Dell XPS 210 with bad caps!

[hardwareguy]

I hate to say it, but there's a modern LGA775 board in the shop tonight.

There are three bad UCC KZG caps on the board, they are 6.3V 3300uf and are 10x25mm in size.

Computer has a Core 2 Duo E4400, all the VRM caps are Fujitsu polymers.

Is this series failure prone or is this slim form factor machine just another Easy Bake Oven for caps? Or could these caps be counterfeit? The appearance is a brown label with white lettering and a triad shaped stamping on the top that appears to be done with good machinery. They LOOK genuine, but are they?

Feel free to discuss.... I'd like an explanation for this one!

[370forlife]

Re: Dell XPS 210 with bad caps!

UCC KZG's are known to be good caps.

With a core 2 duo, it probalby gets pretty hot in there.

[PM650]

Re: Dell XPS 210 with bad caps!

Other members will tell you, KZGs don't like heat and can die, even though they're 'good' caps in every other way. Having a tiny pc case and using them with a hot chip won't do the KZGs any favors, it's a good idea to replace all of them used in the VRM low side, high side is probably fine (low ripple) - if applicable.

[KeriJane]

Re: Dell XPS 210 with bad caps!

Hi Hardwareguy

I'd say it's the heat!

If a manufacturer bothered to use UCC caps, it's probably because they got seriously burned with the cheapies in the recent past.
So.... being suitably cautious as a result they would not likely fall prey to a counterfeit.

A Core2Duo in a teenie case? Hah! We've got a whole building full of PentiumD 540 systems in tiny cases at work! Wow, do they howl at times.
I'm glad that I'm not in the IT department!

Have Fun!
Keri

[PCBONEZ]

Re: Dell XPS 210 with bad caps!

UCC KZG's are known to be good caps.

With a core 2 duo, it probalby gets pretty hot in there.

UCC KZG don't like heat and will fail with no bloating.

I've had several boards with KZG that were stone dead.
No boot, no nuthin'.

-> ALL <- I did was replace the KZG (were not even bloated) and - TA DA!!
~ Fully operational.

.

[hardwareguy]

Re: Dell XPS 210 with bad caps!

Over due update....the board is FUBAR.

The system became so hot that the plastic mounting clips for the GPU heatsink became brittle and the heatsink fell off the GPU (an ATI X1300). Needless to say, the GPU is dead as well.

The CPU, RAM and HDD is good so we are going to build her a new rig in a mid tower ATX case with some good airflow. I'm going to use my pet fans....the 120mm Sythe S-Flex.

I'm probably going to use a Gigabyte P45 board....should be building it in May when she comes down to visit.

[dood]

Re: Dell XPS 210 with bad caps!

Was the exhaust fan dead for it to get so hot? Had a Dimension 8400 where the cpu/case fan had simply stopped running. Fan was still spinning freely, but I think the thermal diode had failed.

[hardwareguy]

Re: Dell XPS 210 with bad caps!

The environmental conditions of the PC are unknown. It wasn't too dusty inside and the fans were still working.

All I know is that it got hot enough to fry some UCC caps and the GPU.

All I have to say is LONG LIVE THE MID TOWER!

[bgavin]

Re: Dell XPS 210 with bad caps!

My experience with Core-2 Duo is with the E8400. I place a lot of these in client installations.

One of the nicest things about E8400 is the 63w power draw, and resultant low heat production. With the stock cooler, they idle around 26~30C, and never hit more than 55C with an hour of PRIME95.

I suspect the heat production is probably from an add-in GPU. They seem to draw more power than the processor.

Heat evacuation is always problematic in small cases. I avoid them for this reason, and advise my clients to avoid them also. If there is any way to rig an extra case exhaust fan, please do so.

Check the fan on the GPU. The card smokes in short order when the fan quits. I use passive cooled video cards instead, and a Rocket V dual 70mm cooler card ($9.95 USD) mounted in an open PCI slot near the video card. This works wonderfully well, also cools the SB and RAM.

You can run HWMonitor.Exe for a look at the board and disk temps. It is a non-installed utility, and leaves nothing on the system or registry.

[bgavin]

Re: Dell XPS 210 with bad caps!

I'm probably going to use a Gigabyte P45 board....should be building it in May when she comes down to visit.

I just finished a system based on the Gigabyte GA-EP45-UDP3 board. The results are excellent in every degree.

DDR2-1066 is 100% stable with Corsair Dominator 2x2gb sticks at 5-5-5-15 and 2.1v. With an E8400 installed, this is the fastest Core-2 board known to Everest.

[hardwareguy]

Re: Dell XPS 210 with bad caps!

Ah isn't it a sweet board? It's my pet P45 board at the moment. FAST as hell, very stable, not fussy, a good BIOS, and reasonably priced.

[hardwareguy]

Re: Dell XPS 210 with bad caps!

The system used a passively cooled GPU.....a Radeon X1300. Theres no way this thing could get as hot as the CPU.

The problem is there's very little airflow in the expansion slot area due to the cramped case. The card got so hot that the board discolored and the plastic HS mounting pins fractured....causing the heatsink to unmount resulting in a fried card.

[ratdude747]

Re: Dell XPS 210 with bad caps!

are you sure the xps logo wasnt a sticker covering an "easy bake" logo?

i had a radeon 9200 do the same thing (only i was shipped a card that was already missing hs) i re-greased the gpu and zip tied on a new heatsink, but "its dead, jim!"