Bad caps on XFX 79xx AGP cards?

[dingo99]

The attached pic is from XFX's 7950GT AGP graphics card, but the same board is used for their 7900GS AGP model. The blue/gold electrolytics are Evercon, but any idea what the 470uf silver/black caps are? Markings on them are:

68
470
16A

[linuxguru]

Re: Bad caps on XFX 79xx AGP cards?

Evercon = GSC = crap. You should replace the Evercons first.

[kc8adu]

Re: Bad caps on XFX 79xx AGP cards?

those are 470@16
+1 on purge it of evercons first.
change the black/gold ones too.

[dingo99]

Re: Bad caps on XFX 79xx AGP cards?

Could these junk Evercons be so bad as to take out the board within a week? Or does such an early failure point to poor power design and/or other cheap components contributing?

This board lasted five days before going bad (flickering/fading as if losing power), though I saw no obvious signs of distress on the board. In other forums, I've seen two reports of cap explosions on these boards, both within the first month of operation.

Just trying to figure out if the thing is worth recapping or if it's just rubbish to start with. It would be a really nice video card if it weren't for the reliability problems.

Here's a view of the whole power section, if it helps:

[gonzo0815]

Re: Bad caps on XFX 79xx AGP cards?

Well, if it is a new card RMA it.
The design is likely a standard design may be from Nvidia.
But this design is made primarily with solid polymer capacitors in mind, electrolytic caps are fore sure not suited for this kind of application (e.g. small values, high temperatures, high ripple currents).
Furthermore there are many unpopulated silkscreen marks, where additional caps should have supported the load.

So i think this card is shamelessy and i a real stupid way skimped down, to cut the cost, or in other words a POS.
I could imagine that a such overstressed caps will most likely vent after a short time.

If you want to try a recap for whatever reasons, i would highly recommend some high grade solid polymer caps like Sanyo Oscon.

But keep in mind, that there are some issues with early dieing NV7900 GFX cards, which was caused by the chip itself.

[linuxguru]

Re: Bad caps on XFX 79xx AGP cards?

Yup, that's a cut-down, cut-corners converter section, with several components omitted/downsized. If it's out of the return/warranty window, there's a fair chance that you can fix it by upgrading the caps.

[dingo99]

Re: Bad caps on XFX 79xx AGP cards?

Well, the store agreed to give me a refund and waive the restocking fee, so back it goes. Guess I have one more thing to look out for when shopping for video cards. Thanks for the help!