Motherboard not posting

[timosyy]

Title pretty much says it all.

Turn on the computer... lights, fans, psu etc. turn on, motherboard code displays "FF" (perfectly normal), but monitor stays off and no beeps from motherboard. I've reseated the RAM & video card, replaced RAM with old sticks even, doesn't seem to be those. In the process right now of unscrewing motherboard from case but having some problems with spacers screwing along with the screws...

Anyhow, while doing this I noticed some brownish rust-like material on top of some of the capacitors.. is this the problem? and what is it?

 

[redbeard1]

The capacitors are leaking, and thus, have failed. Your description is right on for a bad motherboard. If you really want it to run again, there used to be a couple of places that replaced all the capacitors on the motherboard.

 

[FlyingPenguin]

Replacing the capacitors may or may not help. Once they've actually leaked you could have shorts. Best to replace the mobo.

Sigh... I've seen a LOT of bad capacitors lately.

 

[timosyy]

Rust-colored, crusty stuff on top of a couple of the capacitors... yeah, looks like I'm replacing my mobo =/.

I've been out of the motherboard loop for a while though... all these new names are so foreign to me. Still a bunch of old names to fall back on (Epox 8RDA+, ASUS A7N8X, ABIT NF-7, etc.), but from what I've read its the "newer" (read: all the ones i'm familiar with) motherboards with this problem.

Suggestions? I'm looking at the Abit NF-7 but i've heard the Abits were some of the most frequent cases.

 

[FlyingPenguin]

I've got an 8RDA+ right here that had one bloated cap. There's another in my LAN party rig that's never given me a problem.

My main rig is running an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe. I can't say enough good things about this mobo and I highly recommend it.

More info the bad capacitor issue here: http://cquirke.mvps.org/badcaps.htm

and better photos here: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=195

I do computer repair work and I've been seeing a LOT of bad caps lately so it seems like several manufacturers have been buying questionable quality caps.

 

[BillyBobJoel71]

can you take some pics of your blown out mobo? that would be better so we could see it.

 

[aGreenAgent]

There are a lot of capacitor problems right now because a lot are made in Asia. These areas got hit by the tsunami, and I've heard that they've lost a lot of production capacity and I'm sure that their quality control has also turned to sh*t in those areas.