VOGONS


Best Socket A (462) Motherboard?

Topic actions

Reply 100 of 223, by bjt

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
Jupiter-18 wrote:

How do you diagnose a cap issue and how do you fix it?

Usually, but not always, the top of the cap becomes domed as pressure builds up inside.
Sometimes they actually vent their contents from the top or bottom.

Pic here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

There are still some good boards out there. I received this KT600 Micro ATX board yesterday with 105C rated Nichicons all round:

AHwyoNcl.jpg
FBctKbHl.jpg

Even Nichicon had a problem between 2001 and mid-2004, apparently. These are late 2004 parts so I'm hoping they'll be OK.

Reply 101 of 223, by PhilsComputerLab

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

I've got a GA-7N400 Pro with busted caps all over the place. Only the 12V caps are Panasonic.

Still, it was 100% stable doing all my benchmarks. The Abit NF7-S on the other hand wasn't 100% stable.

YouTube, Facebook, Website

Reply 102 of 223, by Darkman

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
PhilsComputerLab wrote:

I've got a GA-7N400 Pro with busted caps all over the place. Only the 12V caps are Panasonic.

Still, it was 100% stable doing all my benchmarks. The Abit NF7-S on the other hand wasn't 100% stable.

really? Ive found the NF7-M to be very stable, fast too. meanwhile every Gigabyte board from that time (say 2000-2003) had problems with stability and the capacitors, and its not just the Athlon boards, even their 440BX board that I used was quite mediocre.

their products seem to have gotten better since (my modern machine uses a Gigabyte branded GF770 and it works fine)

Reply 103 of 223, by PhilsComputerLab

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

The caps are in terrible condition, I was very surprised that it completed all the tests. This was with a XP 3200+ and 7800GS. I will definitely re-cap this board as it's a keeper.

YouTube, Facebook, Website

Reply 104 of 223, by Darkman

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
PhilsComputerLab wrote:

The caps are in terrible condition, I was very surprised that it completed all the tests. This was with a XP 3200+ and 7800GS. I will definitely re-cap this board as it's a keeper.

to be fair a lot of boards at the time had the capacitor issues , ASUS and Abit weren't perfect either. probably the best boards Ive used from that time are a Tyan and Intel S370 boards, both felt like they were made of titanium and about as stable

Reply 105 of 223, by melbar

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

I did not solve the capacitor issues of my old epox board until yet... "capacitor plague" .... i don't like that...

Attachments

  • IMG_20160604.jpg
    Filename
    IMG_20160604.jpg
    File size
    112.92 KiB
    Views
    1101 views
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

#1 K6-2/500, #2 Athlon1200, #3 Celeron1000A, #4 A64-3700, #5 P4HT-3200, #6 P4-2800, #7 Am486DX2-66

Reply 106 of 223, by SPBHM

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

I had an Epox 8rda+ and it was a really nice board when new, but, it lacked the 4 pin 12v connector and even at the time epox was known for "bad caps";

anyway, I think a nforce 2 Epox with replaced caps would be pretty nice to have.

Reply 107 of 223, by Jupiter-18

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Would it be safe to say that recapping will be required at some point in a Socket A board's life?
Also, does anyone have any recommendations for Socket A PSUs? Like a specific model?

Reply 108 of 223, by nforce4max

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Antec and Enermax from the period are good choices but I must warn you they often require new caps now to make them safe let alone functional. They have fairly strong 5v rails while often still having the -5v rail that is needed for isa sound cards. The 12v and 3.3v rails on these units are also very good so you can do some interesting builds. As for other brands there are some good choices out there but I can't remember them all off hand.

What ever you buy don't get the cheap crap as there were some real fire hazards from the period! So look for former high end and even server grade units.

On a far away planet reading your posts in the year 10,191.

Reply 110 of 223, by nforce4max

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Not very many unless you happen to get a late socket A board that taps the 12v rail to power the cpu from the 4 pin socket like modern systems. You can try your luck like some of us but it is not recommended and you should always look inside before you use it first even nos units.

On a far away planet reading your posts in the year 10,191.

Reply 112 of 223, by luckybob

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

They all likely will.

I use the MSI K7D Master, it runs off 12v and any new psu will run it flawless.

The Tyan K7X and most other Tyan boards are 12v boards.

So pick out a nice new 600w+ Corsair and have fun.

It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.

Reply 118 of 223, by RacoonRider

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
bjt wrote:

Later boards do have the 12V connector, e.g. the Gigabyte pictured above has it.
These should work fine with a later ATX PSU, no need for crazy amps on +5V.

Didn't work for me 🙁 18A on a modern PSU was not enough to power my PC, at least not with 9800Pro. Had to use an older PSU with 35A.

Reply 119 of 223, by PhilsComputerLab

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

Maybe the 4 pin connector isn't sufficient in knowing if the bulk power is drawn from the 12V?

I used a modern FSP PSU with the GA-7N400 Pro. Had a 3200+, Dual channel memory and a 7800 GS OC. No issues. I think that PSU has 15A on the 5V Rail.

YouTube, Facebook, Website