Motherboard Battery

[Allen_L]

What's the average ballpark figure for the MB battery lifespan? I know I
have one computer that, gosh, I don't even know how long its been running on
the same battery...reason I'm inquiring is in the August issue of Max PC
Magazine there was an answer given by one of the authors that gave the
lifespan as about 3 years...I think that must be a misprint, because I
thought about 5 to 6 or so was average.

Any input would be appreciated...

Thanks...Allen

 

[nameir]

If it is lithium/manganese-dioxide battery, then the life span is 5 years,
which is longer than many people keep their PCs
I guess it is typo... good observation tho

 

[philo]

What's the average ballpark figure for the MB battery lifespan? I know I
have one computer that, gosh, I don't even know how long its been running on
the same battery...reason I'm inquiring is in the August issue of Max PC
Magazine there was an answer given by one of the authors that gave the
lifespan as about 3 years...I think that must be a misprint, because I
thought about 5 to 6 or so was average.

Any input would be appreciated...

Thanks...Allen
--
Please Reply to Group
I usually won't reply to emails,
but to email:
calco(UNDERSCORE)1701(AT)yahoo(DOT)com

 

[steven67@]

What's the average ballpark figure for the MB battery lifespan? I know I
have one computer that, gosh, I don't even know how long its been running on
the same battery...reason I'm inquiring is in the August issue of Max PC
Magazine there was an answer given by one of the authors that gave the
lifespan as about 3 years...I think that must be a misprint, because I
thought about 5 to 6 or so was average.

Any input would be appreciated...

Thanks...Allen

..

When an ATX system is connected to power, the motherboards have standby power
available, which can be used to extend battery life. Intel says, when the
computer is not plugged into a wall socket, the battery has an estimated life of
three years. When the computer is plugged in, the standby power extends the
battery life.

If the computer is always plugged in, the estimated life of the battery is about
seven years.

 

[Allen_L]

Thanks to both of the respondants for their answers...I didn't know that
about the 'unpowered' life of 3 years, but it makes a certain amount of
sense, I would have thought about 4 to 5 years 'shelf life' for that kind of
button battery. The seven years is about what my third 'spare' computer has
on it, but it's still chugging away and has been unplugged for about 1 and
1/2 years at times!

Thanks guys for the answers

....Allen

 

[trappeduser]

What's the average ballpark figure for the MB battery lifespan? I know I
have one computer that, gosh, I don't even know how long its been running on
the same battery...reason I'm inquiring is in the August issue of Max PC
Magazine there was an answer given by one of the authors that gave the
lifespan as about 3 years...I think that must be a misprint, because I
thought about 5 to 6 or so was average.

Any input would be appreciated...

Why worry? don't people upgrade motherboards every 1 or 2 years?

With pc hardware getting better all the time why use the same mobo
longer than 2 years?

 

[Craig]

running

Why worry? don't people upgrade motherboards every 1 or 2 years?

With pc hardware getting better all the time why use the same mobo
longer than 2 years?

Some people are still running a pentuim 90 and win95 or even win 3.1
and a 386 cpu right now.
Not me though...........

Craig

 

[Ralph Mowery]

Any input would be appreciated...

Some people are still running a pentuim 90 and win95 or even win 3.1
and a 386 cpu right now.
Not me though...........

I work for a company and we change out about 300 computers every 3 years or
so that are on a network. We also have some 386 computers that run programs
on some lab testing equipment and a label making machine. There is just no
way to do much with those computers as some of the software is locked in.
Also some of the inverters ( equipment to control the speed of electric
motors) have programs loaded into them and will not "talk" to the faster
laptops via the serial ports. Sometimes just upgrading the computers is
just not a very good option.

 

[alvin york]

Allen,

the time to worry about your mb battery going bad is when you turn it off
overnight and when you boot up again the time clock has lost several hours.

Ignore the advice to upgrade which is no answer to your question.

 

[drumguy1384]

Allen,

the time to worry about your mb battery going bad is when you turn it off
overnight and when you boot up again the time clock has lost several hours.

Ignore the advice to upgrade which is no answer to your question.

As far as I know the batter doesn't even do anything anymore but run the RTC
(Real Time Clock) when the computer is switched off. The BIOS settings have
been stored in Flash ROM's (require no power to retain data) for years now.


Drumguy

 

[Gary Tait]

As far as I know the batter doesn't even do anything anymore but run the RTC
(Real Time Clock) when the computer is switched off. The BIOS settings have
been stored in Flash ROM's (require no power to retain data) for years now.


