Are the PCI slots dead on my PC? \ VOGONS

Are the PCI slots dead on my PC?

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First post, by smullyoz

Posted on 2021-10-03, 20:04

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My motherboard is an asus p5B .

These are the three PCI slots i have available:

https://imgur.com/Q2tfv6g

The PCIe is taken by a Geforce 7900.

I have tested three different sound cards (XFI music, XFI gamer, and a Crystal brand sound card), on all three PCI slots, with a whole bunch of different BIOS settings for different things and Windows XP refuses to acknowledge there is a card in the slot. Nothing in device manager. I also tried an ethernet card i had (brand new) into the PCIex1 slot and again no detection from windows.

Anything else i can try besides changing the motherboard? Is Windows XP Service Pack 2 the issue, or is the mainboard? Or some kind of ther setting i am missing?
The XFI cards i can see power up, as there is a red light that comes on when i turn the computer, so i assume power is going to the PCI sots.
Also the sound cards were taken from working computers so i know its not them.

Reply 1 of 9, by Doornkaat

Posted on 2021-10-03, 20:19

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Some of those capacitors are looking really unhappy.

Reply 2 of 9, by mastergamma12

Posted on 2021-10-03, 20:19

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Those two caps near the 1x slots look like they're about to bulge and the one between the pci slots.

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Re: Post your 'current' PC

Reply 3 of 9, by melbar

Posted on 2021-10-03, 20:34

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This board needs a recap.
It has been sold during 2006/2007.

heavy usage during all these 14 to 15 years: it is absolutely reasonable that standard caps are going to fail ...

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Reply 4 of 9, by smullyoz

Posted on 2021-10-03, 21:02

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Ok thanks guys, i looked closely and they do seem to be bulging.... So what's the process of fixing that? Something i could do myself?

Reply 5 of 9, by retardware

Posted on 2021-10-03, 21:09

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melbar wrote on 2021-10-03, 20:34:

This board needs a recap.
It has been sold during 2006/2007.

heavy usage during all these 14 to 15 years: it is absolutely reasonable that standard caps are going to fail ...

No, the caps are not the culprit.
It's almost certainly a bad PSU that made them bulge, pee and fart.

Reply 6 of 9, by TheMobRules

Posted on 2021-10-03, 22:51

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No, 99.9% it's the capacitors. They are brown Chemi-cons from around 10-15 years ago, which means they are probably KZG or KZJ series, which is a problematic series known to fail early, especially if they are near heat sources.

A closer picture of the caps should be enough to confirm that. In any case, they need to be replaced, even the ones that don't look bulged as they will also fail (or are already dead).

Reply 7 of 9, by maxtherabbit

Posted on 2021-10-04, 01:14

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TheMobRules wrote on 2021-10-03, 22:51:

No, 99.9% it's the capacitors. They are brown Chemi-cons from around 10-15 years ago, which means they are probably KZG or KZJ series, which is a problematic series known to fail early, especially if they are near heat sources.

A closer picture of the caps should be enough to confirm that. In any case, they need to be replaced, even the ones that don't look bulged as they will also fail (or are already dead).

A PSU with excessive ripple certainly *can* cause caps to fail early, but it's far from the most common cause

Reply 8 of 9, by smullyoz

Posted on 2021-10-04, 02:03

smullyoz Offline

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TheMobRules wrote on 2021-10-03, 22:51:

No, 99.9% it's the capacitors. They are brown Chemi-cons from around 10-15 years ago, which means they are probably KZG or KZJ series, which is a problematic series known to fail early, especially if they are near heat sources.

A closer picture of the caps should be enough to confirm that. In any case, they need to be replaced, even the ones that don't look bulged as they will also fail (or are already dead).

Here is a close up shot.

https://imgur.com/9alhJbc

I guess i just buy more of the exact spec as these and replace them all?

Reply 9 of 9, by TheMobRules

Posted on 2021-10-04, 02:19

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Yeah, KZG as expected. When looking for replacements, definitely avoid KZG or KZJ series (although I don't think those are produced anymore). You are looking for ultra low ESR capacitors, since electrolytics with those specs are rare nowadays I'd suggest replacing them with polymer caps.

If you really want to go for electrolytics, Nichicon HW, Rubycon ZLH could be good choices I think, provided you find some with the correct value/size.

And again, be sure to replace any KZG/KZJ on the board.

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