EPoX 8RDA boards

[Sorrow]

Sadly, it seems as if I'm going to need to replace my MB. I
currently have a EPoX 8RDA+ board that I bought last year
(I'm not sure why it died so young) that I was/am pretty happy
with. As a result, I plan on replacing it with a similar model.
I looking, I've found the following boards:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-123-208&depa=0
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-123-198&depa=0

Neither of which seems as if it's exactly what I currently have.
Has any of you had experience with either board? Which
would you recommend?

thnx,
Christoph

 

[KC]

I have the same board, and it too, is dying. The caps (capacitors) are
going bad. Take a look at your motherboard, and if the caps are swollen, or
oozing fluid, which they probably are, then that's why it's happening. From
what I understand, the new abit boards only use the Japanese caps which are
the only caps that don't go bad. Does anyone else know if this is true
about Abit boards? KC

Do a google search for "bad caps forum", and you can find pictures of what
bad caps look like. (If the tops of the caps are not flat, but bulging,
they are going bad)

 

[Doug & Raye Lynn]

HI, the bad electrolyte caps are off the market now, some stupid company
stole the incomplete formula and made a bunch of bad caps. All the
motherboards have discarded these bad caps and you can probably get fixed
free at Epox if you call technical support. I recommend the 8RDA3+ which is
the 8RDA+ replacement. Or if you want to upgrade the Epox 8HDA+ Athlon64
board, of course you will need a new cpu.

doug
www.lynncomp.com
Authorized Epox direct reseller

 

[EPoX Tech]

KC

Contact EPoX support and they may be able to arrange repair for you.

--

=========================================================
Technical Support Department
EPoX International, Inc.
(e-mail address removed)
www.epox.com
=========================================================

Visit the EPoX store for all those hard to find motherboard accessories...
BIOS chips, heatsinks, cables, and much more! https://www.epoxstore.com

 

[EPoX Tech]

Hi

Either board would be a good choice.

--

=========================================================
Technical Support Department
EPoX International, Inc.
(e-mail address removed)
www.epox.com
=========================================================

Visit the EPoX store for all those hard to find motherboard accessories...
BIOS chips, heatsinks, cables, and much more! https://www.epoxstore.com

 

[KC]

I have and they sent me an RMA number, the problem I have is I only have the
one computer and I can't afford to go two weeks without it. So it means
I'll have to purchase another mb, just to get this one fixed--or I can try
to fix it myself. It would be nice if EPoX sent me a new board before I
sent them mine, seeing as how my board isn't even a year old yet....Don't
think that will happen though. And if I buy a new board, I'm not sure it
will be EPoX since I don't want to go through the leaking cap thing
again....KC

 

[kony]

I have and they sent me an RMA number, the problem I have is I only have the
one computer and I can't afford to go two weeks without it. So it means
I'll have to purchase another mb, just to get this one fixed--or I can try
to fix it myself. It would be nice if EPoX sent me a new board before I
sent them mine, seeing as how my board isn't even a year old yet....Don't
think that will happen though. And if I buy a new board, I'm not sure it
will be EPoX since I don't want to go through the leaking cap thing
again....KC

IF the problem is leaking caps, all you need do is buy one confirmed to
have different cap brand (or possibly different onboard power circuit
design if caps weren't "defective").

You could buy a cheap board and it could use same caps the Epox did, or
even worse brand. A different, newer Epox board might use different,
better caps. The main point being, if your concern about caps is valid,
then the issue is to get a board with different caps, which isn't
necessary meaning to buy or avoid Epox (or any particular brand). Then
again, some brands do typically use better caps, for example Asus uses
mostly high-end Rubycons, AOpen typically Sanyo, and MSI often Rubycon.
Newegg is a good place to see pictures of boards, and while not a
guarantee of which caps any given revision or lot of boards may have, it's
a starting point.

 

[Peter Harrington]

I had 2 Epox boards fry on me due to the faulty caps. I still have 3 8K5A
that are still running and one 8RDA+.

One was an 8K5A that was about a year and half old. The 8k5a was tossed in
the dumster. The other one was an 8RDA+ that fried with a year of the
warranty period. I sent this back to the seller who is then going to send
it back to Epox. God only knows when I will have this board returned.

I have now switched brands to DFI NF2 Ultra Infinity. All settings being
equal the DFI board was about 5% faster for floating point calculations then
the Epox board.

I might give Epox another shot when they return my repaired board, but it is
a major pain in the ass to replace motherboards with this problem, My
recommendation is to switch to more reliable manufacturers.

Pete

 

[kony]

I had 2 Epox boards fry on me due to the faulty caps. I still have 3 8K5A
that are still running and one 8RDA+.

One was an 8K5A that was about a year and half old. The 8k5a was tossed in
the dumster. The other one was an 8RDA+ that fried with a year of the
warranty period. I sent this back to the seller who is then going to send
it back to Epox. God only knows when I will have this board returned.

I have now switched brands to DFI NF2 Ultra Infinity. All settings being
equal the DFI board was about 5% faster for floating point calculations then
the Epox board.

I might give Epox another shot when they return my repaired board, but it is
a major pain in the ass to replace motherboards with this problem, My
recommendation is to switch to more reliable manufacturers.

Not to nitpick, but DFI has never been known to be particularly reliable
compared to the larger brands. I would still be more likley to buy an
Epox than DFI. Hopefully you're using decent power supplies, as generics
are quite likely to accelerate capacitor demise, as is inadequate chassis
cooling. I'm not trying to lay blame here, rather that you've had your
share of board failures already and keeping these things as optimal as
possible should help to prolong the life of any board.

 

[Peter Harrington]

I am open minded. The blown boards were all in their own cases with their
own powers supplies. Granted, I put the computers through their paces with
some pretty extreme calculations.

This board is my first DFI. What I can say is that I got through to tech
support immediately, and they gave me the correct answer within 5 minutes of
a telephone call. I did not find Epox tech. support to be as accessible.
Where is the tech support telephone number on their web site?

My point was that for 15 years, I have been maintaining a lab with 15 PCs.
The only instances where the caps popped were on the Epox boards and in both
cases the boards were less than 2 years old. I have two Dell Pentium Pro
machines that have never been turned off and frequently used. Those
motherboards are fine (knock on wood).

Speaking of power supplies, I just ordered a 550W Anatec from newegg.

Pete