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Ark42
Member
Last Activity: 02-26-2008, 12:59 AM
Joined: 04-06-2004
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
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  • Ark42
    replied to Buying parts for a new computer...
    in General Computer & Tech Discussion
    Re: Buying parts for a new computer...

    I appreciate the rants and understand brands vs models

    I'm going to be building at least 2 (one for me, one for a frield) computers, and my friends intentions are to "play Surpreme Commander fast and smooth". The games I play right now are not all that graphically invovled (Age Of Mythology) but regardless, we'll be buying new middle-high end stuff, so it lasts into the future. I'm considering the nVidia 680i chipset (probably cheaper than 780i, but still fairly new). We do not overclock, because stability is a key...
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  • Ark42
    started a topic Buying parts for a new computer...
    in General Computer & Tech Discussion

    Buying parts for a new computer...

    What are the known-good brands for motherboards/power supplies right now? Are Abit and Seasonic still good? Last I knew, those were about my only choices for good-cap stuff from Newegg.com. I'm entirely sick of Epox, Asus, and Antec now.

    I'll probably be going to Intel Core 2 Duo, after ~10 years of all AMD systems from K6-2, Athlon 1.33, Athlon XP 2200+, to Athlon X2 4200+. Anybody recommend Intel or nVidia chipsets over the other? I've used nForce boards for quite a while, and they've been quite good other than the exploding caps.
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  • Ark42
    replied to Antec TruePower Trio 430W
    in Troubleshooting Power Supplies and Power Supply Design
    Re: Antec TruePower Trio 430W

    Is there a quick reference of good/bad brands? There are so many, I forget which are well known after a while.

    I remember Fuhjyyu from that other Antec I just pulled a short while back (also posted about here) Those were already bulging after only ~8 months.
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    Last edited by Ark42; 04-25-2007, 11:26 PM.

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  • Ark42
    started a topic Antec TruePower Trio 430W
    in Troubleshooting Power Supplies and Power Supply Design

    Antec TruePower Trio 430W

    The one I just put in my system to replace the Antec TruePower 2.0 480W, was just removed after only a few short weeks to make room for the SeaSonic S12-430W.

    I cracked open the Trio 430W to find Teapo, Ce-Tur, and RLX brand caps in there. Teapo I already know is a bad brand from my Epox motherboards in the past.
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  • Ark42
    replied to Antec TruePower 2.0 480W
    in Troubleshooting Power Supplies and Power Supply Design
    Re: Antec TruePower 2.0 480W

    I prefer to order from Newegg, and there are a lot of different brands at [url]http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=58&name=Power-Supplies[/url]
    Unfortunately, the cheapest one I see from these brands is around $95. Is that what it costs to get a decent power supply?
    I'll probably have to get that Seasonic 430W then in the not to distant future.

    No, I don't plan on recapping the 480W Antec. I recapped quite a few Epox motherboards and I don't really want to spend all the time on that now.Re: Antec...
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  • Ark42
    started a topic Antec TruePower 2.0 480W
    in Troubleshooting Power Supplies and Power Supply Design

    Antec TruePower 2.0 480W

    So my computer is on it's 3rd pair of DDR2 sticks (Crucial DDR2-800 2x512MB kit) and 2nd motherboard (Abit KN9 SLI), and I decide to just replace the power supply, thinking that might be the reason things keep randomly crashing. The RAM is probably bad, killed by the PSU, but the other motherboard may still be good. Here are some pics of the Antec TruePower 2.0 480W.

    The fails caps are the two 470uF 10V at least. All of the caps in the thing are the brand Fuhjyyu.

    My only regret is I replaced this with an Antec TruePower Trio 430W. I guess I had thought maybe Antec...
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  • Ark42
    started a topic HeroIchi HEC-300GR PSU
    in Troubleshooting Power Supplies and Power Supply Design

    HeroIchi HEC-300GR PSU

    It just keeps randomly turning off for some reason. Well, that reason is several very large capacitors seem to be leaking brown crud. Add another thing to the list of devices using junk caps.
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  • Ark42
    replied to New AM2 board, what brand?
    in General Computer & Tech Discussion
    Re: New AM2 board, what brand?

    Does the Abit KN9 have a 3 phase VRM?
    [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127236[/url]Re: New AM2 board, what brand?<br />...13127236[/url]
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  • Ark42
    started a topic New AM2 board, what brand?
    in General Computer & Tech Discussion

    New AM2 board, what brand?

    Abit, Asus, Gigabyte, or MSI? Any of those companies still known to have bad capacitors on new boards? I'm leaning towards getting some Abit KN9's. I really like boards with no fans.
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  • Ark42
    replied to Buying brand new boards?
    in General Computer & Tech Discussion
    Re: Buying brand new boards?