Drumguy

Not in desktop PCs. The battery still holds system CMOS settings.

 

[drumguy1384]

Not in desktop PCs. The battery still holds system CMOS settings.

I did a bit of research and found that you are partly correct.

I was mistaken when I stated that BIOS settings were held on Flash ROM
(though I don't see why they couldn't be).

It is also, however, inaccurate to say that they are stored in CMOS. CMOS
was originally used to store system settings, but there is no CMOS chip
present on modern motherboards.

*********************************

From http://arstechnica.com/guide/building/bios/bios-1.html :

"Today, there is no CMOS RAM chip, but out of habit, we still treat it as
if there were one. The CMOS today is actually a small amount of RAM in the
chipset that remains powered by the battery when system power is off."

*********************************

I know it's a bit pedantic, but now I know why I remembered that there was
no actual CMOS chip anymore ... I just mistakenly assumed that the BIOS
settings were stored in Flash. Though I still maintain that it would be a
good idea.


Drumguy

 

[Gary Tait]

I did a bit of research and found that you are partly correct.

I was mistaken when I stated that BIOS settings were held on Flash ROM
(though I don't see why they couldn't be).

It is also, however, inaccurate to say that they are stored in CMOS. CMOS
was originally used to store system settings, but there is no CMOS chip
present on modern motherboards.

True, there is no stanalone CMOS/RTC chip like there was on AT-286
systems, it is now integrated into one on the motherboard chips.
Some laptops, and perhaps some desktops may store BIOS setting in
some sort of Flash or EEPROM, but the majority of desktops store it in
vloatile memory, kept by the battery. all my desktop systems, and my
laptop, store their settings in battery backed RAM).

 

[drumguy1384]

True, there is no stanalone CMOS/RTC chip like there was on AT-286
systems, it is now integrated into one on the motherboard chips.
Some laptops, and perhaps some desktops may store BIOS setting in
some sort of Flash or EEPROM, but the majority of desktops store it in
vloatile memory, kept by the battery. all my desktop systems, and my
laptop, store their settings in battery backed RAM).

Technically speaking Flash ROM *IS* EEPROM (Electronically Erasable and
Programmable Read Only Memory ... Flash fits that description)

I know that the BIOS itself is contained in Flash ROM (i.e. "Flashing" the
BIOS). In old systems BIOS' were very system specific and in order to
upgrade one to a newer revision it was required that you buy a new ROM chip
and replace it.

I just don't see how that with all the advances that computers have made
your system can still be held hostage by a little watch battery. I don't see
how it would be too terribly expensive to store the BIOS settings in a small
flash chip somewhere. But I guess it's not that pressing an issue either as
most people today don't keep a motherboard long enough to have to change the
battery even once. I've changed one once ... on a computer my parent's had.
The battery died after 7 years or something. My computer had gone through
probably 4 or 5 incarnations by that point.


Drumguy

 

[Gary Tait]

Technically speaking Flash ROM *IS* EEPROM (Electronically Erasable and
Programmable Read Only Memory ... Flash fits that description)

Basically yes, but for all intents and purposes,Flash and EEPROM
are somewhat different things, Flash being a large memory array used
to stoe executable program code, EEPROM being a comparitively tiny
memory device, used to keep settings.

I know that the BIOS itself is contained in Flash ROM (i.e. "Flashing" the
BIOS). In old systems BIOS' were very system specific and in order to
upgrade one to a newer revision it was required that you buy a new ROM chip
and replace it.

The still are, just with Flash chips, it is more DIY than having to
either wait for delivery of a new chip, or to mess with EPROM erasers
nd programmers.

I just don't see how that with all the advances that computers have made
your system can still be held hostage by a little watch battery. I don't see
how it would be too terribly expensive to store the BIOS settings in a small
flash chip somewhere. But I guess it's not that pressing an issue either as
most people today don't keep a motherboard long enough to have to change the
battery even once. I've changed one once ... on a computer my parent's had.
The battery died after 7 years or something. My computer had gone through
probably 4 or 5 incarnations by that point.


Drumguy

Becuast it's easier to make a few hundred cells of CMOS ram, than
EEPROM, or to add one to a board, especially since they have the RTC
running anyway. Now, if they wanted to eliminate the RTC and rely on
external time, I'd see a poing to migrating to an EEPROM.