Leaky caps ; but runs great !!

Going in and changing the Stock heatsink on my server comp i noticed that 3 of the capacitors are leaking ... 2 slightly pushed out and a little black stuff on the top and one really bad off the top . The mobo is a MSI MS-6340 , and runs awesome and stable ... should i just let it go ? What problems would i see if they affect the computer ? lockups & reboots ?

Runs great, but won't run great for long...

breez said:

Runs great, but won't run great for long...

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that's what i was gonna say.

you could replace the caps with identical ones if you know how to do that stuff. or you could just get a new board if/when that one goes.

RMA it if you haven't done too much to it or still can.

I think that board is kinda old to get RMA'd.

I hope my BP6 isn't going to have the cap problem, but many do....

I did see some of those for sale in the refurb section of excaliberpc for really cheap. Check there, they might do it or you could at least pick a new one up.

wannaoc said:

I did see some of those for sale in the refurb section of excaliberpc for really cheap. Check there, they might do it or you could at least pick a new one up.

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im not seeing any refurb section @ excaliber

I'd just replace the caps with better rated/quality ones. They're not difficult, and any electronics hobbyist with a good grounded soldering iron could do it. They're also cheap to buy...in industrial applications, we buy them by the kilo.

The specs/part no. should be the text on the side of the capacitor. Desolder them and go buy the correct ones or higher quality equivalent ones. If you dare, or have a friend who really know electronics, uprate the capacitors for better stability. This can very well have an effect on the level of over-clocking you may be able to achieve on this board. At worst, you have a slightly more surge/spike resistant setup.

I'll admit, I don't really know much about mobo designs, but I do know electronics, and better capacitors improves your voltage stability. Mobos from Taiwan (as they all are now) use minimal specification components to lower prices i.e. as low a specification as possible.

I would also get it done as fast as possible before the fluid from the capacitors make a mess of your mobo...that is, if you want it to run a couple more years.