TheBeagle
07-15-2002, 06:11 PM
Good Evening Everyone,
Today I sent an email to both Antec Technical Support, with a copy to ASUS Technical Support, outlining a very serious overheat situation when using an ASUS A7V333 motherboard in an Antec Performance Plus case. The following is the main portion of that text:
“Hello Technical Support,
I am writing to alert you to a potentially disastrous situation when using one of your new line of Antec Performance Plus PC cases, which cases are equipped with your equally new line of Low-Noise power supplies (which feature a fan dampening system), in conjunction with an ASUS A7V333 motherboard (BIOS 1008). I recently purchased a Performance Plus 660 case enclosure, and I installed a new ASUS A7V333 motherboard in that case over this past weekend. The installation went just fine. However, when I energized the system I didn’t initially notice that neither the Antec power supply fans nor the special circuit Antec case fans were operating. It wasn’t until after more than 20 minutes that I placed my hand on the top of the case, and felt the extreme heat. At that point I realized that the power supply was just sitting there, albeit operating just fine to that point, but cooking itself to death from the extreme heat and no fan ventilation.
Of course I immediately shutdown the unit, and then began to investigate the situation. No matter what setting I installed in the BIOS of that ASUS motherboard (which has a “Q” Fan Setting), and even when I unplugged the two-conductor fan lead from the power supply to the motherboard, the fans (both power supply and case) would NOT come on. I even uninstalled the 330 watt power supply that came with that model case, and replaced it with the 430 watt power supply that I had in my Performance Plus 1080 case, but the fans would still NOT work, and the same overheat situation began to develop. I then installed one of your Antec PP-352X power supplies in the case (which does NOT have that Low-Noise circuitry), attached it to the ASUS motherboard, and everything worked just fine. All the fans worked, and the temperature sensing within the power supply unit gradually increased the fan speed to about 2100 rpm, but everything was nice and cool.
Obviously, there is a serious conflict between the circuitry in your new Low-Noise, True-Power power supplies and the circuitry on this particular ASUS (A7V333) motherboard. I have not witnessed this situation with other ASUS motherboards when using your Low-Noise, True-Power power supplies, and I have had occasion to install several other ASUS boards in your new Performance Plus line of cases.
Had I not felt the heat on the case, for instance, if I had elected to “burn-in” the motherboard and had walked away from my workbench, rather than stay there to observe the new PC operate, there is no doubt that there would have indeed been a “Burn-IN”, and most probably a fire! I strongly suggest that you immediately investigate this matter, since under the laws of products liability your firm would be strictly liable for any such disastrous consequences. Just thought that you would like to know.”
Unfortunately, neither Antec nor ASUS has even bothered to respond or otherwise acknowledge the foregoing email. I guess they are waiting to see how many PCs will burn up before they do anything (shades of the Ford Pinto). Anyway, I have enjoyed your web site and I thought maybe you could alert PC users to this clear danger. Thanks. TheBeagle in Chocolatetown, PA – USA.
Today I sent an email to both Antec Technical Support, with a copy to ASUS Technical Support, outlining a very serious overheat situation when using an ASUS A7V333 motherboard in an Antec Performance Plus case. The following is the main portion of that text:
“Hello Technical Support,
I am writing to alert you to a potentially disastrous situation when using one of your new line of Antec Performance Plus PC cases, which cases are equipped with your equally new line of Low-Noise power supplies (which feature a fan dampening system), in conjunction with an ASUS A7V333 motherboard (BIOS 1008). I recently purchased a Performance Plus 660 case enclosure, and I installed a new ASUS A7V333 motherboard in that case over this past weekend. The installation went just fine. However, when I energized the system I didn’t initially notice that neither the Antec power supply fans nor the special circuit Antec case fans were operating. It wasn’t until after more than 20 minutes that I placed my hand on the top of the case, and felt the extreme heat. At that point I realized that the power supply was just sitting there, albeit operating just fine to that point, but cooking itself to death from the extreme heat and no fan ventilation.
Of course I immediately shutdown the unit, and then began to investigate the situation. No matter what setting I installed in the BIOS of that ASUS motherboard (which has a “Q” Fan Setting), and even when I unplugged the two-conductor fan lead from the power supply to the motherboard, the fans (both power supply and case) would NOT come on. I even uninstalled the 330 watt power supply that came with that model case, and replaced it with the 430 watt power supply that I had in my Performance Plus 1080 case, but the fans would still NOT work, and the same overheat situation began to develop. I then installed one of your Antec PP-352X power supplies in the case (which does NOT have that Low-Noise circuitry), attached it to the ASUS motherboard, and everything worked just fine. All the fans worked, and the temperature sensing within the power supply unit gradually increased the fan speed to about 2100 rpm, but everything was nice and cool.
Obviously, there is a serious conflict between the circuitry in your new Low-Noise, True-Power power supplies and the circuitry on this particular ASUS (A7V333) motherboard. I have not witnessed this situation with other ASUS motherboards when using your Low-Noise, True-Power power supplies, and I have had occasion to install several other ASUS boards in your new Performance Plus line of cases.
Had I not felt the heat on the case, for instance, if I had elected to “burn-in” the motherboard and had walked away from my workbench, rather than stay there to observe the new PC operate, there is no doubt that there would have indeed been a “Burn-IN”, and most probably a fire! I strongly suggest that you immediately investigate this matter, since under the laws of products liability your firm would be strictly liable for any such disastrous consequences. Just thought that you would like to know.”
Unfortunately, neither Antec nor ASUS has even bothered to respond or otherwise acknowledge the foregoing email. I guess they are waiting to see how many PCs will burn up before they do anything (shades of the Ford Pinto). Anyway, I have enjoyed your web site and I thought maybe you could alert PC users to this clear danger. Thanks. TheBeagle in Chocolatetown, PA – USA.