MSI MS-6312 Used in Gateway Flex System - Bad Capacitors

[davmax]

Re: MSI MS-6312 Used in Gateway Flex System - Bad Capacitors

IF you are in the US ask Topcat the forum owner to supply what you need. Just note the values of the caps and quantity you need to replace and send him a private message. He will know what to supply.

[kc8adu]

Re: MSI MS-6312 Used in Gateway Flex System - Bad Capacitors

IF you are in the US ask Topcat the forum owner to supply what you need. Just note the values of the caps and quantity you need to replace and send him a private message. He will know what to supply.

i am sure tc has a kit for these.
i still get a ton of these boards in for service.
lots of them in pos boxes.
i have 3 in testing that have speedway bios logo's instead of gateway.

[3991vhtes]

Re: MSI MS-6312 Used in Gateway Flex System - Bad Capacitors

I just got this motherboard, and it needs the capacitors replaced.

The values are 10v and 1500uF

Could I replace these caps with 10v 1000uF caps off another board? Or should I use 10v 1500uF caps?

The brand on these caps are Luxon (on the motherboard).

[nintendo1889]

Re: MSI MS-6312 Used in Gateway Flex System - Bad Capacitors

Hello everyone.

I've been trying to fix one of those gateway computers with this motherboard. I can see that the two large capacitors that are closest to the memory slots are bulging. Also the two by the power supply look like they have dust from the power supply fan.

I realize how crappy my A+ class was after reading this forum. The books didn't even mention bad capacitors. Now I'm worried about what else I don't know about fixing computers.

Should I always check the capacitors first, before going through other stuff? In what order do the great techs troubleshoot a system? I've been following the flowchart from "Computer Repair With Diagnostic Flowcharts", especially the boot failure troubleshooting poster, which doesn't mention capacitors.

[He's Dead Jim]

Re: MSI MS-6312 Used in Gateway Flex System - Bad Capacitors

hi everyone...

i'm gonna recap one of these very soon for an experiment i'm doing with my nephews....

none of the caps look bad, but i know from past experience that at least 2 or 3 of them will have leaked from the bottom....

although this pc will freeze up once in a blue moon, the main problem with it is that it has gotten way slower over the years....

i can't even play a video without it stuttering every minute or so....

i am also putting it in a newer case and maxing it out the cpu and memory that sits on my shelves.....lol..

should i make a new thread to post the step by step, or just post some pics of the results on this thread??

waddaya think??

[PCBONEZ]

Re: MSI MS-6312 Used in Gateway Flex System - Bad Capacitors

Anyone ever find a motherboard that would replace the MSI MS-6312 (Used in Gateway Flex System w/ printer port) that seems to be a piece of junk. I have two of them with the same cap problem you all have been talking about, and wonder if replacing the whole motherboard would be less frustrating, (but not replacing it with the same piece of junk).

If you go with same vintage [P3] board the chance of getting more bad caps is very good. For matter the chance of getting bad caps on anything made between 1999 and 2004 is pretty darned good.

If you go with a newer board the PSU will need upgraded as P3 powered CPU from +5v and newer powers it from +12v. There wasn't enough +12v amps on old P3 PSUs. You will of course also need the new CPU and RAM.
- Might as well just buy another complete or bare-bones system and start over.

.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: MSI MS-6312 Used in Gateway Flex System - Bad Capacitors

hi everyone...

i'm gonna recap one of these very soon for an experiment i'm doing with my nephews....

none of the caps look bad, but i know from past experience that at least 2 or 3 of them will have leaked from the bottom....

although this pc will freeze up once in a blue moon, the main problem with it is that it has gotten way slower over the years....

i can't even play a video without it stuttering every minute or so....

i am also putting it in a newer case and maxing it out the cpu and memory that sits on my shelves.....lol..

should i make a new thread to post the step by step, or just post some pics of the results on this thread??

waddaya think??

Sounds good to me.
.

[SchoolDaGeek]

Re: MSI MS-6312 Used in Gateway Flex System - Bad Capacitors

Hello Everyone, Reviving this thread after nearly 4 months.....my first post...

I am trying to fix one of these boards for a friend, and here are my two dilemmas:

1. No one ever answered an earlier question about the max CPU that this board can support or even whether it supports 100 or 133FSB at all. When I got this board it was working although the 2 capacitors near the VRM/Mofset were already bulging slightly at the top with brown ooze. My plan was to replace them and all the others on the board, but I wanted to first test an alternate processor in it....well, that was a mistake by me! As soon as the faster processor was in it, went from a 1.65v Celeron 66FSB to a 1.5v Celeron 100FSB the board sizzled right there on my lap! So again I ask the community if anyone knows the top processor this board will accept, either through Intels 6 letter marking or as specific as possible with specs.

2. The second question is since the board was about 18 inches from my face on my lap I immediately smelled the cooking while waiting to see if it would POST and as I looked down the VRM/Mofset chip was already bubbling its solder 'heatsink' plate on the board. I immediately pulled the plug and that was that. All in all it cooked for 10 seconds max. My question is with this much damage what are my normal chances for reviving the board now even if I change all the caps correctly and also replace the Mofset chip? It is a 50N03LT. I'd like some good input before I commit to the work and possibly mucking up some good caps that could be saved for another job.

THANKS EVERYONE! LOVE THE FORUM.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: MSI MS-6312 Used in Gateway Flex System - Bad Capacitors

Your motherboard does not support Tualatin cores which are on the 0.13 micron process.
It does support Copper Mine cores built on the 0.18 micron process.
They use CPU different voltages.

