Title. I had a VIA socket 7 board developed bad cache once but otherwise iv never personally ran into it.
Kinda something iv been wondering about though recently, as I plan another socket 7 build. Trying to replace the PB cache looks like it would be a pain in the ass. Atleast with Async cache usually it's socketed chips.
Most of the soldered-on cache chips I've run into seemed pretty solid, even on marginal boards.
Soldered-on DRAM is a different issue. I junked a Compaq 486 because the soldered on RAM failed (this was well before I had the means to remove SMD chips).
Life isn't long enough to re-enable every hidden option in every BIOS on every board... 🙁
I've had a board with failing cache as well. It would lock up after POST.
When disabling cache in BIOS it worked normally.
Sounds like boards with COAST modules might be more future proof in the long-run then.
Anyone with skills know how painfull replacing PB cache would be?
With decent tools and some practice it's not that big of a deal. Especially since most boards with onboard cache are still assembled using leaded solder.
