Why Does It Work?

[ThuperSD]

So will replacing the MOBO fix the on screen lock ups and BSODs?

[TalNY]

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ThuperSD wrote:
So will replacing the MOBO fix the on screen lock ups and BSODs?

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Yes, but only if you replace it with one from a different manufacturer.  HP will only replace it with the same model, which may or may not also be defective.  

[madstopfern]

I got a new one from HP a couple of days ago and so far, so good in that area. I've done 2 cold starts and 2 resumes from sleep and it's not crashed. I'm not goingto celebrate yet, but I'm cautiously optimistic. I had have one strange effect the first time I cold started - the system took a long time to come up but that did not happen this morning. We'll see.

[GaryJ51]

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madstopfern wrote:
I got a new one from HP a couple of days ago and so far, so good in that area. I've done 2 cold starts and 2 resumes from sleep and it's not crashed. I'm not goingto celebrate yet, but I'm cautiously optimistic. I had have one strange effect the first time I cold started - the system took a long time to come up but that did not happen this morning. We'll see.

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Update:  HP has agreed to replace my system again.  System #5 is enroute.  I still have grave reservations about these systems, even the ones that are reported to not be having problems at this time.  System #4, which I've been using for about a month now seems to be progressively degrading.  It now seems to display problems after even shorter cool down intervals than was originally observed.  Additionally, I'm starting to see situations where I cannot shutdown or restart from the start menu.  It could be other issues, such as OS corruption or a deffective driver, who knows?

The bottom line is that even if the replacement starts out just fine & dandy, it will hard to have a lot of confidence in the system.  The totality of everything that has been documented in this forum leads to the inevitable conclusion that there is something on the motherboard that is borderline quality.  Even if it works out of the box, how long will it be before it crosses the line and starts causing problems.  Regardless of how the replacement performs initially, I'm going to replace the motherboard.  I've already ordered a new power supply, and will wait to see how well it fits and then decide where to go from there.

Anyone who wants to buy one of these systems would be better off considering the e9180f refurb that others have linked to.  If you spend $800 and just buy the Asus board for $200, you'd have a very nice little system for $1000, and you wouldn't have to wonder when or if the board was going to start giving you problems.

Subjectively, bith of the e9180f systems I had  with Core i7 920 CPU's seemed snappier and more responsive than either of the e9180t systems I received, which both have i7 950 CPU's.  Our testing with the 5.18 and 5.22 BIOS's shows a decline in performance scores running sysmark bench tests.  We didn't bench the e9180f's before they were returned so we can't give objective tests for those systems.

I'll give the 9280 that's on the way a chance to let us know if it's stable or not, and we'll run sysmark for comparison before replacing the motherboard.  We'll post the final breakdown, including results with a new motherboard, once we've completed all testing.  It'll probably take a couple weeks at best.  If anyone has a stock e9180f and wants to bench it for comparison, we'd be happy to share what we're using for testing.  If anyone is interested, please send us a PM.

[maadmax]

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GaryJ51 wrote:

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madstopfern wrote:
I got a new one from HP a couple of days ago and so far, so good in that area. I've done 2 cold starts and 2 resumes from sleep and it's not crashed. I'm not goingto celebrate yet, but I'm cautiously optimistic. I had have one strange effect the first time I cold started - the system took a long time to come up but that did not happen this morning. We'll see.

---

Update:  HP has agreed to replace my system again.  System #5 is enroute.  I still have grave reservations about these systems, even the ones that are reported to not be having problems at this time.  System #4, which I've been using for about a month now seems to be progressively degrading.  It now seems to display problems after even shorter cool down intervals than was originally observed.  Additionally, I'm starting to see situations where I cannot shutdown or restart from the start menu.  It could be other issues, such as OS corruption or a deffective driver, who knows?

The bottom line is that even if the replacement starts out just fine & dandy, it will hard to have a lot of confidence in the system.  The totality of everything that has been documented in this forum leads to the inevitable conclusion that there is something on the motherboard that is borderline quality.  Even if it works out of the box, how long will it be before it crosses the line and starts causing problems.  Regardless of how the replacement performs initially, I'm going to replace the motherboard.  I've already ordered a new power supply, and will wait to see how well it fits and then decide where to go from there.

Anyone who wants to buy one of these systems would be better off considering the e9180f refurb that others have linked to.  If you spend $800 and just buy the Asus board for $200, you'd have a very nice little system for $1000, and you wouldn't have to wonder when or if the board was going to start giving you problems.

Subjectively, bith of the e9180f systems I had  with Core i7 920 CPU's seemed snappier and more responsive than either of the e9180t systems I received, which both have i7 950 CPU's.  Our testing with the 5.18 and 5.22 BIOS's shows a decline in performance scores running sysmark bench tests.  We didn't bench the e9180f's before they were returned so we can't give objective tests for those systems.

I'll give the 9280 that's on the way a chance to let us know if it's stable or not, and we'll run sysmark for comparison before replacing the motherboard.  We'll post the final breakdown, including results with a new motherboard, once we've completed all testing.  It'll probably take a couple weeks at best.  If anyone has a stock e9180f and wants to bench it for comparison, we'd be happy to share what we're using for testing.  If anyone is interested, please send us a PM.