I recommend you check here -before- you slap the next CPU in.
http://processorfinder.intel.com/list.aspx?ProcFam=49
http://processorfinder.intel.com/list.aspx?ProcFam=25

You board has an i810E chipset.
The "E" is important as that means it DOES support 133 FSB CPU's and RAM.
Most versions of the i810 chipset don't.
http://pixel01.cps.intel.com/design/...s/810/810e.htm

VRM MOSFETs should be replaced in pairs.
I can't tell you if it's rare, medium, or well done.
If it's melted solder then probably the latter.

The max RAM on that is 512Mb which as you have 3 slots you can get to by using either [2] 256Mb low density modules [16 chips, 8 per-side] ,or, one of those and two single sided 128Mb modules.
Board was probably built when 256Mb modules were rare and docs may assume only 128Mb are used. If so it will say 384Mb max for the board but usually BIOS updates are newer than those docs and 512MB total works fine as long as it's low density RAM in one of the configurations I gave you.
.

[SchoolDaGeek]

Re: MSI MS-6312 Used in Gateway Flex System - Bad Capacitors

Well I acquired a used board for $4.50 so it saves me wasting caps on a pair of bad VRMs. This board boots fine, no leaking or bulging caps, so it is a perfect candidate for the replacement.

I am going with the 2200ufs as well just like the OP as that is all I have on hand. The board is booting fine with an SL5QJ Coppermine-T so that is plenty, as it was the highest stepping Intel made in the Coppermine process with Tulalatin core.

The only downside is the new board has one center pin broken on the heatsink retainer so I have to change the heatsink to one that has the AMD style three openings on each side to grab the two side pins. I'll probably throw some hot glue in there as well as it is never going to come back out anyway with all these improvements to it.

Pretty neat little box, I plan on getting something similar for myself and just using it as a 500gb uTorrent fileserver on DMZ.

Thanks to everyone who responded, if I have further trouble I'll come back!

[SchoolDaGeek]

Re: MSI MS-6312 Used in Gateway Flex System - Bad Capacitors

Well after a long night I am back! This darn thing was so finicky, I changed out processors several times but it finally took to the Coppermine-T after struggling with a BIOS update.

My NEW question is if the Nippon Chemi-con 2200uf-10v LXY capacitors now installed are low ESR or low ripple? I am getting shaky video. All the drivers are installed, etc. The shaky video starts at low rez before Windows is really booting.

[SchoolDaGeek]

Re: MSI MS-6312 Used in Gateway Flex System - Bad Capacitors

The DataSheet states 1690 mArms/105c,100khz and I don't know if that is low or high.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: MSI MS-6312 Used in Gateway Flex System - Bad Capacitors

Low ESR goes with High Ripple.
That's not like a rule it just works out that way.

LXY are Low ESR but far from the lowest.
About like Panny FC.
Okay in most places on a mobo but not usually desireable in RAM or CPU power.
On a P3 board KZE [2360 mArms] or better is more typical in CPU or RAM power.

But,, some boards use more caps vs better grades.
What I mean is one board might use 2x KZE and another uses 3x LXY to do the same thing.
That's one of the reasons it's best to look up the specs of the old caps and use that as the minimum grade for replacements. Unfortunately with crap brands or old out of production series' it isn't always possible to find a data sheet.
.

[SchoolDaGeek]

Re: MSI MS-6312 Used in Gateway Flex System - Bad Capacitors

Well the video is fine at 800x600, at every setting from 72hz-100hz, it is just when I try 1024x768, even at 60hz, so it will do for now! I gotta get stocked up on some low ESR caps in the higher values.

[cmh385]

Re: MSI MS-6312 Used in Gateway Flex System - Bad Capacitors

A friend of mine has a Gateway with MSI MS-6312 inside. The disk (20GB, window XP) is dead and he is trying to install Window XP with a new disk (40GB). It seem the PC reading the files from CD fine. However, the PC hangs every time he select to install (presses the Enter key - I think) with "Please wait ...." at the bottom of the screen. All the caps are looking fine. Could this is because of the bad caps?

[PCBONEZ]

Re: MSI MS-6312 Used in Gateway Flex System - Bad Capacitors

Yes. - Not all bad caps bloat so:
A visual inspection of caps
- Can tell you they are bad.
- It can NOT tell you they are good.

The only way to know -for sure- about the condition of caps is to remove and test them with a DMM and an ESR meter.
[Or if you have an O'scope setup and a lot of patience. I don't have that much patience so I never learned how to do it that way. .]

Most people don't have an ESR meter so they replace caps with a history of problems.
Figuring out and exchanging info about what those are is why there is so much discussion here.

For Low ESR Electrolytics in general:
-
Non-Japanese Brands
-> Always suspect bad. Many brands ARE bad. Too inconsistent in quality to call any of them good all the time.
-
Chemicon KZG & KZJ
-> Series' of a Japanese brand known to fail without bloating, especially near heat.
-
Nichicon HN & HM made from 2001-2004
-> Series' of a Japanese brand with a known manufacturing defect.
-
Caps with 85C temp ratings [no matter how small]
-> Often dry out and fail in 3-5 years.
-
Any brand [including Japanese] that has been in a system with inadequate cooling or connected to a bad PSU.

~ Yes, motherboard caps could absolutely be the [or part of the] problem but they aren't the only possible problem.
[Off the top of my head.]
- Check the PSU including it's caps.
- Lasers in optical drives wear out after a while.
- Bad or poorly connected data cables.
- Bad install CD.

.