I Will Not Buy Soyo Board

Mike Gratis wrote:
 > Meditationweb wrote:
 >
  >> After all that I've read here, I've decided not to purchase a SOYO
  >> board for my
  >> new gaming PC. I'm going to look for something else. I'm scared of
  >> all the problems I'm hearing about.
 >
 > Good luck. It seems every board out there has issues, depending on
 > who is installing it and using it. One person can have nothing but
 > problems with board XYZ, while another will swear by it....

Yeah. If you scan all the different newsgroups, be it motherboards,
graphics cards, or whatever, you'd never buy ANYTHING.


--
"Outback" Jon Gould | Let those who RIDE,
2003 Kawasaki Concours (wreck)|
1976 Honda CB750F (needs work)| DECIDE.
1972 Yamaha DS7 (project) |
outback.TakeThisOut@nospam.mhonline.net | HELMET LAWS SUCK
CQ CQ CQ de KC2BNE |
______________________________|____________________________
AMD XP 1700+ @ 1540 MHz 768M PC2100 DDR @ 280 MHz
Soyo K7V Dragon Plus 120GB and 40GB Maxtor HD
Asus GeForce3 Ti200 (220/460) Acer 24x10x40 CDRW
Cornerstone 21" Monitor Nostromo n50 Speedpad

In war, when a commander becomes so bereft of reason and
perspective that he fails to understand the dependence of
arms on Divine guidance, he no longer deserves victory.
-Douglas MacArthur




-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.newsfeeds.com" target="_blank">http://www.newsfeeds.com</a> - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: I Will Not Buy Soyo Board 

"Meditationweb" <meditationweb.DeleteThis@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20031101234703.12284.00000106@mb-m11.aol.com...
 > After all that I've read here, I've decided not to purchase a SOYO board
for my
 > new gaming PC. I'm going to look for something else. I'm scared of all
the
 > problems I'm hearing about.

Check these groups out

news:alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit
news:alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.aopen
news:alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus
news:alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.elitegroup
news:alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.epox
news:alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.fic
news:alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.gigabyte
news:alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.iwill
news:alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.msi-microstar
news:alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.shuttle
news:alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.supermicro
news:alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.tyan

Lane<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: I Will Not Buy Soyo Board 

most of the issues are organic based, not silicon ie user inexperience
causing the problems

"Meditationweb" <meditationweb RemoveThis @aol.com> wrote in message
news:20031101234703.12284.00000106@mb-m11.aol.com...
 > After all that I've read here, I've decided not to purchase a SOYO board
for my
 > new gaming PC. I'm going to look for something else. I'm scared of all
the
 > problems I'm hearing about.
 >
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: I Will Not Buy Soyo Board 

On Sun, 2 Nov 2003 01:48:41 -0500, "Outback Jon"
<outback.DeleteThis@mh.no.spam.online.net> wrote:

 >Yeah. If you scan all the different newsgroups, be it motherboards,
 >graphics cards, or whatever, you'd never buy ANYTHING.

Jon, you forgot 'motorcycles' in your list. <g>

--
-denny-

Some people are offence kleptomaniacs -- whenever they see
an offence that isn't nailed down, they take it
--David C. Pugh, in alt.callahans<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: I Will Not Buy Soyo Board 

Denny Wheeler wrote:
 > On Sun, 2 Nov 2003 01:48:41 -0500, "Outback Jon"
 > <outback.TakeThisOut@mh.no.spam.online.net> wrote:
 >
  >> Yeah. If you scan all the different newsgroups, be it motherboards,
  >> graphics cards, or whatever, you'd never buy ANYTHING.
 >
 > Jon, you forgot 'motorcycles' in your list. <g>

Geez - you ever read rec.motorcycles?? I couldn't stand all the idiocy and
flaming....

--
"Outback" Jon Gould | Let those who RIDE,
2003 Kawasaki Concours (wreck)|
1976 Honda CB750F (needs work)| DECIDE.
1972 Yamaha DS7 (project) |
outback.TakeThisOut@nospam.mhonline.net | HELMET LAWS SUCK
CQ CQ CQ de KC2BNE |
______________________________|____________________________
AMD XP 1700+ @ 1540 MHz 768M PC2100 DDR @ 280 MHz
Soyo K7V Dragon Plus 120GB and 40GB Maxtor HD
Asus GeForce3 Ti200 (220/460) Acer 24x10x40 CDRW
Cornerstone 21" Monitor Nostromo n50 Speedpad

In war, when a commander becomes so bereft of reason and
perspective that he fails to understand the dependence of
arms on Divine guidance, he no longer deserves victory.
-Douglas MacArthur




-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.newsfeeds.com" target="_blank">http://www.newsfeeds.com</a> - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: I Will Not Buy Soyo Board 

meditationweb.TakeThisOut@aol.com (Meditationweb) schrieb:

 > new gaming PC. I'm going to look for something else. I'm scared of
 > all the problems I'm hearing about.