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Gary,

PM me asap!

Also...anyone who has sent their machine in for repairs/replacement but received the machine with a less than 100% fix...Please PM me ASAP!!!

VERY IMPORTANT!!!

MM

[g65740]

I have been having problems with HP computers for a long time. I have been sending computers back to HP because of their inability to fix the problems. I finally ended up with my first e9150t on approximately 8/20/23009. Lockups, blue screens, crashes etc and I sent that one back and received my second e9150t on approximately 9/26/2009. More blue screens, crashes, lockups, black screens, One hard drive crash with blue screen with a read/write error, USB ports not working properly, etc. This time I was told that they would not replace the unit again and that I would have to send it in for repairs. I sent it in for repairs and was without  my computer again for over a week. This what the repair the Hewlett-Packard center detailed information on the repair stated: Repaired (The customer problem was duplicated during full diagnostics)

1. Flashed/updated bios

2. Software/Reformatted Hard Drive

3. Re-load HDD Images

4. Virus Scan

5. Other

The following test were performed:

1. Aging test (PC Doctor)

2. Windows Test (PC Doctor)

3. Verify Tattoo Information

4. Check OS Installation

5. CPU Fan/System Fan

6. Internal Cable Connection

7. Internal Cosmetic (screws are tight)

8. External Cosmetic

The following components were replaced:

1. Frt 2 USB CBL,L:350mm,NPT2 (Card reader not detecting/reading memory modules)

2. NARRA3-GL8E Rev.3.01A (No video signal present - Electronic failure

Thanks for any help with this.

G65740

[g65740]

If you read between the lines in my other post, it did not fix the lockups, freezes, blue screens, etc. Let me know if any more info is forthcoming and or needed

g65740

[madstopfern]

It sounds to me that there were multiple issues with your box, g65740, and that HP fixed all or many except for the motherboard issue. It's too early for me to say that my machine is fixed, but I have the impression that HP is quietly rolling out fixed motherboards without ever admitting to a problem which, if true, is unfortunately all too typical. So I think you're faced with a choice to either bug HP with the continuing issues, buy a 3rd party motherboard or just work around the crashes by leaving the box all the time and doing a boot/bios reload if you have to shut it down.

[GaryJ51]

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3568

http://download2.msi.com/files/downloads/mnu_exe/E7593v1.0.zip

If anyone is thinking of replacing the mobo, please be aware that some boards need an 8-oin connector for the CPU power.  The stock HP power supplu does ot have this connector.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboards/display/asus-rampage-ii-gene.html

Good reading.

Message Edited by GaryJ51 on 11-06-2009 07:53 PM

[sandar2020]

Ironically I knew all about this ** issue with this model e9280t and other models with the Asus/Pegatron IPMTB-TK Motherboard also known as Truckee. I had a family member buy it and they immediately started having problems with it. Well anyway my point is… I bought this motherboard from geeks.com and then picked up a i7 920 CPU and an nVIDIA video card and all the other necessities, HD, DDR3 Memory and power supply. I wanted to throw this thing together and watch the fireworks…(or lack thereof) I didn’t have the ** Heat sink which is proprietary so I had to tool up and modify the boards Heat sink mount which to my horror was attached to the Ziff socket… Anyway all jury rigged up with only 2 screws and 4 standoffs holding the board in the old used case I fired this thing up. Well she wouldn’t come up so… I rearranged the memory because that is the usual culprit and tried again. This time she came up… (I found the best configuration was the furthest slots from the CPU consecutively) I was surprised because I don’t usually hack into things for the lack of a better term, but messing with the CPU cooling mount which was attached to the Ziff Socket bracket even nerved me to the core. I’ve worked IT (A Little) and usually going that far doesn't come with the job description but for me I’ve been hacking into the guts of these things for 28+ years and well on top of that I figured it’s a crap board anyway right? So what’s the end result… Well I found the nVIDIA card was causing conflicts so I replaced it with an ATI HD. I like it better now anyway because I can use the machine to watch HD and burn BD movies etc… (I know there is a nVIDIA for that too... That's not the point) that's if it works, right? End result… It still works 2 weeks later…CPU between 31 c and 43.5 C…  I’ve turned it on and off, she is stable as can be. I left her on for three days strait. I pushed her with QuickTime, Divx and Media player videos playing all at the same time for hours while I was surfing the net and downloading. Honestly all at the same time. I have barely touched my other **'s. I’ve played games, audio files and transferred files from the two **’s I have in the house on my home network with a Q9550 and E5200 in them back and forth all day and not to mention used it as a media server to my two PS3s. I’ve run it with Windows XP, Vista and 7 and even with 2 Virtual machines running at once. I feel bad for you guys having problems with your **’s but as far as I can tell it’s not the motherboard. I’m thinking of getting another since the price has dropped on them since you guys had so many complaints. Maybe try to replace your video card like I did OH and get a better power supply... and maybe that’s what ** needs to do. I don’t know I don’t work for them. I think I’ll post a page with the board configuration and steps I took. But honestly I didn’t do much of anything but if it helps. Again… I am sorry to hear your troubles guys and good luck.