PNY GF4 Ti4200 - blown up cap

[xtort107]

I am afraid that this bad capacitor problem plauges PNY cards as well, I am having to replace 1 cap at least on my card. the card gave me little warning before freezing up completely, so far ive independently tested the card on 3 different mobos and they all give me errors at post. I have since discovered one cap bulged at the top so bad there is a pinhole in the dead center of the top. Im posting this just incase somebody runs across their crashed out geforce card chunking it aside thinking its toast.

I have not replaced the cap yet, still searching for a brand of capacitor that will handle the stresses and not blow up.

original capacitor notes...

its a Canicon 1000uf 6.3v 105 degree Celcius *

electrolytic axial lead radial setup

probably low profile, caps fit the width of a agp slot,


On a note, i have noticed that this identical card appears on the auction site ebay to some frequency DOA, i tend to believe this is the cause for that.

*edit* cap is canicon instead of caricon, needed glasses,

[rugger]

Yep ....

I got a Palit ti4200 card from ebay about 18 months ago. I fitted it with a passive heatsink, and found out a week ago that 2 of the capacitors had died. It had the same dodgy Caricon capacitors as yours. I got all 6 1000uf 6.3V Caricon capacitors replaced by a local TV repairman, and now just have to run a torture test on it. In another machine I have, with a cheap GF4MX in it, I have another bulging Caricon capacitor, so I think Caricon are bad news.

My advice would be to replace ALL 1000uf 6.3V capacitors. I recommend Panasonic FC capacitors, as they are designed for these circuts, are low profile (but a bit wider), and have a long life. (3000h for the 1000uf units at 105C, about 3 times the standard life of these capacitors) The leads seem to be spaced slightly wider then the caricon capacitors, but it does not seem to have been a problem for the TV repairman.

Good luck (now going to switch off and test graphics card)

[willawake]

OK i will add Caricon to the list of badcaps

i suppose you didnt get pics of these caps. Can you check also the spelling of the name because I cant find a reference to Caricon on the net.

[xtort107]

My Mistake

:o I looked again thats not an r in Caricon Its an N, Canicon, youll have to forgive me i got new glasses right after i looked at it

Ive not tried to replace all caps on the board but even when i replaced one it still didnt respond, ive got to find a lot of these panasonic caps and replace it out completely, until then its just a dust collector, i hate it too, i really did like this card alot, had to spend another 100+ dollars and get a 5600 ultra- although i didnt go pny this time, i went with a bfg asylum, and im ill cause benchmarks indicate this card is behind my dead gf4.

[willawake]

i didnt go pny this time, i went with a bfg asylum, and im ill cause benchmarks indicate this card is behind my dead gf4.

those benchmarks were well known, nvidia goes up and down like intel with each series. i have the same but asus. i hardly play games anymore but glad i got it because i am now 1280x1024 with a samsung 173p tft

found the site so thanks, i tried several misspellings before but with no luck
http://www.canicon.com.tw/
so canicon welcome to the hall of shame

hope you get your card fixed. anyway i heard only good things about BFG and their support so great choice.

[bushytails]

I've got two MSI ti4200 cards, neither of which work...

The first card has vertical stripes though 50% of the screen, with the width of the stripes being a constant number of pixels... board doesn't appear physically damaged, so it's probably not repairable. Guy I bought it from (I think I paid $12 for it) said "I believe it works perfectly, but haven't tested it, so I'm selling it AS-IS". sure it does...

The second is physically damaged... when I got it, two large SMT electrolytics were sheared off the board, so I replaced them with radial caps tacked on. Then I noticed a large bypass cap hanging on by one pad, which I tacked back on. Then I noticed half the output filter and protection parts were missing off the vga output, which I jumpered over, figuring signal quality would suck but it might function. Then I noticed about 10 places next to one of the ram chips, that I thought were just unused pads, had actually contained parts, including an 8-pin something-or-other. Then the board got thrown into the scrap pile...


If someone wants them (as a pair), feel free to make an offer... chances are neither is good for anything other than stealing the caps and shiny fansinks.


Update: Hrrmph! Just noticed a SMT cap broken off the first board... it looks like just a bypass cap though, and is in parallel with another cap, so I don't think it's the cause of the stripes...


--Randy

[xtort107]

If someone wants them (as a pair), feel free to make an offer... chances are neither is good for anything other than stealing the caps and shiny fansinks.

dont take this the wrong way, i dont think your suppose to advertise on a board, although i wouldnt mind taking you up on the offer, what kind of money are we talkin here.

[kc8adu]

the one with racing stripes likely has a bad ram chip.
did someone put these in the rock tumbler before you got them?
and i dont see a problem with the offer to sell the cards.
its not like it is a blatent for sale post.

[xtort107]

did someone put these in the rock tumbler before you got them?

I wasnt gonna mention anything but these cards have been a little man handled it seems, but if the caps havent been completely ripped apart im still intrested in them,

and i dont see a problem with the offer to sell the cards.
its not like it is a blatent for sale post.

I know how boards can and do turn into a all out swap meet so, i didnt want it to sound like im turning this thread into an auction site, id like the cards though if the price is right.

ya hear that bushytails, im openin the bid, whatta want for them?

