A few weeks ago, I discovered that my gaming rig would no longer power up and immediately jumped to the conclusion that I had another cheap power supply failure (when will I ever learn?). After installing a fresh PS, I was dismayed to find that the PC still would not boot. I tore down the computer and immediately noticed that several caps near the PCI-e slots were bulged and leaking. I'd heard a few rumbles here and there about bad capacitors and a Google search led me here.
After wading through these forums, I determined that I had indeed been beset by the well-known Chemicon KZG problem. Fortunately, it seems that MSI only used these problem caps in one critical area: the PCI-Express slots. All of the caps around the CPU are Sanyo and Panasonic. There are a few other KZG's in other areas on the board but not in any likely high-current areas, I hope. I just ordered enough new capacitors to replace the ones near the slots and with any luck, I'll have my gaming rig back up and running even though I haven't done any PC gaming for almost a year.
With what I've learned here, I know I'll be checking other boards and power supplies for bad caps at the first sign of trouble and do a pre-emptive recap on any that look questionable.
After wading through these forums, I determined that I had indeed been beset by the well-known Chemicon KZG problem. Fortunately, it seems that MSI only used these problem caps in one critical area: the PCI-Express slots. All of the caps around the CPU are Sanyo and Panasonic. There are a few other KZG's in other areas on the board but not in any likely high-current areas, I hope. I just ordered enough new capacitors to replace the ones near the slots and with any luck, I'll have my gaming rig back up and running even though I haven't done any PC gaming for almost a year.
With what I've learned here, I know I'll be checking other boards and power supplies for bad caps at the first sign of trouble and do a pre-emptive recap on any that look questionable.
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