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Tonight while I was using my desktop PC, I heard a very loud pop from the inside of my case. After investigating I found that two capacitors on the graphics card had burst, and yellow fibers were poking out of them.

Now,

  • The capacitors were the newer solid-state type with flat tops, not the older type.
  • The computer seems to work fine regardless. I've shut it down now just in case though.
  • The graphics card is an Nvidia Geforce 8600GT if it matters.

As I mentioned the computer seems to work fine - maybe the capacitors are part of the card I don't use, like the analog output section...

Given that it seems to run fine, how safe would it be to use it for now until I get around to replacing the graphics card?

Arjan
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thomasrutter
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    Are you sure they were capacitors? 'yellow fibers' doesn't sound like capacitors. Are the markings on the components still legible? What would they say? – pavium Dec 23 '09 at 11:02
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    Please post pictures! exploding capacitors..love it! – Moab Sep 18 '10 at 20:28
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    Here's 2 more pictures I've found that show the same type of thing happening (and the same type of capacitors as on mine): http://rodrigo.sharpcube.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/blown_up.jpg http://37prime.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/evga_nvidia_blown_capacitors_1080.jpg – thomasrutter Sep 21 '10 at 01:20

5 Answers5

14

I would not recommend to use this card and would replace it immediately.

It looks like you're not the only one - does this look familiar?

Alt text

Peter Mortensen
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If it's running fine now, it'll probably stay running fine for a little while. Eventually after another one fails the screen will get all squiggly looking, then the next one will fail and your computer won't boot...

I recommend replacing the card with something else. We've had probably a dozen Nvidia cards fail that way here. I've repaired a couple of them by replacing the blown caps, but eventually other parts on the card end up blowing up too.

I'll even go further and say that anyone with an Nvidia 8600 should just go ahead and replace it now. If it hasn't failed yet, it probably will pretty soon...

Peter Mortensen
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Brian Knoblauch
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  • I think ill get a 9500gt to replace it as they're similar performance but dirt cheap now... unless you know any reason they might be similarly unreliable? – thomasrutter Dec 25 '09 at 05:45
  • The 8600's are the only ones I've seen problems with. My original guess was that Nvidia had a bad batch of capacitors, but after blowing up a card for the second time (after replacing capacitors), I'm guessing that it might be either a design or a voltage regulation issue. All just guesses though. – Brian Knoblauch Dec 28 '09 at 15:00
3

It's safe to use, for now. It might BSOD at random, but if it hasn't yet, it might not. You could try replacing the capacitors yourself, or just use this as an excuse to upgrade. I've known people use laptops with blown capacitors for years without there being an issue, but I've also known cases where it killed the PC, so YMMV, but it seems like you should be fine.

Phoshi
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  • Why the downvote? Speaking from experience here, if it hasn't died yet, it'll last long enough to get a replacement card! – Phoshi Dec 23 '09 at 12:04
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    i didn't vote, but as far as i'm concerned, sound advice would be NOT to use this card. what folks do at their own risk is a different story though :) –  Dec 23 '09 at 13:34
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    Well, I wouldn't recommend keeping it, but it should do for a while. Replace it as soon as one can, but it's not like you can't use your PC in the meantime :P – Phoshi Dec 23 '09 at 13:39
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It is not a smart idea to continue using the PC with that card while capacitors are looking dodgy. These days manufacturers lean toward board replacement rather than individual components on each. Nvidia is a good brand of GFX cards - just replace it; don't fix the old one, and you should not need a new PC (unless you want a faster one with a bigger HDD and more RAM/CPU plus a stack of other goodies).

Peter Mortensen
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Just-a-Passerby
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1

They don't look like actual solid capacitors to me. Real solid capacitors aren't available at 6.3 V from what I know and don't have a liquid electrolyte inside, and because of that don't need vents.

These look like electrolytic capacitors without the plastic sleeve around them. The plastic sleeve is only there normally because it's easier to print on a plastic piece of shrinkwrap than the metal can. It's probably to lure you into thinking that they're good quality solid caps when they're actually cheap electrolytic capacitors. They need replacing, at any rate. You can't risk damaging the computer.

Peter Mortensen
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