With proper care and timely maintenance, your motherboardcan last decades. But like every other electronic component, the motherboard isn’t bound to live forever either.
Factors, like build quality, overheating, moisture, power surge, and physical damage, can all affect its lifespan.
Usually, manufacturers offer awarranty of 3 to 5 years. But that doesn’t mean yourmotherboard starts failingafter this period.
What matters the most is upgradability!While your PC may operate in the future without issues, it won’t support the latest processor, memory, and new features. So, even if your motherboard lasts long,you might feel the need to upgrade it.
Let’s discuss this in detail.
Motherboard Lifespan in a Nutshell
The thing is – some motherboards perform well for7 to 10 years(on average). But others fail within certain days, months, or a few years!
Poor build qualityand cases ofDOA (Dead on arrival)are pretty normal. In such scenarios, the manufacturer will likely replace your motherboard (unless you haven’t intentionally harmed it, voiding its warranty).
You might have seen that a lot of netizens on community forums claim their components have lived a long life.20, 30, or even 40 years– but don’t these claims look a bit deceptive?
While it’s theoretically possible for motherboards to last long, I don’t think anyone utilizes PCs from the 80s or 90s for regular use anymore. It’s just that if you store them properly, they may function in the long run.
Note that a motherboard is mostly composed offiberglass and copper. After expansion and contraction over long use, the electronic parts of thecomputer can start to die.
The oldest motherboard I got was in 2009; theMSI G31TM-P21lasted for 6 years and failedafter frequent power surges.
Today, it doesn’t show any sign of power. But the one that I used after that (MSI Z97 GAMING 5) stillpasses the POSTeven after 8 years.
While motherboards can die, they are still themost durablecompared to other PC components. Even so, with advanced technical assistance, you may revive a dead board, but it’s always better to replace it.
In my case, some of mySSDs have lived a short life, and I also have experiences of failing PSUs, CPUs, memory sticks, etc.However, I’ve only replaced one board until now.
Factors Affecting Motherboard’s Life
The main reason for motherboard replacement isn’t because it dies sooner. It’s mainly due totechnological obsolescence.
For example,if you want the latest processorand your motherboard doesn’t embed a compatible socket, that calls for an upgrade.
Likewise, withDDR5 likely becoming the standardin the next few years, most DDR4 boards will slowly be outdated.
If you’re not worried about such things, only then comes the possible physical damages, which are still rare occurrences. Here are the key factors that can reduce the motherboard’s lifespan.
Build Quality
Every motherboard is constructed differently, and usually, the expensive ones have athicker PCB.
The advantage is that thicker boards provide better room for theelectrical traces, which also means better power delivery.
Besides, the build quality of the electrical components (capacitors,chokes, andMOSFETs) also matters.
Bulged or leaking capacitorsare some major signs of a failing motherboard. This mainly happens if the components are made of low-quality materials.
Usually, the pricier motherboards come withmoreVoltage Regulatory Modules. This means the power delivery is more stable through multiple phases.
Along with these, a motherboard of better build quality comes withadditional heatsinks and fans. So, with better cooling, they generally last longer.
Thermal Expansion and Overheating
As we know, most materials expand when heated and contract when cooled. This thermal expansion rule applies to most parts of the motherboard as well –soldering points,capacitors, etc.
There’s no specific usage pattern when operating a PC. One day, we might be involved in heavyCPU/GPU/power usagewhile the other days, it’s just for normal tasks.
Whatever it is, our motherboards go through acontinuous cycle of heating and cooling. This can have great effects on the electronic components in the long run.
While motherboard capacitors can last decades, the continuous expansion and contractionover a long periodhave a direct impact on their lifespan.
Although such components can be replaced,the process is going to be complexfor normal users.
One of the major factors that directly affect thermal expansionis overheating. If all sensors on your motherboard arereading high temperatures, that’s a bad sign!
Overheating candamage the VRMs,pop the capacitors, orharm other circuitries. When this happens, the PC components can’t communicate properly, rendering the motherboard useless.
BIOS Update Failure
Motherboards thatdo not support a fail-safe BIOS featurehave a higher chance of getting bricked if aBIOS update fails. In fact, this is one of the most common user errors.
While modern systems come withBIOS recovery options, older motherboards don’t. So, if you encounter any power interruption, there’s a huge chance that the board becomes useless.
Even though it’s possible toswap the BIOS chiporreprogram it, the easier option would be replacing the motherboard.
Environmental Factors
The intake PC fans can bring dust along with the cool air and trap them inside. That’s the reason I suggestremoving dust from your PCat least once a week. And deep cleaning it once everyfour to six months.
Overaccumulation of dust particles candeteriorate the system’s performance. Besides, it’s one of the main reasons for the major components to overheat.
While the chances of short-circuiting are quite low, that can still happen if the dust particles are conductive.
Apart from dust, moisture is another factor to keep an eye on. If yourmotherboard falls below the ambient temperature, water droplets may form, eventually damaging the circuits.
Power Surges and Failing Power Supply
Even a slight increase in the voltage and current can damage your power supply. This happens especially if it’s of poor quality or thePSU is showing signs of failure.
A failing PSU can indeed impact the motherboard if it sendsirregular voltage or current(usually high spikes).
The most common occurrence is apower surge, including one of my cases where it damaged both the PSU and motherboard.
Evenlightning strikes,power outages, andother electrical issuescan lead to this problem.
In some cases of power surges, you may find traces ofburns,sparks, orsmokefrom the circuit board.
In fact, a lot of users have reported aboutPSU blowing up completely. However, this is a completely rare occurrence.
If you’ve chosen a good-quality PSU that comes withovercurrent and overvoltage protections, the risk is reduced to a great extent.
Such features prevent the PSUs from getting damaged, which eventually protects the mainboard.
Physical Damage
Despite every single precaution, if the motherboards are physically harmed, they are not going to last long.
Even when you’re transporting your PC, the componentmight fall or get hit. Likewise,liquid spillscan lead to corrosion and even completely break the electrical connections.
Whilestatic electricitycausing damage to the motherboard is a rare scenario, it can still happen. That’s the reason manufacturers always useanti-static bagsto pack the motherboard.
How to Make Motherboards Last Long?
Even though motherboards eventually die one day, there are a few precautionary techniques you may adopt to make them last longer. I’ve shared some of the maintenance tips based on our experiences here at our office:
When to Upgrade My Motherboard?
You’ll stillrequire upgrading your motherboardeven if it works without any issues in the future. It doesn’t matter if your board lasts for another decade; the question is –will it still be usable?
With the introduction of new features and software, the manufacturer may offerBIOS updatesto accommodate them. However, some technological advancements may not be supported by everymotherboard chipset.
That said, there won’t be any other way than replacing the motherboard. For example, if you want to usePCIe 4.0and your board only supports2.0, the latest graphics cardswill be limitedto2.0speed.
Other than outdated technology,physical damage leading to aNO POST issueis another reason you need to upgrade the motherboard.
