Dell used to be really good quality....

[mockingbird]

Re: Dell used to be really good quality....

Because there just there to link two circuits together. It could be a jumper wire instead.

Some of the caps will be Low ESR, some will be general purpose. The best thing is to traw a diagram of all the wiring, then desolder the wiring to get the PCB free, and then mark, measure, and identify all the caps.

List them here along with the series and I will tell you what to get.

As for my preferences, I like UCC the best.

[TheLaw]

Re: Dell used to be really good quality....

I think I can get the right replacements. But Low-ESR, High Ripple Current? Any series you like in particular? Almost anything has to be better than this crap.

I think I'm going to do a full recap...

Are coupling capacitors electrolytic? And what is the reason behind not replacing them?

Thanks for all of the help.

[mockingbird]

Re: Dell used to be really good quality....

1) Yea looks like you have an older GX150. The GX150s I work on all have the Pentium 1.13 chips and they have two 6.2 2200 HM/KZG/MBZ on the VRM which sticks up from the board, and 5 more HM/KZG/MBZ on the board.

2) That Teapo primary does look bulged. I would replace every last capacitor in the PSU, except for the coupling capacitors (Though I don't know how to identify a coupling capacitor).

If you need help, I can point you in the right direction regarding which replacements to get.

[TheLaw]

Re: Dell used to be really good quality....

Getting back to the Dell thing. I just decided to pop open the GX150's power supply. Mockingbird, you were almost dead on. It had two Teapos on the primary/PFC circuit. There's no active PFC so there's a 115/230V switch on the back, and hence the two caps. Could be making that up...believe I'm right.


Anyway, two Teapos and the rest are G-Luxon. I'm starting to regret making this thread now. Enterprise workstations with G-Luxon? Yeah aaaight.

There are in fact two swollen G-Luxons in the PSU which makes me think that perhaps the computer is running like shit because of some faulty ripple suppression or something. The others don't look all that hot either. They aren't swollen but I doubt they've stood up to 8 years of wear and tear too well.

So if a PSU has bad caps, can it harm your motherboard etc.? What I am trying to say is: If I replace the caps for a new bucks, would it be pointless "now that the damage has been done"? Or would it be an okay idea. I don't use it much anymore, but it was actually quite zippy (for an 833MHz computer) up until about 2 years ago.

The KZGs the GX150 is being accused of seems to be either a false accusation or I just have a lucky model. I have around 3 OSCONs, and around 4-5 UCC LXYs. So no KZGs in sight.

Anyway, here are some pictures. (Still working on my photography, don't hate!) Since all the Chemi-cons were conveniently placed that I could not fit the camera lense to snap a photo of the printing, you just get the date codes etc. However, trust me when I say they were LXYs.

Za pictures...

UCC LXY:


Teapos (these look swollen to you guys?):


G-Luxon:


Swollen:

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Dell used to be really good quality....

Pentium D...Two P4s on one chip. Wtf were they thinking? What was the TDP on those bad boys? 200W?

95 to 130 watts.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Dell used to be really good quality....

[scotty]Laddie, don't you think you should rephrase that?[/scotty]

I must disagree strongly with you here.

Go right ahead. - I really don't care.
And I'm standing by what I said.

[mockingbird]

Re: Dell used to be really good quality....

Outside of those situations the extra cores just don't do much so there is really no point in having them in a PC. [PC = PERSONAL Computer.]
.

[scotty]Laddie, don't you think you should rephrase that?[/scotty]

I must disagree strongly with you here.

[TheLaw]

Re: Dell used to be really good quality....

seems like you never had a Pentium 4 or Pentium D if you call a C2D hot-running..

(or you're using crappy coolers lol)

Pentium D...Two P4s on one chip. Wtf were they thinking? What was the TDP on those bad boys? 200W?

[TheLaw]

Re: Dell used to be really good quality....

They're a nightmare. Very tough to get into all the crevices. I think the caps are LTEC and Teapo last time I checked.

Oh really....well seeing that I don't use this computer much, maybe I'll give it a look. Eww Ltec and Teapo? Teapo is usually alright. Not the best, but Ltecs. Shame shame.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Dell used to be really good quality....

With the exception of mobile versions, some Xeons, and those branded 'Extreme' all the 45nm & 65nm '2-Core' 'Core architecture' CPUs are 65 watts TDP.
[The 45nm 2-core is no different than the 65nm 2-core in that aspect.]