Let's talk about the startup problem of my Dragon Lite kt400. With
bios aa7 the board is always unable to make a warm start. I got the
order to buy a bigger powersupply, 100 Euro's later i got the same
procedure as before. No warm startup after a soft shutdown. The costs
of board and powersupply is much higher than a board that can do the
warm startup. With the new aa7 bios the board sometimes 50:50 comes
up.

My K7-VTA-Pro before has startet up 5 times, then 3 smd parts round
the cpu socket goes up in smoke. The support made a repair for free,
but write me a note to break no parts from the board while placing the
cpu.

Only my old 5EHM is really a good manufactured board, running as
server here since 1999.

Bye Eric
--
Spam alike mails will be pre-filtered<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: I Will Not Buy Soyo Board 

"farmuse" <NOSPAM DeleteThis @adelphia.net> wrote in message news:<gpbpb.1990$Y26.1458408@news2.news.adelphia.net>...
 > most of the issues are organic based, not silicon ie user inexperience
 > causing the problems
 >
 > "Meditationweb" <meditationweb DeleteThis @aol.com> wrote in message
 > news:20031101234703.12284.00000106@mb-m11.aol.com...
  > > After all that I've read here, I've decided not to purchase a SOYO board
 > for my
  > > new gaming PC. I'm going to look for something else. I'm scared of all
 > the
  > > problems I'm hearing about.


  > >
  > >

The other bigger issue is the lack of tech support. I ahve been
attempting to call SOYO about a FSB issue that I have had since I
built last weekend, the posted phone number is busy all hours of the
day. So for today I dialed it over 20 times and it did not ring
through once.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: I Will Not Buy Soyo Board 

That's funny, soyos are one of the most stable oards I've found. Newsgroups
are typically used to solve problems. Usenets are usually not good places to
asses anything unless you ask broad statements like, "Is this board any
good? I've read about these problems." I have installed MSI, Abit, ECS, ASUS
and Shuttle boards. Believe it or not, soyo is one of the most reliable.
Their MB batteries don't last long though.
Joe
"Eric Wick" <ericwhh.TakeThisOut@despammed.com> wrote in message
news:20031104125855.19348ec6.ericwhh@despammed.com...
 > meditationweb.TakeThisOut@aol.com (Meditationweb) schrieb:
 >
  > > new gaming PC. I'm going to look for something else. I'm scared of
  > > all the problems I'm hearing about.
 >
 > Let's talk about the startup problem of my Dragon Lite kt400. With
 > bios aa7 the board is always unable to make a warm start. I got the
 > order to buy a bigger powersupply, 100 Euro's later i got the same
 > procedure as before. No warm startup after a soft shutdown. The costs
 > of board and powersupply is much higher than a board that can do the
 > warm startup. With the new aa7 bios the board sometimes 50:50 comes
 > up.
 >
 > My K7-VTA-Pro before has startet up 5 times, then 3 smd parts round
 > the cpu socket goes up in smoke. The support made a repair for free,
 > but write me a note to break no parts from the board while placing the
 > cpu.
 >
 > Only my old 5EHM is really a good manufactured board, running as
 > server here since 1999.
 >
 > Bye Eric
 > --
 > Spam alike mails will be pre-filtered<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: I Will Not Buy Soyo Board 

If you take the time to download all the newest drivers for the
motherboard, and for any hardware like video and sound, before you
start the upgrade, then you will be one step ahead of the game! Just
be sure and put the drivers on CD or even floppy disks.

Also, check the motherboard's site for recommended ram for the
particular board you are thinking of buying. The one area you do not
want to cut corners on is the memory!

I tried taking shortcuts with my soyo kt333 dragon ultra black, and
had nothing but headaches.

Now that I am running all the latest drivers and the recommended ram,
I've had one of the most stable pc's ever.

Also, try and refrain from overclocking until you are sure that you
have a stable system!

