Hardware My Experience with an Off-Brand TPM 2.0 Module

[jornthree]

Since I don't see anyone online discussing off-brand TPM modules, I thought I would give my two cents on my experience with the ASUS compatible module I purchased a month ago or so.

I bought this module for my computer I was building since I wanted to install windows 11 at some point, and wanted the machine to be as compatible with Windows 11 as possible (being a 6th gen intel processor, I knew it was never going to be fully compatible). The reason I bought the module is because the prices of OEM modules are INSANE ever since the TPM 2 requirement was announced for win11, and I wasn't going to pay $50 for a glorified calculator chip.

The module arrived a little less than a month after I purchased it, and once I bought it I slapped it into my computer to test it out. I went to turn on my computer, and it wouldn't turn on, it also emitted a very noticeable coil whine, which was a bit frightening as I don't think there are any coils to whine, as the only things on it are 3 resistors, 1 capacitor, an led, and the TPM chip itself . What was even more frightening was the burn I got on my finger from toughing the chip to see if it was working. Now yes it was probably stupid of me to touch a chip while it was getting power, but I mean all it does it crunch numbers, so it can't get THAT hot, especially as it was only in there for less than 30 seconds.

So once I recovered physically and mentally form that ferocious attack, I turned off the computer and removed the chip to see if I just destroyed my $350 computer with a $15 chip. Thankfully it worked perfectly. I put the chip back in and it didn't turn on again. So at this point I was disappointed. and that disappointment in the chip turned to disappointment in myself, as I didn't realize that Skylake processors have software TPM 2.0

I contacted the seller and they gave me a full refund, so that's nice. But I can't say I could recommend these chips to anyone looking, as mine failed catastrophically. Though I'd love to hear from anyone else who purchased these off brand TPM modules, did they work for you?

 

[Dr_Faustus]

Thing is that even if you did get it working Intel Skylake chips will not meet the official criteria of support for Windows 11. Officially the cut off was Coffee Lake and even then it was on the higher end of that release.

There are some reports that you could get it working on Skylake with a fresh install and a Win11 ISO, but even then reports of this have been met with mixed results at best.

 

[jornthree]

Thing is that even if you did get it working Intel Skylake chips will not meet the official criteria of support for Windows 11. Officially the cut off was Coffee Lake and even then it was on the higher end of that release.

There are some reports that you could get it working on Skylake with a fresh install and a Win11 ISO, but even then reports of this have been met with mixed results at best.

I actually already installed Windows 11 on my computer . It works fine from my experience, I haven't run into anything that shot out at me as a compatibility issue. I probably wouldn't recommend people do it based on principle, but that never stopped me, so I did it anyway. If anything its fun being on the bleeding edge of software even if I'm not supposed to.

 

[tech3475]

Excessive heat can actually be a sign of a faulty chip.

In the case of W11, I suspect we wont see too many problems until either MS enforces the TPM requirement or more software actually uses it.

Similar to my Amiga, where once I try to run software which requires an FPU it produces an error.

 

[jornthree]

Excessive heat can actually be a sign of a faulty chip.

In the case of W11, I suspect we wont see too many problems until either MS enforces the TPM requirement or more software actually uses it.

Similar to my Amiga, where once I try to run software which requires an FPU it produces an error.

A faulty chip seems to be the realistic cause. All the surface mount components seem fine, and the traces look fine as well, though I haven't checked them with a multimeter, I also didn't really care enough to do that since I was already in contact with the seller about a refund at that point. Though I may do it at some point if I get bored enough.

 

[DKAngel]

A faulty chip seems to be the realistic cause. All the surface mount components seem fine, and the traces look fine as well, though I haven't checked them with a multimeter, I also didn't really care enough to do that since I was already in contact with the seller about a refund at that point. Though I may do it at some point if I get bored enough.

only compat issue u will run into will for extentions your cpu doesnt support, and the fact those processors were exploitable hence why they got rid of everything under gen 8

 

[Dr_Faustus]

Excessive heat can actually be a sign of a faulty chip.

In the case of W11, I suspect we wont see too many problems until either MS enforces the TPM requirement or more software actually uses it.

Similar to my Amiga, where once I try to run software which requires an FPU it produces an error.

Let's be honest here, the case of requiring TPM 2.0 is more about making it so people are forced to upgrade their hardware over actual support issues in the OS. A scenario that in any other case MS might have been able to get away with with little issue if not for the fact that we are in a global shitshow of a chip shortage right now, making the push to upgrading hardware an absolute luxury over actual necessity. Also lets not forget the possibility that this is just another method of trying to lock people's systems down in the same way they tried to push UEFI as it was meant to do so by making BIOS obsolete.

 

[jornthree]

Let's be honest here, the case of requiring TPM 2.0 is more about making it so people are forced to upgrade their hardware over actual support issues in the OS. A scenario that in any other case MS might have been able to get away with with little issue if not for the fact that we are in a global shitshow of a chip shortage right now, making the push to upgrading hardware an absolute luxury over actual necessity. Also lets not forget the possibility that this is just another method of trying to lock people's systems down in the same way they tried to push UEFI as it was meant to do so by making BIOS obsolete.

Yea, that's what I think as well. While TPM 2.0 is nice to have for added security, it been required is pretty stupid from a consumer standpoint. Especially since its only really useful if you use bit locker, which pretty much no one except for enterprise users use. It sucks because I always saw windows as a forever OS, its one of the few things I like more about windows than macOS. You could install windows 10 on a computer from 2006 and it would work fine aside from some legacy drivers, but that's less Microsofts fault and more so manufactures not supporting their legacy hardware. Its irking me how Microsoft is moving in the direction of apple with macOS, being far more locked down hardware support wise

Heres to hoping linux gains more traction in the gaming space, cause I would love to use that on my gaming rig.