Dodgy capacitors on all B550/X570 boards?

[Gabber359]

Hey folks,

I'd like to ask those with a better understanding of all things engineering the following:

Why do most/all the modern AM4 boards have, what I call, dodgy capacitors on the bottom left? I'll show you what I'm talking about:


Every. Single. Board that I've checked out has these, in the same corner. Why? Maybe I'm still biased from the early 2000s with that capacitor fiasco from back in the day, but in 2008 when I upgraded to a $99 Gigabyte board for my Q6600 it had all solid state caps, like this:
https://www.techpowerup.com/img/08-04-14/ds5_overview.jpg

So what gives? Is my understanding just lacking, or do vendors think that people are gonna upgrade every 2-3 years so it doesn't matter about the quality? If I'm going to drop $250+- for a new board I sure as hell expect something solid (hah). If they could manage it 12 years ago they can surely manage it now. Case in point my Q6600 board and system is still going strong, gone to the kids so that they can play Minecraft, Sims and Roblox

I've tried Googling and searching all over but it seems I'm the only one who has an issue with this and that these caps aren't really an issue, but these boards are all new anyhow so perhaps any problems won't surface for a while. Still, if someone with a better understanding could explain it to me it'd be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[bigtallanddopey]

I have no idea what those capacitors doing on the board but surely they are not a bad type of capacitor? Electrolytic capacitors are used for higher capacitor values, can’t remember why from my college days but they are common everywhere. The other thing is that you dont see many ceramic capacitors above 50uF and none? Above 100, so there will certainly be a cost element there.

At the end of the day, power supplies are full of caps like that (albeit bigger) and they last years with no issues so why would it be any different on the board?

 

[Woomack]

These are specific caps for audio which, at least in theory, give better results and higher audio quality. Tbh, I wasn't comparing or digging deeper into this topic but there is a reason why this type of caps is on every higher series motherboard and every manufacturer is describing it as the best.
I guess that some others will add more detailed description.

 

[EarthDog]

Those are capacitors for the audio section, yep. I dont know the details either but these are 'audio caps'. Typically Nichicon or Chemicon brand. They are not low quality and not an issue...ust made for audio. They're on intel motherboards too if you look.

 

[bigtallanddopey]

That explains their use then. Electrolytic capacitors are always used above 50uF with Audio stuff. Not the best audiophile capacitor but still a necessary evil for higher capacitance.

 

[WhitehawkEQ]

Here is some info on caps I found.
---------------------------------

Solid capacitors and electrolytic capacitors both store electricity and discharge it when needed. The difference, however, is that solid capacitors contain a solid organic polymer, while electrolytic capacitors use a common liquid electrolyte, hence, the terms solid capacitors versus electrolytic capacitors.

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

I doubt it's like the early-2000s to mid-2000s. Those are audio caps, TMK.

 

[notarat]

Thread title is a bit click-baity. Meh.

 

[Ben333]

The capacitor plague is over anyway. And as other stated, those are audio caps for the onboard sound. Even if they were inferior (which they are not) it would be nothing like having bad caps around your CPU socket.

 

[Gabber359]

Lol, what? No, was a sincere question and I appreciate the replies given. Now I understand more I'm old school, not a noob, hence why I asked the question. Nothing to do with click bait. Thanks everyone for your replies.

 

[Ben333]

Personally I would not have called it "click-bait"... However, the example image used is a Top-End motherboard... so common sense would dictate at least decent spec'd parts are being used. And visiting the manufacturers website (ASUS) and simply scrolling for two seconds would illustrate the featured onboard audio with a picture of the capacitor section.

No worries either way, it was a vaild question IMO. Albeit one that a small bit of digging could have answered.

 

[stompah]

Because that style capacitor isn't inherently bad. There was a large bad batch many years ago. Hence the bad rep. But I have older boards and they have the same electrolyte capacitors and are still fine.

 

[WhitehawkEQ]

Read the top line in the PDF.

http://nichicon-us.com/english/products/pdfs/e-rhs_rha.pdf

 

[Ben333]

Good resource, but I do not think the caps in question ( "audio caps" ) are 'solid state' caps?

EDIT,

To the OP:

I re-read your 1st post. I'm much like you, ~if it isn't broke, why fix it!~

I was on the socket 775 platform till this past July (07-2020). I am now a proud owner of a Ryzen 5 3600 and I've gotta say, things are just as good as ever. If you're willing to spend > $150 on a motherboard, my guess is that you will be happy. If you do your research of course.

This past summer is the first time in the last 8+ years I've actually been excited at the prospect of upgrading.