Chalmers

"Woobie" <Ihateharvesters.TakeThisOut@biteme.com> wrote in message news:<vqvf5sb94rv857.TakeThisOut@corp.supernews.com>...
 > That's funny, soyos are one of the most stable oards I've found. Newsgroups
 > are typically used to solve problems. Usenets are usually not good places to
 > asses anything unless you ask broad statements like, "Is this board any
 > good? I've read about these problems." I have installed MSI, Abit, ECS, ASUS
 > and Shuttle boards. Believe it or not, soyo is one of the most reliable.
 > Their MB batteries don't last long though.
 > Joe
 > "Eric Wick" <ericwhh.TakeThisOut@despammed.com> wrote in message
 > news:20031104125855.19348ec6.ericwhh@despammed.com...
  > > meditationweb.TakeThisOut@aol.com (Meditationweb) schrieb:
  > >
   > > > new gaming PC. I'm going to look for something else. I'm scared of
   > > > all the problems I'm hearing about.
  > >
  > > Let's talk about the startup problem of my Dragon Lite kt400. With
  > > bios aa7 the board is always unable to make a warm start. I got the
  > > order to buy a bigger powersupply, 100 Euro's later i got the same
  > > procedure as before. No warm startup after a soft shutdown. The costs
  > > of board and powersupply is much higher than a board that can do the
  > > warm startup. With the new aa7 bios the board sometimes 50:50 comes
  > > up.
  > >
  > > My K7-VTA-Pro before has startet up 5 times, then 3 smd parts round
  > > the cpu socket goes up in smoke. The support made a repair for free,
  > > but write me a note to break no parts from the board while placing the
  > > cpu.
  > >
  > > Only my old 5EHM is really a good manufactured board, running as
  > > server here since 1999.
  > >
  > > Bye Eric
  > > --
  > > Spam alike mails will be pre-filtered<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: I Will Not Buy Soyo Board 

Well said!!

"Chuck Davis" <chdavisjr DeleteThis @aol.com> wrote in message
news:728c3657.0312101430.4afb5647@posting.google.com...
 > If you take the time to download all the newest drivers for the
 > motherboard, and for any hardware like video and sound, before you
 > start the upgrade, then you will be one step ahead of the game! Just
 > be sure and put the drivers on CD or even floppy disks.
 >
 > Also, check the motherboard's site for recommended ram for the
 > particular board you are thinking of buying. The one area you do not
 > want to cut corners on is the memory!
 >
 > I tried taking shortcuts with my soyo kt333 dragon ultra black, and
 > had nothing but headaches.
 >
 > Now that I am running all the latest drivers and the recommended ram,
 > I've had one of the most stable pc's ever.
 >
 > Also, try and refrain from overclocking until you are sure that you
 > have a stable system!
 >
 > Chalmers
 >
 > "Woobie" <Ihateharvesters DeleteThis @biteme.com> wrote in message
news:<vqvf5sb94rv857 DeleteThis @corp.supernews.com>...
  > > That's funny, soyos are one of the most stable oards I've found.
Newsgroups
  > > are typically used to solve problems. Usenets are usually not good
places to
  > > asses anything unless you ask broad statements like, "Is this board any
  > > good? I've read about these problems." I have installed MSI, Abit, ECS,
ASUS
  > > and Shuttle boards. Believe it or not, soyo is one of the most reliable.
  > > Their MB batteries don't last long though.
  > > Joe
  > > "Eric Wick" <ericwhh DeleteThis @despammed.com> wrote in message
  > > news:20031104125855.19348ec6.ericwhh@despammed.com...
   > > > meditationweb DeleteThis @aol.com (Meditationweb) schrieb:
   > > >
   > > > > new gaming PC. I'm going to look for something else. I'm scared of
   > > > > all the problems I'm hearing about.
   > > >
   > > > Let's talk about the startup problem of my Dragon Lite kt400. With
   > > > bios aa7 the board is always unable to make a warm start. I got the
   > > > order to buy a bigger powersupply, 100 Euro's later i got the same
   > > > procedure as before. No warm startup after a soft shutdown. The costs
   > > > of board and powersupply is much higher than a board that can do the
   > > > warm startup. With the new aa7 bios the board sometimes 50:50 comes
   > > > up.
   > > >
   > > > My K7-VTA-Pro before has startet up 5 times, then 3 smd parts round
   > > > the cpu socket goes up in smoke. The support made a repair for free,
   > > > but write me a note to break no parts from the board while placing the
   > > > cpu.
   > > >
   > > > Only my old 5EHM is really a good manufactured board, running as
   > > > server here since 1999.
   > > >
   > > > Bye Eric
   > > > --
   > > > Spam alike mails will be pre-filtered<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: I Will Not Buy Soyo Board 

I think 'farmuse' above said a mouthful when he said that
the majority of the problems with Soyo motherboards are
organic.

However, I believe that the carbon-based units in question
are not at the customer's end, but rather at Soyo HQ.

The product may be better than some, worse than others.

