Did my 9600 gso Blow UP?!

[hen555]

So I gave my old PC to my brother which has a 9600 gso and pentium D run through a 650w Ultra PSU (Ultra LSP650 650-Watt Power Supply - ATX, SATA-Ready, SLI-Ready, 135mm Fan, Lifetime Warranty w/ Registration at TigerDirect.com)

I also run that same psu on my current build with gtx 285 and i7 .

It might be overkill for my old PC but it was on sale so I got it.

Anyways I thought since it was alot of Watts, it would provide clean power for my old PC ( I had replaced my old pc's psu with this 650w one because it blewup ...stupid hp shit)

Just recently, my bros screen got messedup with lines. It was a video card problem so I took a look and I told him to reinstall drivers because I thought that the card was good. Didnt end up working so he just disabled the gpu and continued on that computer with his homework stuff.

Today I took a look at the GPU as I was ganna test it on my PC for a final go wheter it is completly gone or if there was another problem that was causing the lines on my bros pc. I loook at the card and the Capacitors look like they exploded.

4 capacitors have its top's pierced and some orangy yellow stuff like fabric hay or somthing is slightly comming out.

3 6.3V capacitors and 1 5.3V capacitor hhas blown up. The rest 16v and 2.5 volts look fine.


How could this have happend? My old PC has poor cooling ventilation and I hear that beast scream with its fans from my room across. Could it be an overheat issue? But wouldn't the computer shutdown before 100% automaticly?

Could it be the psu ? I am running the powersupply on my main rig and it seems fine?
My bro's pc is old and this is the 2nd malfunction, should I risk and buy a new GPU or should I just build a new build maybe an i3 or i5.

What do I do with this graphics card? Shud I test run in sli for physics on mine? I am afriad to even put this shit in my build because might make power problems... or might damage my components.

Thanks guys!

[ilya]

If it's got a lifetime warranty, get a new card. Otherwise it's garbage unless you're confident enough to solder on new caps. It's not uncommon for low quality capacitors to blow up - just google "bad capacitor plague."

[hen555]

So how come the capacitors failed? Was it because of my power supply or because of poor ventilation?

[Adzsask]

Originally Posted by hen555

So how come the capacitors failed? Was it because of my power supply or because of poor ventilation?

More then likely overheated, or just from heat cycling so many times, just RMA it.

[Galcobar]

And age -- capacitors age over time. Normal aging leaves the capacitor at about 50 per cent of its nominal capacity, whereas bad capacitors can drop as below 10 per cent of their original capacity.

Failure such as you've described where the capacitor breaks its top vent (which is there to allow a slow leak as opposed to a full-out explosion) is indicative of electrolyte failure, where the water in the electrolyte releases hydrogen gas. Quality capacitors can last decades in consumer machines, bad capacitors not so much.