Ladies and gentlemen of advanced computer component comprehension, I propose the following talking point. Is the trend in classifying computer components as "Military Grade", simply a marketing tool or is equipment marked as military grade representative of higher longevity, stability etc.

This is not a question of whether or not something marked military grade is a good performance to investment question or if you personally think it's worth the money. It's more a question of whether they are marketing a premium product because it's actually premium as described in the marketing.

I can't actually find this military I,II,III,IIII classification system they speak of. I would love to actually see a standard for the so called Military Class 4 as put forward by MSI in one of their flag ship motherboard listed at the link below.


http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_1491&products_id=23810

Probably the kind of question you'd get a bigger response from in the extremesystems forum.
Must admit I've not seen the term military grade used for PC bits but then again I haven't bought anything new in a few years ;).

I think I had a class 3 military drive in my Mk3 Cobra sometime ago, class 4 was rumoured ;).

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Generally, military components have to be more robust in terms of temperature extremes and reliability. Very often they are individually per-tested before being shipped to manufacturers. Given all this, they are definitely more expensive. Between Commercial and Military grade components you will find Industrial grade components - with corresponding interim specs and prices.
At the very top of the ladder you'll find space certified components.

All I know about so-called Military Class components is that MSi leans heavily on it for their hardware. Supposedly, the Military Class parts last longer, even in bad conditions.

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I have a feeling that it's a marketing term, most "military" equipment these days is just plain old "COTS" (commercial, off-the-shelf) gear, at least when it comes to computing, networking and a lot of other communications equipment.

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I have a feeling that it's a marketing term

I've been working for CzArmy/ACR two years with radio (data/voice) transition related to SA-6 Gainful.

We didn't have many special components(R,L,C), just case were(not very often) more robust.
Standard notebook was Dolch Note Pac for armoured calvary and mobile aaa/sam. HP/Dell PC in a office. I saw Dolch notebook inside and I didn't see any special parts(R,L,C) if I remember good.

In to addition, I have AMD 1620LE,ASUS M2A with Samsung F1 and Patriot xx DDR2 and just fan in a power supply gone. 20 hours per week+ since Q4/2007. :)

I’ve only come across such components once, in a very minor way. Years ago the LAN where I work used coaxial cable (10Base2 aka Thin Ethernet), and at some point a consultant recommended that we replace all the BNC T-connectors with “MilSpec” versions that cost about three times as much. This made a considerable improvement to the network’s speed & reliability due, I believe, to better corrosion-resistant plating, and possibly more precise machining, of the contacts.

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I’ve only come across such components once, in a very minor way. Years ago the LAN where I work used coaxial cable (10Base2 aka Thin Ethernet), and at some point a consultant recommended that we replace all the BNC T-connectors with “MilSpec” versions that cost about three times as much. This made a considerable improvement to the network’s speed & reliability due, I believe, to better corrosion-resistant plating, and possibly more precise machining, of the contacts.

And THAT is supposed to be the difference, better quality under non ideal conditions, ie laptops that can work inside working coal mines, or on battle fields with explosions going on around them.

I can't actually find this military I,II,III,IIII classification system they speak of. I would love to actually see a standard for the so called Military Class 4 as put forward by MSI in one of their flag ship motherboard listed at the link below.

http://quicksearch.dla.mil/

The I, II, ... is a classification defined in some spec. For non-combat, a lot of old specs have been obsoleted as requirements are obsoleted do to old specifications or it is easier to define requirements using commercial requirements.

You could try looking for procurements for Defense (DOD) for technology equipment and they should the exact Mil-Specs called out although sometimes you will go check a spec and see it's been superseded by a newer spec or sometimes even obsoleted. Further making things more murky is there are procurement divisions for each branch and even local bases that may have their own requirements. But DOD is a good start.

Alternatively, you can try contacting the government sales divisions of the big OEMs like HP and Dell and see if you get some more info.