However what we have seen over and over again is that
Soyo technical support lacks either the skill or the
empowerment or the resources to give service that meets
the (rather low) standard set by the component industry.

Again and again we see the tactic being to point at
every other component (usually power supply). And
again and again, as earlier on this thread and as
in my case, nearly the price of a new mainboard is
invested in power supply, then memory, then cable,
then whatever swaps to no avail. All so that SOYO
doesn't have to issue an RMA.

When they do issue an RMA, we see reports that they
sit on the component for weeks, rather than shipping
out a replacement refurb board. So there the customer
sits, with his funds tied up in the Soyo product (plus
all the peripherals, plus all the needlessly-swapped
bits) while SOYO services the people who've paid extra
for adequate warranty work to correct SOYO's ERROR
first.

They seem to have one really decent tech, who has been
known to hang in this newsgroup from time-to-time, but
he isn't really empowered to do the right thing by
customers, either.

Bad management. The same management that directed
that the link to this group be removed from the
support pages at SOYO, because they were obviously
afraid of what people would read here.

So I agree with farmuse. The problem is organic. But
I believe that it is organizational. And that even if
SOYO were selling the highest quality board out there
at the lowest price, they STILL don't deserve our
business.

Greg

chdavisjr.RemoveThis@aol.com (Chuck Davis) wrote in message news:<728c3657.0312101430.4afb5647.RemoveThis@posting.google.com>...
 > If you take the time to download all the newest drivers for the
 > motherboard, and for any hardware like video and sound, before you
 > start the upgrade, then you will be one step ahead of the game! Just
 > be sure and put the drivers on CD or even floppy disks.
 >
 > Also, check the motherboard's site for recommended ram for the
 > particular board you are thinking of buying. The one area you do not
 > want to cut corners on is the memory!
 >
 > I tried taking shortcuts with my soyo kt333 dragon ultra black, and
 > had nothing but headaches.
 >
 > Now that I am running all the latest drivers and the recommended ram,
 > I've had one of the most stable pc's ever.
 >
 > Also, try and refrain from overclocking until you are sure that you
 > have a stable system!
 >
 > Chalmers
 >
 > "Woobie" <Ihateharvesters.RemoveThis@biteme.com> wrote in message news:<vqvf5sb94rv857.RemoveThis@corp.supernews.com>...
  > > That's funny, soyos are one of the most stable oards I've found. Newsgroups
  > > are typically used to solve problems. Usenets are usually not good places to
  > > asses anything unless you ask broad statements like, "Is this board any
  > > good? I've read about these problems." I have installed MSI, Abit, ECS, ASUS
  > > and Shuttle boards. Believe it or not, soyo is one of the most reliable.
  > > Their MB batteries don't last long though.
  > > Joe
  > > "Eric Wick" <ericwhh.RemoveThis@despammed.com> wrote in message
  > > news:20031104125855.19348ec6.ericwhh@despammed.com...
   > > > meditationweb.RemoveThis@aol.com (Meditationweb) schrieb:
   > > >
   > > > > new gaming PC. I'm going to look for something else. I'm scared of
   > > > > all the problems I'm hearing about.
   > > >
   > > > Let's talk about the startup problem of my Dragon Lite kt400. With
   > > > bios aa7 the board is always unable to make a warm start. I got the
   > > > order to buy a bigger powersupply, 100 Euro's later i got the same
   > > > procedure as before. No warm startup after a soft shutdown. The costs
   > > > of board and powersupply is much higher than a board that can do the
   > > > warm startup. With the new aa7 bios the board sometimes 50:50 comes
   > > > up.
   > > >
   > > > My K7-VTA-Pro before has startet up 5 times, then 3 smd parts round
   > > > the cpu socket goes up in smoke. The support made a repair for free,
   > > > but write me a note to break no parts from the board while placing the
   > > > cpu.
   > > >
   > > > Only my old 5EHM is really a good manufactured board, running as
   > > > server here since 1999.
   > > >
   > > > Bye Eric
   > > > --
   > > > Spam alike mails will be pre-filtered<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: I Will Not Buy Soyo Board 

On 11 Dec 2003 11:20:11 -0800, greg DeleteThis @bullough.org (Greg B) wrote:

 >Again and again we see the tactic being to point at
 >every other component (usually power supply). And
 >again and again, as earlier on this thread and as
 >in my case, nearly the price of a new mainboard is
 >invested in power supply, then memory, then cable,
 >then whatever swaps to no avail. All so that SOYO
 >doesn't have to issue an RMA.
 >
 >When they do issue an RMA, we see reports that they
 >sit on the component for weeks, rather than shipping
 >out a replacement refurb board. So there the customer
 >sits, with his funds tied up in the Soyo product (plus
 >all the peripherals, plus all the needlessly-swapped
 >bits) while SOYO services the people who've paid extra
 >for adequate warranty work to correct SOYO's ERROR
 >first.

