Is this cap worth replacing? Retro hardware... - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: furyanwolf
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 04, 2021, 03:32:03 pm
content: Hi all,TLDR at the bottom, but I'll try and make this quick. I've purchased an old GeForce4 TI 4200 Graphics card for a retro PC build. These things are somewhat hard to come by in the UK these days and I'm happy I managed to get one at a decent price. Long story short, I don't want to break this thing. It has been purchased as "tested" and "working" with screenshots for proof. I have yet to test it myself.Naturally I just inspected the card as it arrived and particularly this one capacitor that had looked a little shady to me even in the eBay listing. To my eye, it is bulging JUUUUUST barely. Question is, is it worth replacing now or better to run the card with it till a later time? I have included 2 close up shots of the suspected cap as well as one shot of the other caps of the same kind on the card which all seem to have perfectly flat tops to me.I know what really bad caps usually look like and generally this wouldn't have bothered me so much if it wasn't for the fact that this type of card isn't all that easy to come by anymore. I don't want to break it. What do you guys think?TLDR:Is this cap worth replacing given that ever so slight bulge? (Separate shot with similar caps for reference)Images on Imgur here:https://imgur.com/a/vgxvRrs

author: TimNJ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 04, 2021, 05:52:24 pm
content: Any bulge at all is an indication that the electrolyte is breaking down, and that there is an...uhh...unexpected, gas producing, chemical reaction. Even caps that are not bulging can be failed or out of spec.Given that the GeForce 4 series is from smack in the middle of the capacitor plague, and that those caps are made by a completely unknown manufacturer, I think the chances of total failure (soon) are high, and increasing.

author: furyanwolf
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 04, 2021, 06:36:08 pm
content: Thanks for the inputGiven the age and the implications of the old caps failing (especially given the cap plague of the time) I've opted to replace all the caps with some shinny new Panasonic ones. Thanks again for the input

author: wizard69
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 04, 2021, 09:31:01 pm
content: Quote from: furyanwolf on February 04, 2021, 06:36:08 pmGood move!I'm not sure why you want to go retro, I have the idea that old PC hardware is only good for target practice! Honestly I've seen far worse caps on logic boards so the caps might still be good. In any event as someone above mentioned these are from a known bad era and maybe worse are no name caps.

author: furyanwolf
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 04, 2021, 10:38:15 pm
content: Quote from: wizard69 on February 04, 2021, 09:31:01 pmYea, I'd rather be safe, I don't wanna kill the card. And its for a retro Win98 gaming PC. Way I see it, playing retro games on retro hardware, is the equivalent to reading a real paper book vs using an e-reader. Something about the authenticity of real parts of the correct era makes it more enjoyable