Abit BP6

[rs1n]

Does anyone still use this board? I resurrected mine not too long ago and replaced the 2x466MHz processors with 2x366MHz processors, overclocked to 550MHz (woohoo 100MHz front-side bus!). I only had to replace a single capacitor (which I did a long while ago) and the board seems to still be running stable (prime95 ran several days with no issues, and Quake 3 run in SMP mode with bots fighting themselves for several days nonstop without crashes). I am wondering if I need to replace the other caps (no bulge, no leaks, etc). I also read the bp6.com site, but their admin seems to be forever missing in action and the board seems almost dead. (It sucks that they require membership in order to download any files, too).

Just curious if anyone else here recently resurrected their Abit BP6 and had to do any modifications to get stability.

Thanks,
rs1n

[kc8adu]

Re: Abit BP6

replace all caps.
there is one that needs upgrade on some bp6 for stability issues.number escapes me right now.should be permanently burned in as i fixed so many of these LOL!

[Topcat]

Re: Abit BP6

^
IIRC its EC10. orignal value is 100uF, I stick a 470uF in its place. Wow did that bring back some memories, I havent seen a BP6 for probably close to a decade.

[rs1n]

Re: Abit BP6

Yeah, I replaced EC10 with a Rubycon 470uF 16V. The system had been running quite stable (Prime95 went for a whole week without crashing) and I left Quake 3 running with a bunch of bots for several days and also no crash. So, I wrote "had been running" because the PSU just went out. I found a bulged cap; might be worthwhile to repair the PSU since the ones with -5V rails are hard to come by these days (not that I have any ISA cards anymore). At the same time, one of my 256MB sticks of ECC RAM (used in non-ECC mode) apparently died, too.

So now I'm down to 640MB RAM (replaced with a 128MB stick) and a PSU that has no -5V rail. Nevertheless, after more memtest86, prime95, and quake3 testing, the system seems to be running fine again.

[rs1n]

Re: Abit BP6

Oh yeah, now I remember why I registered! :-) How do I know that the Rubycon cap I bought is not a fake? Is there some easy way to tell? I can post a pic if need be.

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: Abit BP6

yea post a pic of the font on both sides of the cap, i.e. the capacitance and voltage rating and the date code. also post a pic of the top (vent) of the cap as well as the bottom (the bung). most of the time, the wrong bung is a dead giveaway of a fake... so we need at least 4 pics in total.

and nice to see u fixed up some good ol' stuff and brought it back from the ashes. to paraphrase a quote by master yoda,"seeing a bp6 alive, brings warm feelings to my heart!"

[rs1n]

Re: Abit BP6

yea post a pic of the font on both sides of the cap, i.e. the capacitance and voltage rating and the date code. also post a pic of the top (vent) of the cap as well as the bottom (the bung). most of the time, the wrong bung is a dead giveaway of a fake... so we need at least 4 pics in total.

Here is a small gallery of the caps: http://postimg.org/gallery/lzfnim44/

Not that price is any accurate gauge (since anyone can charge higher prices for name brand caps), but I did pay $2.50 for four of them.

and nice to see u fixed up some good ol' stuff and brought it back from the ashes. to paraphrase a quote by master yoda,"seeing a bp6 alive, brings warm feelings to my heart!"

This was the first PC I built myself, so I have a strong attachment to this motherboard. :-)

[momaka]

Re: Abit BP6

Oh yeah, now I remember why I registered! :-) How do I know that the Rubycon cap I bought is not a fake? Is there some easy way to tell? I can post a pic if need be.

Pics would be useful, but also tell us where you got it. eBay is full of counterfeits. Some small local stores could be as well, if they sourced their caps from eBay or some other equally shady place.

*edit*
Those Rubycon caps are rated for 85C only (i.e. general purpose) - they have no business doing anything on a motherboard. Perhaps only good for testing a motherboard that has totally blown caps.