Poly Mod Success Stories

[PCBONEZ]

I think this will be interesting to and help many people out.

Here I would like to start a list of motherboards this has worked well on.
(Motherboards or anything else. Video cards, LCD inverters, whatever.)
- Similar idea to the on-going PSU build pictorial.

At least say what Polys went in or the post is semi-usless.

Remarks regarding what was replaced with what,,, as like:
(~~~uF/~~V Lytic replaced with ~~~uF/~~V Poly)
... would be most useful to people.

Remarks about Ripple measured before/after the mod would be awesome!
(Obviously not required because most people have or don't use a scope.)

Links to other sites where such projects succeeded might also be helpful.

Thanks in advance to anyone that participates!

.

[Topcat]

Ohh jeez, where would I begin..... I've polied a lot of GX and SX270's and 280's, all working like a champ. I also did a P4C800 Deluxe, no issues......and I've done it to many that I just don't remember.

[kc8adu]

same here and i posted many of the ones i did here.
i even replaced a few caps in one of my icom ic-7800's with polys.
and these are $12k radios!

[PCBONEZ]

I know you guys do a bunch of them.
I was trying to make a list and the posts are scattered all over the forum.
Trying to get it all in one place because the subject is gaining popularity.

From KC I've found:
Abit VP6
Dell SX270
Dell SX280
Asus P4PE-X
Abit BE6
Asus K8S-LA
.
Now:
Icom IC-7800
Asus P4C800 Deluxe

.

[gdement]

ABit BE6-II (Vcore replaced with Sanyo Oscon SP 560uF 4v)
Epox EP-BX3 (Vcore - 680uF 2.5V UCC PSA)
Dell GX270 ("" PSA)

[Scenic]

ASRock 4Core Dual-VSTA Rev. 1.00

replaced all Taicon 1000uF 6,3V crapcaps with Nippon ChemiCon 390uF 6,3V PS series.
i also put those in the empty cap spots on that board (especially at the RAM slots).

VRM input and output left as is (in: Nichicon HM out: OST)

[PCBONEZ]

What are you guys using for the 16v caps?

[andlcs]

Here's my ABIT AN-M2 with new caps.

Vcore output: Rubycon MBZ 1500µF 6.3V to SANYO SEPC Solid Poly 820µF 4V
Vcore input: Rubycon ZL 1200µF 16V to ??? (still need to find good 16V polymer caps)

Originally Posted by PCBONEZ

What are you guys using for the 16v caps?

I want Nichicon LG or LF series

[Logistics]

Digi-Key sells the Nichicon LG, LF and LE series. Some may not have noticed this because they don't come up under polymers if you use the bookmarks portion of the Digi-Key parts catalog. It just lists the LF as solid electrolytic, and the LE and LG as electrolytic. Page 1553-1554 in the newest catalog.

[PCBONEZ]

True statement Logistics.
Mouser has them too now and is sometimes cheaper.

[PCBONEZ]

Looking at some boards with poly's 'stock' as points of reference.
This might help folks in figuring out what is enough uF and ESR for MODs.
Counting all 16v 8+mm caps as part of VRM input. [In parallel through PSU anyway.]

..

Tyan S2725
Dual Socket 604 Xeon, TDP up to 92 watts/socket
[Comparable to mid-range P4. CPU cores are the same but DP/MP is enabled.]
[NetBurst architecture]
-
VRM input:
7x, 180uF, 16v, Chemicon PS,
Total uF 1260 [630uF / CPU]
Total ESR 0.0022857 ohm [~0.0046 ohms / CPU]
-
Vcore Caps:
20x, 560uF, 4v, Chemicon PSA,
Total uF 11200 [5600uF / CPU]
Total ESR 0.00035 ohm [0.0007 ohms / CPU]

..

Supermicro X7DVL-E
Dual Socket 771 Xeon [Dual or Quad Core], TDP up to 150 watts/socket
[Dempsey cores are NetBurst architecture, Woodcrest cores are Core architecture. This board takes either architecture.]
-
VRM input:
4x, 470uF, 16v, Chemicon PSC,
2x, 470uF, 16v, Sanyo CA, [lytic]
Total uF 2820 [1410uF / CPU]
Total ESR 0.0024194 ohm [~0.0048 ohms / CPU]
-
Vcore output:
24x, 820uF, 2.5v, Sanyo SEPC, 8x9mm
Total uF 19680 [9840uF / CPU]
Total ESR 0.0002083 ohm [~0.00042 ohms / CPU]

..