As a point of reference:
The fastest P4 [Netburst] with less TDP is a 2.6/512/400 or a 2.53/512/533.
- And unlike the 'core' CPU's, those P4's have no form of 'Speed-Step' so the 'core' CPUs actual power use [and heat dissipation] is much less than their TDP implies when comparing then to a P4 Netburst.

-
Short of bad cooling or a poorly designed motherboard I can't see any way for a Core based 2-core to be considered as one that 'runs hot'.

Now, some of the 4-cores run hotter.
- But AFAIK there is no -practical- use for a 4-core outside of an Enterprise Class server or a 'serous' workstation. [And I mean 'Workstation' by the industry definition.]
Outside of those situations the extra cores just don't do much so there is really no point in having them in a PC. [PC = PERSONAL Computer.]
.

[Scenic]

Re: Dell used to be really good quality....

Yours is a 45nm. I think those do better.

there's virtually no difference.. maybe 1-3°C .. it's not like they run 10+°C cooler or something lol

my 65nm Core 2 Quad Q6600 overclocked from 2.4 to 3.6 currently idles at 33°C with a 92mm fan at roughly 950rpm. (old cpu-z validation with lower multiplier)
and my old Core 2 Duo E4300 which was OCed from 1.8 to 3GHz wasn't really hot-running either.. (same cooler.. Arctic Freezer 7 Pro in the old revision (black fan blades & not i3/i5/i7 mounting compatible))

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Dell used to be really good quality....

I think Dell has gone downhill trying to keep production costs low so they can sell a 299$ computer. I also believe that alienware which is owned by dell now has gone downhill i have repaired two of the laptops in the last month and one about 2 years old had bad memory and the other had a bad motherboard. I love it when people buy the cheapest computer they can find then they complain that it is slow and after two years parts begin to fail.

So who is doing better then?

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: Dell used to be really good quality....

yeah, core 2s run cool. On my one, the temp. control never even turns the fan on for anything but heavy load stuff like gaming (and even then, it runs quite slow like 500RPM), although my case does have excellent ventilation.

EDIT: That's with an overclock from 3GHz to 3.6GHz, so it would probably run a bit cooler without the overclock.

Yours is a 45nm. I think those do better.

[gerg]

Re: Dell used to be really good quality....

I think Dell has gone downhill trying to keep production costs low so they can sell a 299$ computer. I also believe that alienware which is owned by dell now has gone downhill i have repaired two of the laptops in the last month and one about 2 years old had bad memory and the other had a bad motherboard. I love it when people buy the cheapest computer they can find then they complain that it is slow and after two years parts begin to fail.

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: Dell used to be really good quality....

seems like you never had a Pentium 4 or Pentium D if you call a C2D hot-running..

(or you're using crappy coolers lol)

Mine is hard to cool, even with a better heatsink and low Vcore.
Reminds me of "Bloomfield" chips!

[c_hegge]

Re: Dell used to be really good quality....

yeah, core 2s run cool. On my one, the temp. control never even turns the fan on for anything but heavy load stuff like gaming (and even then, it runs quite slow like 500RPM), although my case does have excellent ventilation.

EDIT: That's with an overclock from 3GHz to 3.6GHz, so it would probably run a bit cooler without the overclock.

[Scenic]

Re: Dell used to be really good quality....

Also, I would watch out for Conroes, too.

65nm Core 2 Duos tend to run hot. I can see them heating up easily in a crammed case.

seems like you never had a Pentium 4 or Pentium D if you call a C2D hot-running..

(or you're using crappy coolers lol)

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Dell used to be really good quality....

I don't think Dell is any worse than anyone else.
They sell MORE so you see them more often.
.

[mockingbird]

Re: Dell used to be really good quality....

The GX150 SFF with the Rubycons only (They're rare 1 out of ten of them let's say) are always fine. Mind you, there are only seven big caps total on the whole motherboard 7 x 6.2 2200uF MBZ/HM/KZG class. The HMs always fail and the KZGs are hit and miss.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Dell used to be really good quality....

still.. USFF boxes still cook caps.. even rubys..
this might not be too terribly bad of a problem with the much cooler running CPUs we've got nowadays though.. (compared to the P4 hotplates those older Dells used)

~ALL~ USFF & SFF boxes cook caps. - That's not a "Dell issue" either...