First post, by TELVM
- Rank
- Oldbie
This is an old style mobo, from the times before the 'P4' connector, so all VRM caps are identical 6.3V 1500uF:
The left pair in particular has to hold a difficult position, surrounded by hostile coils and unsunk mosfets that torment them with the hot iron tortures like they use to do:
They soldiered on for more than a decade but finally succumbed to the murderous heat, gave up the ghost and bloated:
A couple healthy Ruby MBZs scrounged from a deceased s478 mobo hold the position provisionally:
Until a full recap could be done.
- VRM: 7x 'M' (unknown cheap brand) 6.3V 1500uF 10mm ==========> 7x Nichicon HM 6.3V 3300uF 10mm
- Smaller caps: 10x D.S. 6.3V 1000uF 8mm =====================> 10x Panasonic FR 6.3V 1000uF 8mm
The preceptive homebrew heatsink for the mosfets (slice from old Athlon XP heatsink 😁 ):
Finally I thought about replacing the thermal paste under the northbridge heatsink, which surely would be dry and tired after more than a decade. But my worries were unfounded, for ...
... there was never any thermal paste at all! Con dos cojones 😵 . A pea of Artic Silver 5 and back to its position it went.
Restored 440BX mobo with slocket Tually 1400-S inserted, in fresh combat order for a couple more decades of zombie-crowbarring in Half-Life 😎 :
Let the air flow!
