I'm no expert, but my opinion would be to desolder the CB14 and measure its capacitance and find another Smd Cap with the same value to put on the CB15.

appiah4 wrote on 2020-01-31, 06:37:

Now I need to: […]
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Now I need to:

a) Replace it with a suitable rating SMD capacitor (or a ceramic capacitor using the via's just below, as it would be more suitable for my soldering skills..) - and this is where I need advice as to what rating it could be?
b) Just bridge the via right below the capacitor and bypass it completely - what could go wrong?
c) ?

Your suggestions please?

a) CB suggests a blocking capacitor, as in a power supply filtering cap. 100nF 15V will do the trick, if it's a really small one then pick a 6V3 rated capacitor, it's unlikely there's anything higher than 5V there. Most likely 3V3 supply for the chip. That being said, I have my doubts about that missing cap being the problem you have - if it is (card starts working once you replace it) then it's a low quality card and already running at the limit. In that case do not overclock and make sure your PSU gives a nice, clean voltage on all lines.

b) DO NOT bridge it. Unless you like fireworks and in general hate that card, the mobo, and maybe the PSU as well.

Deunan wrote on 2020-01-31, 10:06:

a) CB suggests a blocking capacitor, as in a power supply filtering cap. 100nF 15V will do the trick, if it's a really small one then pick a 6V3 rated capacitor, it's unlikely there's anything higher than 5V there. Most likely 3V3 supply for the chip. That being said, I have my doubts about that missing cap being the problem you have - if it is (card starts working once you replace it) then it's a low quality card and already running at the limit. In that case do not overclock and make sure your PSU gives a nice, clean voltage on all lines.

b) DO NOT bridge it. Unless you like fireworks and in general hate that card, the mobo, and maybe the PSU as well.

It is a very tiny capacitor, 1.5mmx1mm to be exact. That makes it an 0603 package I believe.

Let's see what I have in stock at that size..

100nF 16V 10%
10nF 25V 10%

Which of these is the safer bet then? 100nF 15V?

Do you really want to use this one ? 😀 i only have them as collectible.

The Image is ehh blurry 😁

matze79 wrote on 2020-01-31, 11:19:

Do you really want to use this one ? 😀 i only have them as collectible.

The Image is ehh blurry 😁

It's the only period correct card I have that has S-Video out 🙁 The other is an ATI All-In-Wonder Pro. I will probably switch to the ATI card regardless, but I want to be able to fix this 😀

appiah4 wrote on 2020-01-31, 11:13:

100nF 16V 10%
10nF 25V 10%

Which of these is the safer bet then? 100nF 15V?

Both are OK. There is not going to be more than 12V there simply because the PSU doesn't have any higher voltages on it's output rails, and there aren't any DC-DC converters on the mobo or the card itself. In fact even 12V is very unlikely in that spot on a PCI card. So the 16V capacitor is good enough, and the 25V one doesn't improve on that any.

Deunan wrote on 2020-01-31, 12:22:

appiah4 wrote on 2020-01-31, 11:13:

100nF 16V 10%
10nF 25V 10%

Which of these is the safer bet then? 100nF 15V?

Both are OK. There is not going to be more than 12V there simply because the PSU doesn't have any higher voltages on it's output rails, and there aren't any DC-DC converters on the mobo or the card itself. In fact even 12V is very unlikely in that spot on a PCI card. So the 16V capacitor is good enough, and the 25V one doesn't improve on that any.

OK, I suppose 100nF vs 10nF is not a big deal either then. I'll go with the 100nF 16V anyway.

Finally, why is it a bad idea to bridge this and just close it? Asking out of sheer curiosity 😁

appiah4 wrote on 2020-01-31, 12:46:

OK, I suppose 100nF vs 10nF is not a big deal either then. I'll go with the 100nF 16V anyway.

Finally, why is it a bad idea to bridge this and just close it? Asking out of sheer curiosity 😁

You can even use a THT (through-hole) capacitor instead of SMD one, just keep the leads as short as possible and make sure it doesn't touch anything it could short (neither the chip nor the slot).

As for the bridge, unless I misunderstood you, the plan was to just solder the pads of the (now missing) capacitor together? That would short whatever power rail there is to GND - and worse yet, the current would flow through the PCI connector contacts and some not-very-thick copper traces to the solder point. This would most likely not trip any over-current protection in the PSU but instead heat up and pretty much evaporate the copper (on the card and possibly the mobo as well), and/or damage the PCI slot. Very much not recommended.

I soldered on the capacitor and it solved nothing. I guess the card is a lost cause but thanks for all the help regardless.

appiah4 wrote on 2020-02-10, 22:28:

I soldered on the capacitor and it solved nothing. I guess the card is a lost cause but thanks for all the help regardless.

Try one last thing - remove the card ROM and see if that changes the POST code. If not, and re-seating the ROM still doesn't work, consider the card dead.