X-bit labs

MSI Reaffirms Mainboards' Durability.

Category: Mainboards

by Anton Shilov

[ 09/07/2004 | 03:55 PM ]

A well-known mainboard maker Microstar International announced that two of its mainboard and a graphics card had passed vigorous testing at TÜV Saarland laboratory and received a special sign confirming their durability.

“Over weeks the engineers of TÜV Saarland tortured the MSI mainboard 865PE Neo-V together with a MSI FX5600U TD-128 VGA card in a high temperature cabinet at constant 70º Celsius,” the company said in the statement.

TÜV Saarland tests include a four week test cycle in an even with 70ºC temperature. Each system involved into test is 100% loaded, as it runs video, the SiSoft Sandra Burn-in-Test and Prime95 all at the same time. The mainboards have to remain fully-functional after the test.

Passing the torture test means that the 865PE Neo2 Platinum and 865PE Neo2-V received TÜV "Geprüfte Langzeitstabilität" (Certified Durability) certificate that confirms advanced sturdiness of the mentioned mainboards. The technical control association confirms at the end of complicated computations and high temperature investigations for the second MSI mainboard the increase of the “Mean Time Between Failures” from 19 to 25 years.

Earlier this year a suit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by Electronic Connection Services Corporation accusing MSI of knowingly using capacitors, devices used to regulate the power supply to microchips, that can leak or even explode and cause mainboards to short-circuit. The suit, which seeks to cover any person or company in the United States who has made a wholesale or retail purchase of an MSI mainboard since 1999, seeks unspecified damages and restitution and other relief. Additionally, the suit put doubts on MSI’s ability to ship durable mainboards.