Warping

[Tulips]

The culprit
ABIT AV89 motherboard with a Athlon 64 3500 CPU
EVGA 6800 GT 256 MB video card
Mushkin PC3200 1Gx2
Cooler Master Centurion 5 Case with a 420W power supply
The story, got a call at work (from the wife) that the computer was just sitting there beeping. Being smarter than the average bear I figure that the computer was not POSTing. Of course, when I get home the error code is 84. Look up in the manual and there is no error code of 84 but it does have an error code of 04 (memory error). (Background just had the computer room retiled and moved the desk around) tried to reseat the memory with no luck. Just when I thought I was getting a new computer I find a post on the internet that the AV8 board has a warping problem and you need to release the tension on the CPU heat sink then reseat the memory than retention the CPU. This of course works and my dreams of a new computer begin to slide into the back ground.
The question as I begin to look for a new computer how big a problem is motherboard warping?

 

[Harvey]

I can think of at least two problems that warping could cause.

• Almost all motherboards are multi-layer circuit boards with multiple, very fine traces. Warping could cause such traces to break.
  
• Current designs use mostly surface mounted components attached with lead free solder. The newer solder formulations are more brittle than older lead-tin solder, and it is more subject to crystalizing, forming cracks and conductive spurs. Warping could easily break such weaker solder connections.

The lead free initiative in manufacturing is a noble goal, but to date, real world solutions have provided far less than ideal replacements for lead-tin solder.