[xtort107]

I probably shouldnt mention this here but ive managed to get a hold of a ton of computer stuff with bad caps, ive got 2 motherboards, one soyo, and one i cant figure out yet, a psu, and this geforce card. im gonna post their details in seperate threads, what is it with electronic companies building things with the lowest bid componets? Makes no sense, i wouldnt want to be helt accountable for selling, and for that matter building crap.

[synaptic]

Re: PNY GF4 Ti4200 - blown up cap

I probably shouldnt mention this here but ive managed to get a hold of a ton of computer stuff with bad caps, ive got 2 motherboards, one soyo, and one i cant figure out yet, a psu, and this geforce card. im gonna post their details in seperate threads, what is it with electronic companies building things with the lowest bid componets? Makes no sense, i wouldnt want to be helt accountable for selling, and for that matter building crap.

Consumers demand that manufacturers use the cheapest parts through the use of their pocketbook. If Company A and Company B offer otherwise identical products but Company A's product it 20% cheaper, why would anyone buy Company B's product? With no accountability other than rumors and anecdotal experiences, there is no real penalty for these companies, especially those overseas. This capacitor problem cries out for a class-action lawsuit.
</rant>

This is my first post here. I've been troubleshooting a kt7a-raid motherboard issue for the past week and have done everything I could think of before I stumbled upon a link in the Abit forums. Sure enough, cap C2 is at an angle with leaking electrolyte at the bottom and caps C3-C5 are bulging on the top. There was also an odor like ammonia or cat urine that I hadn't noticed before and no, I don't have a cat.

So I went into my spare bedroom filled with dead, dying, or otherwise obsolete components and the first card I looked at was a GeForce4 MX 420 from PNY Technologies, Inc. (part no: GF4MX420AGP VCG4MX42APB). This has 4 capacitors and the one closest to the GPU/heatsink is bulging on top with leaking electrolyte from the top. The next closest one is bulging on top. These are either caps C33 & C34 or C24 & C25, hard to tell from the way it's printed on the board. The other two caps look ok but are probably doomed or dying since they are all the now infamous Canicon 1000uF 6.3V 105C electrolytics.

I really liked this card and intend to replace these caps. This site is a godsend.

The pattern I'm noticing is that any caps near components that get very hot tend to be the ones dying. I had some chronic cooling problems, multiple fans with bearings going bad, etc. and that was about the time I started noticing performance degredation and stability problems. I am excited about what kind of performance improvements and stability I will have once these are repaired. Hell, I should probably start testing the caps of all new devices prior to installation.

Regards,

Synaptic

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: My Mistake

im ill cause benchmarks indicate this card is behind my dead gf4.

That's probably because of a driver problem. You're probably required to reformat the HDD then reinstall Windows after changing video cards. I remembered that when I didn't, I started getting lock-ups. After reinstalling Windows, make sure that the chipset drivers are installed before installing the video card drivers. Please reformat the HDD, reinstall Windows then install the chipset drivers then install the video card drivers and try again.

[goop]

Re: PNY GF4 Ti4200 - blown up cap

What kind of specs are common in 6.3V 1000uf caps on graphics cards, in terms of ESR and ripple current?

I have the same PNY card with the same Canicon 6.3V 1000uf 7mm diameters caps. There is no model number so I do not know the expected specs, assuming it matters.

[Pentium4]

Re: PNY GF4 Ti4200 - blown up cap

What kind of specs are common in 6.3V 1000uf caps on graphics cards, in terms of ESR and ripple current?

I have the same PNY card with the same Canicon 6.3V 1000uf 7mm diameters caps. There is no model number so I do not know the expected specs, assuming it matters.

For that value, anywhere from the 0.03-0.05Ω range should be good

[goop]

Re: PNY GF4 Ti4200 - blown up cap

No risk of going too low?

[Pentium4]

Re: PNY GF4 Ti4200 - blown up cap

You could go lower and be fine, it's just usually not worth the cost of a more expensive cap such as a polymer for a card like that

[goop]

Re: PNY GF4 Ti4200 - blown up cap

In the case of these 1000uF caps I just don't know what the originals are. If dropping ESR drastically could lead to adverse effects the replacement could end up not working right.

Generally I don't plan to buy better than needed, but even when I do know what the original specs are I can't necessarily find equal or close ESR caps, so the only option may be to go lower.

[Pentium4]

Re: PNY GF4 Ti4200 - blown up cap

It shouldn't be too picky, and if it's on the VRM, you'd want Ultra Low ESR. Can you post a picture?

[goop]

Re: PNY GF4 Ti4200 - blown up cap

Found a photo online.


The obviously bad caps are above the VGA connector, next to the inductor: a 1000uF and a 1500uF, both 6.3V. I've used the card quite some time after it started acting up. I'm guessing the failed 1500uF lead to the premature death of the 1000uF next to it?

The rest are visually okay. They are all the same 1000uF 6.3V except for the lower one at the right edge, above the RAM, which is 470uF 16V.

Interestingly, on my card the metallic SMD can cap behind the VGA connector (C1405) is not present. Instead there's a tiny black SMD cap that reads A106. The same A106 is also used at C1407 right above it (where there's an orange cap in the photo).