Supermicro X7DAL-E
Dual Socket 771 Xeon [Dual Core], TDP up to 150 watts/socket.
[Dempsey cores are NetBurst architecture, Woodcrest cores are Core architecture. This board takes either architecture.]
-
VRM input:
4x, 330uF, 16v, Sanyo SEP,
2x, 470uF, 16v, Sanyo CA, [lytic]
2x, 470uF, 16v, Sanyo SEPC,
Total uF 3200 [1600uF / CPU]
Total ESR 0.0021583 ohm [~0.0043 ohms / CPU]
-
Vcore output:
24x, 820uF, 2.5v, Sanyo SEPC, 8x9mm
Total uF 19680 [9840uF / CPU]
Total ESR 0.0002083 ohm [~0.00042 ohms / CPU]

..

Intel SE7210TP1-E
Single Socket 478, TDP up to 103 watts.
[NetBurst architecture.]
-
VRM input:
4x, 1200uF, 16v, Rubycon ZL, [lytic]
1x, 2200uF, 16v, Nichicon VZ, [lytic] [ESR = .11, as measured directly]
Total uF 6400 [6400uF / CPU]
Total ESR 0.0052381 ohm [~0.0052 ohms / CPU]
-
Vcore output:
12x, 560uF, 4v, Fujitsu RE [Hybrid Poly]
Total uF 6720 [6720uF / CPU]
Total ESR 0.000417 ohm [~0.00042 ohms / CPU]

...
I'll do some more later.

Notice that uF is all over but ESR is within a consistent range:
- On 16v VRM input the Per-CPU total ESR is .0043-.0052
- On Vcore Per-CPU total ESR is .0004-.0007
...
More boards need looked at but I think maybe this can be the basis for a thumb rule for P4 and newer motherboards.
...
This illustrates what KC8 said in another thread.
- That it's ESR [not uF] that matters most in VRM.

.

[Logistics]

Yay, I just finished the poly recap on my P4PE! I won't bother with any pictures because it's basically the same as kc8adu's P4PE-X with tiny, almost unnoticable, differences. Unfortunately, I really have no idea what brand of polymers they are. Ask kc, I bought them from him. ;p

I was very happy with the results as it did in fact increase the responsiveness of my system. I was really becoming frustrated while surfing sites with heavy flash integration, such as MySpace, because the system would be thinking too hard about what's going on. (you know, you go to click on a link and the mouse cursor doesn't even change to what it should be because it's still dealing with some idiotic flash advertisement) Now, the system responds immediately, and I can scroll around full speed on several sites whereas before it would have chopped and lagged.

This mod certainly didn't turn my old 533fsb P4 into a dual-core, but it is worth the evening I spent doing it. It definitely was not as easy as I had hoped, though. The lead diameters on the polymers tended to be pretty fat compared to the original capacitors, causing me to have to really cram some of them in while heating the VIA's. I WAS worried! But everything worked off the bat. Sorry, I don't know how to use my oscillioscopes, yet.


p.s. Oh, I forgot... This mod also affected my sound. I wasn't even expecting this, but the bass is stronger and tighter, and I was up LATE last night listening to music because I kept listening to tracks I'm accustomed to always listening to and hearing new details and sounds I don't EVER remember hearing before. This made me VERY happy.

[kc8adu]

flashblock firefox plugin is your friend.a fat hosts file and adblock plus is the icing on the cake.no more resources wasted on advertising.
and could it be the improved performance and sound was due to the old caps being worn out?
excess vrm noise?
no other reason makes any sense other than placebo effect.

Originally Posted by Logistics

Yay, I just finished the poly recap on my P4PE! I won't bother with any pictures because it's basically the same as kc8adu's P4PE-X with tiny, almost unnoticable, differences. Unfortunately, I really have no idea what brand of polymers they are. Ask kc, I bought them from him. ;p

I was very happy with the results as it did in fact increase the responsiveness of my system. I was really becoming frustrated while surfing sites with heavy flash integration, such as MySpace, because the system would be thinking too hard about what's going on. (you know, you go to click on a link and the mouse cursor doesn't even change to what it should be because it's still dealing with some idiotic flash advertisement) Now, the system responds immediately, and I can scroll around full speed on several sites whereas before it would have chopped and lagged.

