Axefx iii dsp fried

gary j

New Member
I just had to pay $700 plus tax and shipping to have my dsp board replaced. I had created a template that basically had everything I would ever want in one and it clocked in at around 82% cpu utilization and when I used axe edit I would see the high utilization warning. I didn’t think it was the cause of the failure but I asked tech support and they said it could have caused the failure. The tech literature only indicated it could become sluggish at high cpu but I had no issues with that. What should be the max cpu then? Maybe they need to put a bigger heat sink on the chips?
 
I just had to pay $700 plus tax and shipping to have my dsp board replaced. I had created a template that basically had everything I would ever want in one and it clocked in at around 82% cpu utilization and when I used axe edit I would see the high utilization warning. I didn’t think it was the cause of the failure but I asked tech support and they said it could have caused the failure. The tech literature only indicated it could become sluggish at high cpu but I had no issues with that. What should be the max cpu then? Maybe they need to put a bigger heat sink on the chips?
Tech support said that? Oh my
 
tech support and they said it could have caused the failure
Sorry to hear this - I think (hope) I'd have probed further had tech support given me an answer like that - ie
  • what else could cause it?
  • hi-cpu load in conjunction with other things? (malfunctioning fan resulting in hi temp?, power issues?...).

Company reps who work directly with customer bases are known to blurt out any old answer, no matter how unlikely, when customers ask "why?", just so they can conclude the conversation - doesn't matter if its Cars, furnaces, computers, tv sets or amp modellers - ask the average front line support rep a slightly challenging question, and get a myriad of questionable answers.

In their defense though, some customers won't take "I don't honestly know", or, "it's not possible to precisely know" as an answer and will persist until given something to lach onto - not saying that's the case here, but does happen.

PS - I tend to use kitchen sink presets that run close to the line on both Axefx II and III - both are turned on all day mostly every day for 2.5 years on the Axe3 and 10 years on axe2 - never a hint of any issues, but if it's a possible wear factor, I guess I should default to an empty patch when my unit is on but not on active use.
 
I don't think we have the full story. I've worked in computer chip manufacturing and with computers a LONG time, and CPU and DSP chips are designed to shut down prior to getting hot enough to burn up. The fans would have been on full speed, which alone is a significant warning. It could be a random problem because some chips do fail, but an autopsy of the chip will tell them what happened.
 
Sure they do. It's just not on a time scale we usually worry about relative to all the other components it takes to make a computer.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/processors/transistor-aging
Let's say it this way then... CPUs don't usually wear out within the time the original owner wants to have the computer in their possession. Or the second owner.

People perceive the computer is "worn out" when they become aware it doesn't run the OS or software desired, or it won't keep up with the status quo and they move to a different box.
 
Wow... thanks everyone for the comments. I never heard of a computer being thermally overloaded by data....bogged down yes. I will continue to use my preset template that took me a good while to perfect and fortunately i did have a fresh backup of the user bank and sys!
 
Was the Axe surrounded by things or in an area with limited ventilation?
Wow... thanks everyone for the comments. I never heard of a computer being thermally overloaded by data....bogged down yes. I will continue to use my preset template that took me a good while to perfect and fortunately i did have a fresh backup of the user bank and sys!
i had the unit in a rack case with a power conditioner
 
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