A shortage of PC parts, especially GPU, is not uncommon, but the current situation is worst than we ever thought. The overall chip shortage is not only affecting computers but also every possible electronics item. While ramping up production to meet the demands, manufacturers are compromising the quality of the products.
The impact of chip shortage is so huge that any big to small even automobiles sector is not untouched. In short, everything that has a chip inside is struggling in the current market. However, our focus would be how the shortage is forcing manufacture to skip on quality controls and to choose low-quality parts for PC products.
Exploding PSU
Gigabyte GP-P850GM and GP-P750GM model PSU was unsafe
In August last year, we published an article on “Gigabyte PSUs are exploding and avoid using them.” Two Gigabyte PSU models were primarily affected, the GP-P750GM and GP-P850GM. Here the “explosion” was caused by cheap or inferior components used in the PSU.
The OPP (Over-Power Protection) and OTP (Over-Temperature Protection) failed to protect the PSU within a specific protection range, and the component exploded. Moreover, some PSUs exploded even when the PSUs were at around 75% load.
The number of negative reviews, RMA, and testing suggests that Gigabyte did not perform adequate quality control and testing of PSU components. Later, Gigabyte acknowledged the issues and adjusted the OPP/OTP limits. Users can also apply for the GP-P850GM and GP-P750GM return and exchange services.
Gamer Nexus made a detailed video on this topic. Even he made an uncut video to demonstrate the problem in Gigabyte’s PSU.
Asus Z690 Hero Defect.
Intel’s recently launched 12th gen Alder Lake CPUs are fascinating, requiring a new 1700 socket motherboard. Asus, a reputed brand for making motherboard and other PC parts, made a big manufacturing mistake that can kill your motherboard.
While manufacturing the motherboards, a DRAM POSCAP capacitor mistakenly fitted in a wrong way, causing memory error (error code 53) or even fire on boards. Fortunately, not all Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboards have this issue, and only the wrong fitted POSCAP ones need replacement.
Undoubtedly, the problem is huge. If you have a wrongly fitted POSCAP motherboard, sooner or later, it will 100% die for sure. Hence, Asus has published the possible affected serial number and part number to replace the motherboard.
But how can a brand like Asus do such carelessness? Probably because of supply-demand issues. Currently, the supply is limited, and the demand is very high. Here, the supply chain is working harder to meet demand, and some quality control steps may have been skipped to produce as many motherboards as possible. Incorrectly fitted POSCAP can be easily identified during quality checks.
Acer Monitor Smoking
A user on Reddit reported that his newly purchased Acer XV340CK ultra-wide monitor was emitting heavy smoke. The malfunction in the monitor occurred in just a few minutes after running it. Â
The user said – The monitor had been on for just a few minutes, smelled some horrific burnt smell, noticed the smoke, and immediately turned it off.
Steve from Gamers Nexus investigated this issue. Steve purchased the user’s defective monitor as well as some new monitors. He clarifies that the new monitors are from different retailers with old and new batches.
It’s crucial to identify which monitor batch has the defect as the problem may only occur in the initial batches, which the company may have been corrected later.
Upon investigation, Steve found a faulty capacitor that exploded, causing smoke from the monitor panel. We still don’t know whether the specific capacitor is a fault or it burst from some other fault.
But we are assuming that the capacitor is responsible because, in the new monitor, the same capacitor is different from the one we saw in a defective monitor. The old capacitor is brown, while the new capacitor is black.
Again the case of negligence in quality control and component shortage. Shortage and Pandemic leading to low quality PC parts.
SSDs with Low-Performing Controller, NAND flash
Last, let’s talk about the SSD. Samsung, a famous brand in terms of storage, was caught cheating consumers. Not only Samsung but other brands too like Adata, PNY, etc.
What brands have done is they have switched controller, NAND flash, cache in the new batch of existing SSD models. Now, swapping the component with different brands and models is not a problem. But choosing substandard components for the products is where the problem arises.
Companies then crossed the border when components changed, they didn’t even bother to mention it on the spec sheet or try to launch these inferior products under some other model name. The brand is responsible for keeping the same quality and performance of the existing product, even after years. They can enhance things, but diminishing is not acceptable.
Likewise, AMD had moved the Ryzen 5 1600 AF from 14nm to 12nm silently. Now, this condition is a WIN-WIN situation for everyone as it offers slight improvement at the same cost. Here things are completely different, the performance of the SSD decreased after component swapping.
The SSDs performance has changed after some time of launch period. However, many videos and articles recommended these SSDs based on earlier performance numbers.
A Chinese YouTube channel covered things about Samsung 970 Evo Plus SSD speed. And Linus Tech Tips shared reality about ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro SSD.
The issue happened again due to the disruption of the supply chain. It seems like companies don’t have enough of the right components to manufacture SSDs that are currently on the market. Therefore, brands are choosing whatever is available to continue manufacturing SSDs, ignoring the performance hit.
