.

Wires (secured with hot glue and snap-fit terminals) are NOT just 'coming off' on their own inside a computer case. Someone had to be inside there mucking around and pulled them off. If you fail to inform the technician that you were inside the PC mucking around, there is absolutely NO reason for them to suspect that highly secured wires would be leaping off terminals on their own.

What you tell the technician can affect their troubleshooting priority and mindset. If they haven't found the problem within the amount of billable time that 95% of persons are still willing to pay for a troubleshooting fee before you've even fixed their computer, which is at most about 1.5 hours, and the computer is completely non-op (will not even POST), you're going to tell them "probably the motherboard or PSU, maybe both".

But then I would also not tell them its definitely this or that, either. I'd just straight up tell them, "I think its this or that but I can't be sure because, you know, I don't want to run-up the bill to half (or more) the value of the computer just to definitely pin-point the problem."

I disagree. In my opinion what you are paying for when you take something to be serviced by experts is knowledge that you do not have. There is a methodology to diagnostics. You start with simple things and move on from there. Step one would actually be checking the power supply to see if it works, then moving to see that it is actually connected to the motherboard, etc...

One example does not make a case against geek squad but with other reports it starts to show a trend of rip off tactics.

 

[tcsenter]

Wait...did Phishy714 mean the power button connector at the motherboard side (i.e. FPIO)? For some reason, I thought he meant that he was trying to be sneaky and unplugged the wires from the power button side, which is why I mentioned them being secured with hot glue.

If he meant the motherboard side, then yeah, I always check all the connections on the motherboard side of things. That was a bad morning for cognitive function and reading comprehension, I guess.

 

[DBissett]

So the man looked at the plumbers $100 repair bill, got pissed and asked the plumber to itemize it. The plumber did as asked and handed it back. It read "Hitting the pipe, $1.00, Knowing where to hit the pipe, $99.00." As a result, I have learned what I can about repairing plumbing and computers, but from time to time I gladly pay guys who know more than I do and spend all their time doing those things, which saves me a lot of time/money in the long run.