is this worth fixing or shall i look for a new setup?

[JCE10]

I have a MSI 693D Pro (MS-6321) running dual 730 Mhz P3's. One of the capacitors has started what looks like that can only be described as "leaking" or "melting." I have two options:

Option 1:
Fix it by replacing motherboard.
a) What motherboard?
b) Where? Don't see a lot of dual p3 mobo's for sale.

Option 2:
New set up.

What do you guys think? Is it worth it to fix? Thanks.

 

[Chaotic42]

Is it slot 1 or socket 370?

If it's 370, pick up an Abit BP6.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
BP6

Uh, he said he wanted to stop having leaky caps and other electrical FUBARs.

- M4H

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
BP6

Uh, he said he wanted to stop having leaky caps and other electrical FUBARs.

- M4H

Was teh BP6 as bad as the vp6?

Most of the dual p3 boards out there are more for server setups. The one I have almost cost me as much as a small rig would, and would be _no_ good for gaming.

 

[JCE10]

They're 370's. Can't seem to find any place that still sells new dual 370 mobo's. Anyone know any places?

 

[Chaotic42]

Just check http://www.pricewatch.com/.

 

[vegetation]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Is it slot 1 or socket 370?

If it's 370, pick up an Abit BP6.

BP6 will not run coppermines in dual mode unless you do extensive board modification, and even then there are stability issues since the mb has trouble providing all that extra juice. It works fine with powerleap adapter in single processor mode, but of course running a single P3 is hardly a reason to rush out and buy one in this day and age.

I had a BP6 running 24x7 for years and it was always reliable, but its true glory was being able to operate dual celeron 366's overclocked to 550. Those were the days before coppermine, all you could get was 550 max. I've sinced retired the system last year, sold the board on ebay for a rather insane price, and now run a celeron 2.4 processor server in a shuttle cube -- faster, quieter, and consumes about the same electric as the old rig.

 

[Cheetah8799]

One of the capacitors has started what looks like that can only be described as "leaking" or "melting."

If it's only one leaking capacitor, you can replace it fairly easily if you own a soldering iron. Just buy a replacement capacitor and go to work. Lots of people do this. Well, at least the ones who have the resources and knowledge to do it... some people are too afraid...

Do some searches on leaking capacitors and you should be able to dig up more instructions if you need it.

 

[0roo0roo]

well not afraid, more like time/energy/money spent vs reward. 2500+ retail cpu + m/b combos at frys for like 59 bux make old pc's even more obsolete and unworthy of reviving

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: vegetation
BP6 will not run coppermines in dual mode unless you do extensive board modification, and even then there are stability issues since the mb has trouble providing all that extra juice. It works fine with powerleap adapter in single processor mode, but of course running a single P3 is hardly a reason to rush out and buy one in this day and age.

I had a BP6 running 24x7 for years and it was always reliable, but its true glory was being able to operate dual celeron 366's overclocked to 550. Those were the days before coppermine, all you could get was 550 max. I've sinced retired the system last year, sold the board on ebay for a rather insane price, and now run a celeron 2.4 processor server in a shuttle cube -- faster, quieter, and consumes about the same electric as the old rig.

But that's the fun part! It's like the Tyan Tiger MP, it won't work well unless you break out the soldering iron. I had dual 333s in my BP6.

 

[CraigRT]

you could always just fix the one cap, buy a new one from a local electronics parts store
i've done it before

 

[JCE10]

How often do caps fail? Never really had this happen ever. Ever!!!!!!!!!!

 

[0roo0roo]

there was a bad batch a while back.

 

[Dennis Travis]

A friend who works as an Engineer for a large company got all MSI 693D Pro's and they all had the Caps blow. He replaced them at the time with Epox Dual boards which I can't find any longer and gave me the old boards. Sure enough, almost every Cap is leaky or Buldging on all the MSI 693D Pro's!! Those are some of the bad caps with the wrong formula. It will be very hard and probably quite expensive to find a new Dual S370 Coppermine board. Whatever you do don't get another MSI 693D Pro used as it will probably have the same problem down the line. The Only Dual S370 boards I could find in a quick look on the net were all Pro server boards and very high priced. You could build a whole new RIG for the price of some of them using a Barton core AMD. I was at one time going to fix a couple of my MSIs but don't know if it's really worth the time now. I love Dual Processor systems but Dual Copermines are getting pretty dated.

 

[Jeff7]

Badcaps.net - useful information, and replacement capacitors.
Fair warning - if one goes, there are likely to be more to follow. I was told that all capacitors rated 1000uF or above should be replaced.

 

[SickBeast]

Mmmm....dualies. I would bust out the soldering iron and replace any melting caps. Dual P3s are very nice.