This mod certainly didn't turn my old 533fsb P4 into a dual-core, but it is worth the evening I spent doing it. It definitely was not as easy as I had hoped, though. The lead diameters on the polymers tended to be pretty fat compared to the original capacitors, causing me to have to really cram some of them in while heating the VIA's. I WAS worried! But everything worked off the bat. Sorry, I don't know how to use my oscillioscopes, yet.


p.s. Oh, I forgot... This mod also affected my sound. I wasn't even expecting this, but the bass is stronger and tighter, and I was up LATE last night listening to music because I kept listening to tracks I'm accustomed to always listening to and hearing new details and sounds I don't EVER remember hearing before. This made me VERY happy.

[PCBONEZ]

Congrats!

[zandrax]

Congrats.
I agree with KC8: not downloading ads and blocking unnecessary flash content is the best way to speed up your surfing. NoScript and AdBlock+ are two great extensions for Firefox that allow this; for IE you can try IEPro (includes an Adblock-like antiads plugin) and enable Javascript, Java and plugins on a per-site basis (just rise IE's Internet zone settings to Very High and add all sites needing javascript under Trusted sites). Same for Opera: you can set per-site preferences.
Main advantage of NoScript over IE and Opera's per-site permissions are per-object permissions: you can allow only part of all content (imagine a blog with funny videos: you can allow javascript for dynamic menus and block all Youtube embedded videos but the one you're interested).

Zandrax

P.S.: don't block all ads on all sites. Just the most annoying ones.

[PCBONEZ]

Just noticed a typo in my old post.
Tyan S2725 should say Tyan S2735

adding one: [Since it's in front of me anyway...]

This is probably the lowest ESR VRM I've ever seen. ~~~

Intel S5000PSL
Dual Socket 771 Xeon [Dual or Quad Core], TDP up to 150 watts/socket
Xeon: 5000, 5100, 5200, 5300, 5400 series'
-
VRM input:
4x, 1200uF, 16v, Chemicon KZE, [lytic]
2x, 330uF, 16v, Fujitsu RE, [Hybrid Polymer]
Total uF 5460 [2730uF / CPU]
Total ESR 0.0021389 ohm [~0.00107 ohms / CPU]
-
Vcore output:
38x, 560uF, 4v, Sanyo SEPC, 8x9mm
Total uF 21280 [10640uF / CPU]
Total ESR 0.00018421 ohm [~0.00037 ohms / CPU]

.....

[Logistics]

Originally Posted by kc8adu

flashblock firefox plugin is your friend.a fat hosts file and adblock plus is the icing on the cake.no more resources wasted on advertising.
and could it be the improved performance and sound was due to the old caps being worn out?
excess vrm noise?
no other reason makes any sense other than placebo effect.

I'll look into these extensions for the sake of ridding myself of annoyances. I suppose the old caps could have been worn out. This board is how old, now? I thought ridding of VRM noise was the main point of doing a poly cap... o_o

The difference in the sound was not even something I was considering at the time; it caught me entirely by surprise. All I went to do was see how Winamp reacted with Kernel Streaming enabled, which it responded faster to, now. Oh, and if you were referring to the caps on my on-board sound being old, I have no idea, I didn't touch them. I use an SbLive!

[PCBONEZ]

You probably cleaned out noise in +5v.

[Logistics]

Excellent! One thing I was having trouble with before a re-install of WinXP I did a month or two ago was the USB not running at 2.0, correctly. It would dumb-down to 1.1 with USB sticks and my iPod Touch. I'm not sure why this was. I only examined the USB Reference Voltage setting in my BIOS days ago so I'm not sure if it being set at medium was why it's been being flakey or not. I'm going to go reinstall iTunes, right now to see how the iPod reacts.

When it would play dumb and go into 1.1 mode it would take iTunes FOREVER to detect the iPod so that I could copy stuff onto it.

[Logistics]

iPod is detecting flawlessly in iTunes and responding quickly. USB sticks are working good, now too! W00T!