My experience (two RMAs in 4 months--at least one due to the capacitor
problem that hit so much consumer electronics from Taiwan) is directly
the opposite. In both cases, the only contact I had with SOYO support
was when Roger sent me the RMA authorization. Granted, in the first
instance, I got a lot of suggestions from folks on this newsgroup
(most notably Doug G.) about this and that to try. Yes, I replaced
the power supply (actually, I had a need to do that occasioned by
another computer's PS dying) and tested with a different video card.

In each case of RMA, the turnaround was quick; less than 10 days all
told, using UPS ground shipping at least from here. ('less than 10
days is conservative--in one case, turnaround was 7 days, the other 8,
iirc) Both times I received a replacement *new* board. Granted, the
first replacement died due to the aforementioned capacitor problem.

I agree that SOYO doesn't handle customer support as well as they
could and should, and that's just based on folks here telling of their
long waits for telephone support. Not that hard to institute a 'leave
your number and we will call back' policy, if nothing else. (assuming
of course that the callbacks happen in a timely manner) Yes, their
telephone support people seem to be undertrained.

I have seen posts from many here who've sent in boards via RMA, and
there were damn few who described the 'sitting on it' problem Greg
describes. I'm sure it does happen, but based on what I've seen in
this group, it's rare.

 >They seem to have one really decent tech, who has been
 >known to hang in this newsgroup from time-to-time, but
 >he isn't really empowered to do the right thing by
 >customers, either.

That would be Roger, and he's a gem. Ask him a question, get a timely
reply with good info. (my latest Q: will a Thorton/266fsb cpu work in
a KT333 Dragon Ultra--answer: no.)

 >Bad management. The same management that directed
 >that the link to this group be removed from the
 >support pages at SOYO, because they were obviously
 >afraid of what people would read here.

Mostly they were pissed that the group was acting more like
alt.trashtalk.about.soyo than anything else. Greg, you were here--you
saw how that sort of stuff, some justified, a lot not so, but almost
all of it over the top, dominated this group. (you contributed some,
but mostly yours wasn't of the 'SOYO SUCKS, DON'T BUY THEIR STUFF'
kind.)

I agree they should put the link to this ng back. (Roger also thinks
that)

I don't know at this point if my next motherboard purchase will be a
SOYO, but I don't rule it out. I will, when it comes time, look at
all the options, which is what I did when choosing the KT333 Dragon
Ultra Black.

--
-denny-

Some people are offence kleptomaniacs -- whenever they see
an offence that isn't nailed down, they take it
--David C. Pugh, in alt.callahans<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: I Will Not Buy Soyo Board 

In article <728c3657.0312101430.4afb5647.TakeThisOut@posting.google.com>,
chdavisjr.TakeThisOut@aol.com says...

 > If you take the time to download all the newest drivers for the
 > motherboard, and for any hardware like video and sound, before you
 > start the upgrade, then you will be one step ahead of the game! Just
 > be sure and put the drivers on CD or even floppy disks.
 >
 > Also, check the motherboard's site for recommended ram for the
 > particular board you are thinking of buying. The one area you do not
 > want to cut corners on is the memory!
 >
 > I tried taking shortcuts with my soyo kt333 dragon ultra black, and
 > had nothing but headaches.
 >
 > Now that I am running all the latest drivers and the recommended ram,
 > I've had one of the most stable pc's ever.
 >
 > Also, try and refrain from overclocking until you are sure that you
 > have a stable system!
 >
 > Chalmers

Don't forget a good power supply...

Personally, I have a drivers CD and standard software CD that I burn
from a USB2 hard drive.

As far as SOYO goes, I seem to have poor luck with them. The SOYO
integrated video board I had was junk no matter what it was hooked up
to/had in it. And lately my Dragon+ has been so flaky I've migrated
back to an Abit KT7A-RAID - which is a shame because I finally got the
damn thing stable for a long period of time.

I replaced the Dragon+ as a workstation with a Soltek board without a
single problem; I think that's a first. I've actually overclocked for
the first time ever - without a problem - this is the way things should
be.

Personally, I won't buy SOYO again. An ECS K7S5A (yeah, the cheap piece
o'crap) is outlasting the Dragon+ and the ABit with the older chipset
supports Thoroughbreds without a problem. When ECS and obsolete Abit's
work better than your motherboard, that doesn't say much.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: I Will Not Buy Soyo Board