MotherBoard problem

[Mi26]

Found a deal online for a semi-faulty Asrock H61M/U3S3. The only problem according to the seller is that sometimes SATA3 AHCI mode will cause the computer to freeze while IDE mode will work. SO is there any way to solve the problem

http://www.asrock.com/mb/intel/h61mu3s3/

[Mark77]

Well, if you can get the board cheap and try it out, it might not even be a problem, but something to do with the former owner's OS installation.  Or even the particular HDD/SSD they have attached, which might have a firmware issue.

 

If it is a problem "for real" after you've put a fresh copy of Windows 10 on it, then you might try using a different SATA port.  Or even using a SATA add-in card.

 

Its a gamble.  For, say, $10-$20, I'd personally give it a shot if you have a CPU kicking around.   You gotta give kudos to the seller for disclosing the 'problem' with the board. 

 

(on that note, I picked up, earlier this year, a very nice Supermicro server motherboard that was described by an eBay seller as being defective due to a bad BIOS chip.  I paid $35 for a board that costs $250 at Newegg.  Got the thing home, pulled the CMOS battery for half an hour, wired it up, threw a cheap Ivy Bridge Celeron chip and a stick of DDR3 into it, and wham, I had a perfectly working server-grade motherboard which now runs my server quite nicely instead of that flaky Asus board I had in there before!)