Overclockers Might Want to Wait on a P55 Motherboard Purchase
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One of the things we have seen, in the early reviews of the P55 motherboards and i5 CPUs, is the possibility of quite advanced overclocking abilities. This is something that many people will want to do, since the better boards are making it relatively simple for the less experienced person to achieve stable and much more than modest overclocks with these items.
Yet there seems to be a fatal flaw in the system for many, which has managed to fry more than a couple of motherboards and processors in the AnandTech Labs.
We have what seems to be a potentially serious issue with proper socket loading on several P55-based motherboards when overclocking to the limit. We are of course not the only ones experiencing the problem as several of our overclocking peers have run into the same problem.
Normally we do not worry too much about mishaps during extreme overclocking testing as they are typically caused by factors outside of the supplier’s control. The overriding concern is that we have damaged every motherboard in our possession for the P55 overclocking (extreme) shootout as well as two very expensive i7/870 processors. These problems are the cause of a single component and are repeatable. As such, we thought we would provide details on current problems and will provide an update once all of the motherboard manufacturers affected have had a chance to properly respond.
We draw your attention to the fact that the processor shown in this pictures exhibits signs of insufficient pin-to-pad contact (little to no contact) in what is a rather reproducible pattern with Foxconn manufactured 1156 sockets. As soon as an end-user mounts a CPU in a socket and latches the clamp mechanism, each pin should leave a notable mark on the associated pad.
We’ve marked locations where this does not seem to have happened, showing what appears to be a significant reduction in the number of VCC/VSS pins for proper power delivery, and certainly not at the right load line resistance. Damage resulting from highly overclocked use in these types of situations is not solely limited to the processor; let’s take a look at what happened to some of the motherboards in which these CPU were seated.
Along with the article there are several pictures, showing the problems, and the results of what high amperage arcing can do to a motherboard and microprocessor. It isn’t pretty and it is also expensive.
I can’t remember this kind of thing being a problem for quite some time – the last socket problem I remember being a big deal was with some Socket 3 designs, back in the dark days, long ago.
The article states that the Foxconn sockets are pervasive, but another company also makes the socket, and thus far, EVGA seems to be the only one who almost exclusively avoids the problematic Foxconn sockets.
So far, EVGA is the only company we know that uses sockets exclusively from LOTES on their top-tier P55 boards - for example, the EVGA P55 Classified 200, model E659. This by the way may be the onus behind the decision to market the board’s “300% More Gold Content” socket statement as a purchasing option point. If you find yourself shopping for an EVGA P55 FTW, model E657, you’ve got a 50/50 chance of buying one with a Tyco AMP socket design (using a LOTES backplate), as opposed to one made solely with Foxconn’s, the same goes for MSI and DFI who have batches of boards in the retail channel using LOTES sockets (although we’re not entirely sure on socket specifics at this point). DFI told us earlier they have dropped usage of the Foxconn sockets completely until further notice. We hear the LOTES and Tyco AMP sockets are in short supply, which is probably why Foxconn’s been able to fill the void in the market with what we believe to be a lower quality alternative for the extreme overclocker.
Since most people have a shorter supply of discretionary money than time, it would be good to either purchase an upper end EVGA board for their i5 CPU, or else make certain the Foxconn socket is not used on their specific (the one in your hand, that you might purchase) motherboard. Both MSI and DFI have said that they have stopped using the Foxconn socket, but there seems about a 50-50 chance (not good odds when you don’t want to waste money) you might get one with the bad socket, so either wait or check the specific board.
Doing the check with the installed CPU, to check for the indentation of the CPU ‘nubs’ into the socket ‘lands’ would be a good skill to develop if you plan to use Intel CPUs and overclock, as this problem will only get worse as CPUs that use this design model get larger with more contacts to have possible flaws. (I’m guessing that the early i7 boards were made better because they were made expensive by design.)
Caveat emptor.
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