DFI Lanparty NF4 bad component.

[JTanczos]

Long time no see!!!

I need some help from the knowledgeable members here. I was given computer with a DFI lanparty NF4 motherboard that had horrible artifacts on the screen. The former owner replaced the northbridge fan by himself which was not exactly the best repair job but it worked. It is NOT the video card because he replaced that first thinking it was bad.

Now here is where I screwed up and need your help. I started turning it into a server. Video artifacts mean nothing to a server. While tinkering around I found a part that looks like a capacitor that had some "gunk" around it. Part number S573 If I slightly moved it the artifacts did not appear when i booted. They would return when the computer came up to temp. When I would press on the part it would shut off the computer. Sometimes the computer wouldn't post until I moved the piece in just the right spot. Well, I tried to slide a piece of paper between the part and the board wondering if it was shorting something and now the computer reboots several times during post.

The Debug lights go in a sequence. 4 lights, 3 *reboot* 4 lights, 3 *reboot* then randomly the 3rd light would stay on then go 3,2,1 but still no video.

If the debug lights go to 1 it should boot! It should have passed post.

Im guessing that the part is directly related to the video of the board. I need to know what it is and how I can find a replacement part. I am more than capable of repairing the board.

It was working fine until I messed with the part.



Thank you

 

[Tech Tweaker]

Is that a DFI SLI-DR?

Sure looks like one. I've got an SLI-DR and SLI-DR Expert myself.

Anyway, I think that component is a capacitor of some sort.

I'd recommend cleaning off the gunk near it with Isopropyl Alcohol/Rubbing Alcohol and some cotton swabs/Q-tips before you try anything else.

Previous owner probably spilled something on the board and it is causing an electrical short.

 

[JTanczos]

Exactly what it is! And I just swapped out the video card off the main PCI-E 16x to the secondary one and it boots... artifacts and all. So does that mean I burned out the main PCI-E slot?

*Edit*
Replaced the video card with a low power ATI HD 5500 and no artifacts. I am a bit perplexed now. He said he replaced the card. Maybe because it is a lower power card.

 

[Tech Tweaker]

Exactly what it is! And I just swapped out the video card off the main PCI-E 16x to the secondary one and it boots... artifacts and all. So does that mean I burned out the main PCI-E slot?

*Edit*
Replaced the video card with a low power ATI HD 5500 and no artifacts. I am a bit perplexed now. He said he replaced the card. Maybe because it is a lower power card.

This question I can answer.

I ran into this same issue before.

Basically the lower power card runs fine because it is able to get enough power while the higher power one cannot. So for some reason the PCI Express slot is not receiving full power, only partial.

I doubt you burned out the main PCI Express slot, highly unlikely. These boards are usually just finicky when it comes to the main slot, if you don't have the graphics card seated just right the system won't post. Seriously, one or two millimeters off and it won't post, even with known working cards.

This sounds like a problem with solder joints to me personally. I've had two or three boards with similar problems.

By the way, do you have this board in a case or on an open test bench?

 

[JTanczos]

This question I can answer.

This sounds like a problem with solder joints to me personally. I've had two or three boards with similar problems.

Do you have an idea where to start hunting?

By the way, do you have this board in a case or on an open test bench?

Yes.... Started in a case and took it out to start looking it over. Symptoms did NOT change aftwards. I have a little slide out tray case from the 90's that works beautifully for testing.

 

[Niku-Sama]

i dont think thats a cap, pretty sure it isnt infact and the "gunK' is adhesive to keep it from moving.

 

[ShrimpBrime]

While tinkering around I found a part that looks like a capacitor that had some "gunk" around it. Part number S573 If I slightly moved it the artifacts did not appear when i booted.

I would replace this Cap. The board looks really dirty too. It's hard to see if the caps are bad at a straight down angle too.

 

[RGone]

That is not a capacitor. It is a thermistor for heat measurement. The green stuff was a movement isolator and heat shield.
RGone...

 

[Tech Tweaker]

Well, that answers the question of what it is then.

Was hoping you'd find your way here, RGone.

 

[Bobnova]

That paxkage and footprint is extremely commonly used for crystals, though those markings don't match typical crystal markings.
If it is a crystal the gunk could be an issue, any stray capacitance can throw them out of whack easily.

Could be a thermistor too (measure the resistance across the legs, that'll give you a good idea), conductive gunk would throw that off.

I'd put my money on a capacitor or three failing silently, give the age of the board.
Or dust/gunk inside the PCIe slots.

Also look for the row of tiny (1mm x 0.5mm) capacitors along the PCIe slot/connector on both GPU and motherboard. If any of those tiny capacitors are missing that wil cause major issues. They're crucial.

 

[Nimblor]

I have that same board and I am going to be turning it into a server as well. Mine looks as dusty as yours does! I had problems in the past with cards not seating exactly 100% correctly. The only time I ever had artifacts like you are describing was when my video card fan failed. I have never put a video card better than 4600 in there though.

 

[JTanczos]

Well, honestly I didnt feel like cleaning it yet. I had so many other projects. Here is the post loop.

When I place the the Geforce 6800 in the first slot it doesnt post. When I place it in the second 16x slot it posts perfectly but with artifacts.

When I place the Radeon 5450 in the first slot it does a strange post loop. When it is on the second 16x it posts perfectly. The bios automatically set it up to do a 1x, 1x, 4x, 16x

I placed the Perc H800 in the first 16x slot but the card wont post at 1x. I needs a minimum of 4x. When I place the bios setting as 8x, 1x, NC, 8x it does the weird post loop thing again.

Im not at home so I cant test anything on the board. Why would the first 16x slot be showing this problem? And could it fry 2 video cards? Would it be worth it to try and recap the board?

 

[Nimblor]

That is strange stuff.. Have you tried a different power supply?
Reset cmos after each go and using only 1 stick of ram?

Recapping the board sounds like quite an adventure. I gave myself a lot of pats on the back for replacing the northbridge fan with a silly big heatsink that is larger enough to run passive. Resoldering anything is way beyond me.

 

[JTanczos]

I am getting better all the time with my soldering. I recapped an xbox 360 but ruined it when I heat-guned the GPU to try to reflow the joints. I took a 5 meter LED roll and soldered this up! It ended up looking like this after some wire routing.It used to be a smokers computer before I re-purposed it so I know how to clean things up. 100% isopropyl and a bit of time make it shine like new.

3 LEDs are memory so I will swap memory around and see what happens.

 

[Nimblor]

Wow.. That is some clean up work. If you are a soldering wizard like that, I bet you could make some cash fixing RROD Xbox360s.

There was something about the memory slots with this motherboard. They are finicky and it takes some doing to get 1T.. Not that it is what you are after, it was so long ago that I set up my OC I really don't remember how I did it

I have my sticks in the orange slots. Might be worth a try. I can't remember if the bios defaults to some kind of auto for memory. Either way if you are trying to track down a glitch, using one stick generally reduces problems. I seem to remember shuffling one around when I was trying to track down some problem. I still think it is a power issue though, that is my guess.

 

[JTanczos]

Different PSU, Different ram, different slots with no change. No visible bad caps.

 

[Nimblor]

This probably wont help much but I just went through quite a trial with my DFI sli-dr expert with the memory. I had plenty of weird stuff happening like booting on 4 sticks only kind of weird stuff. I had to reset my bios (jumper battery insert deal) several times due to problems with the auto settings being too tight. It can be quite picky about memory if it is not dialed in properly. That would not explain video artifacts well though.