Motherboard packing up! What to do next..

amd

Thanks for all the info so far. Had to laugh that some of you assumed I was a 'he'!!! I'm a middle aged married woman with 2 kids, self taught, been dabbling for years! Have been taking things apart since I was a kid. Always was a bit nerdy - There! I've finally 'come out'.

Anyway - I'm keen to learn. I'm also keen to know why the capacitors started leaking/bulging. Could it be to do with the power unit which is where the noise on start up comes from - although I suspect it is just the fan. Or could it be that some other component is failing and putting some stress on things. I googled and found out about some inferior parts coming from Taiwan, hope it's just that.

ASRock motherboard looks really good. Seems to do it all for me. Just need to sort out the processor and I'll be sorted! Would never have found that myself! A million thanks!

BillScarab

Apologies for the assumption should have referred to you as the OP.

From memory there was a large batch of dodgy capacitors at some point that have caused a lot of problems. A lot of components now have solid state capacitors that avoid the problem.

mrtg0525

IIRC the problem with the capacitors is/was quite widespread. Supposedly someone 'borrowed' a formula for the electrolyte used in capacitors but they didn't get it 100% right. Whatever ingredient is missing causes the electrolyte to break down and "bulge up" the capacitor, which will eventually leak.

You can of course try to replace the damaged capacitors but I wouldn't recommend that unless you're very proficient with a soldering iron.

sleep2much

DON'T go for an ECS board, they are cheap and nasty, it's a major part of your computer so don't go for the cheapest option, I have an ASRock board too and it's been crash free computing since, unlike my old ECS.

totalsolutions

Hi
Why not replace the caps and learn something new? Easy to do. Any problems on how just ask. You can by a mixed bag for about £8 + £15 for a little soldering iron. They are 105c (deg) types.
I like Asus and avoid ECS/ASROCK as too cheap/reliability/packaging.

stan747

i disagree, i've been using ecs for the past 10 years, upgrading every 12-18 months and only ever had an issue with 1 board. i've also built a couple of dozen pc's based around their boards for family/friends. the reason that they are cheaper is because they use 4 layer pcb's instead of 6, a significant cost saving, they don't win that many awards and recommendations for being 'cheap and nasty'.

amd

Actually I'm not bad with a soldering iron! Where do you get the caps from? If I could fix it i could upgrade the kids pc.....

totalsolutions

I disagree, 1 board failure is too much. Just logged on ECS web site and picked any d/load and its taking a while now 40 mins and longer to get a 17Mb file. Ohh now its 46 mins @6kbs Sooo slow...

totalsolutions

amd from Maplins or radio spares or farnell
You would need to photograph and removed each one and note value and voltage and ploarity (+/-)
Good for you lady.