    I want to avoid as many fans as possible in my next system. I'm sick of these things sounding like vacuum cleaners...
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  • Ark42
    replied to Buying brand new boards?
    in General Computer & Tech Discussion
    Re: Buying brand new boards?

    Ouch, it seems like its going to be hard to get something that isn't going to fall apart in a year. What defines "enthusiast boards"? A bunch of stuff most people don't need like RAID and status LEDs, or just anything except the ones with SiS chipsets and integrated video?
    I try to stick with Via chipsets in the past, and now nForce boards. Definately don't need integrated video, but don't nee RAID or anything fancy either.
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  • Ark42
    started a topic Buying brand new boards?
    in General Computer & Tech Discussion

    Buying brand new boards?

    So its come time again to upgrade a few computers, and I've got no idea what brands to stay away from. Last time I went with Epox boards, and before that Abit boards, and everything ends up with bad caps in the end. Are bad caps still the problem they were years back, or are things finally starting to clear up? Are there any safe-bet brands to buy? Does Abit still stick to only good japanese caps? How is Asus now?
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  • Ark42
    replied to Epox diagrams
    in Troubleshooting Desktop Motherboards, Graphics Cards, and PC Peripherals
    One of my boards had a small 1500 8mm there, the other had a 1000 8mm there, so I guess 1000 is fine, but 1500 works too, so its not really an error.
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  • Ark42
    replied to Desoldering?
    in Equipment Usage, Soldering, Techniques, and Reviews
    I got a few boards changed since that post.
    My tool of choice for both desoldering and solding the new caps on is the 40W desoldering iron from radioshack with the built-in solder-sucker bulb thing.
    I like it because the tip is a cone with a hole, not a point, and you can put it around a lead sticking out the back of the board to more easily desolder things.
    I use it to solder new caps on as well for the same reason - I found if you cut the leads to near the proper length, its a lot easier to force them through holes without even trying to clean out the old solder first. The...
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  • Ark42
    replied to Gigabyte GA586VX Socket 7 - Bad caps
    in Troubleshooting Desktop Motherboards, Graphics Cards, and PC Peripherals
    Mmm... is that a COAST slot?
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  • Ark42
    started a topic Memory trouble?
    in General Computer & Tech Discussion

    Memory trouble?

    It seems on most all of the Epox boards I have, that once random BSODs start, and I RMAed the boards the first time, most of the boards still did not work when they came back. I ended up RMAing 3x crucial DIMMs to fix the problems on a couple of boards. Now that I'm replacing the caps myself, I only replaced 5 on this first boards, the only one that was showing random crashes (only in 3D games), but it seems it still crashes now and then. I wonder if a stick of memory flaked out because of the caps, or if some of the other non-buldging caps are still suspect.
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  • Ark42
    replied to Desoldering?
    in Equipment Usage, Soldering, Techniques, and Reviews
    With my boards, I dont think that would work. I tried heating the hole and sticking the new cap in (I did not cut the leads) but it did not go in at all. The solder in the very center of the hole would stay solid no matter what I tried.
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  • Ark42
    replied to Desoldering?
    in Equipment Usage, Soldering, Techniques, and Reviews
    People told me to try that, but it did not work. I tried tinning the leads of the cap and heating the lead with the iron, and also heating the back of the hole with the iron, trying to push the cap leads through the solder, but the solder stays solid and thus the cap can't push through. I think when the old cap is there, its lead helps draw heat around the solder, melts it just long enough to pull the cap out, but then I can never re-melt that piece of solder in the center. Say the hole is 1mm wide and 6mm deep, I can clean out the top 2mm or so from either side using the iron and sucker, but...
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  • Ark42
    replied to Desoldering?
    in Equipment Usage, Soldering, Techniques, and Reviews
    I'm really thinking there has to be an easier way to clean holes. I spent all frickin day picking at these holes with all kinds of things from paperclips, pieces of wire, thumbtacks, needles, etc. I tried adding a blob of fresh solder and using the bulb and vacuum to suck away solder from the hole, but the center of the hole stays solid no matter what I do. I have not tried a drill yet, but I'm thinking of finding a bit that is 1mm or smaller and using it next time.
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  • Ark42
    replied to Desoldering?
    in Equipment Usage, Soldering, Techniques, and Reviews
    The 45W really made things easier. I managed to finally replace the 5 bulging caps on one of my 8K7A boards. Having never soldering before this, I was surprised when the thing actually booted back into windows without any issues when I put the computer back together.
    I found that soldering is pretty easy, and desoldering is not so bad either. But if the hole gets filled with solder after a cap is removed it becomes a nightmare to clean the hole in preparation for a new cap. I eventually got out a sowing needle and just picked away at the hole until it was clear for one particularly stubborn...
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