Replacing 330uf/6.3V Capacitor on Leadtek GeForce 4 Ti4200

[The Land of Smeg]

I have a Leadtek GeForce 4 Ti4200 (128MB) and a while a go I reseated the heatsink (Stock) so I could fit a Thermal sensor underneath the heatsink (no I didn't put the sensor on or in contact with the core!).

When I reseated the heatsink (by reseated, I mean took off and put back on the heatsink, and I used new Thermal Compound too - Artic Silver 5) there was a capacitor in between two memory modules accompanied by a hole in the stock heatsink designed to fit around the capacitor, and well when I put the heatsink back on, I accidently bent the capacitor so now one of the legs is wobbly and I'm not sure if it's doing it's job.

It has been working fine since then, but the card has been running rather hot at Idle 40*C, on a hot day it's gone above 80*C Idle (!!!!) and on load (which has not been attempted on a hot day) it has gone up to 60*C. I also have a 120mm exhaust fan running above the card all the time and the fan has been running when I got those temps, I happened to get the fan the same day that I bent the capacitor so that's a relief- it could of been worse. I believe the high temps are attributed to the broken capacitor, because if it were getting temps as high as that before I installed the heat monitor and exhaust fan, I'm sure the card would of fried.

Make no doubts, this card is out of warrenty.

So now intend to replace the GSC 330uf/6.3V (Polarised) Capacitor, it seems simple enough with my basic experiance with electronics, and at the back of the PCB there seems to be enough room to maneuver the soldering iron, but as delicate as computer hardware is, would I need to make any other considerations when choosing a 330uf/6.3V capacitor(rated at 105*C)? My understanding is that capacitors are used to smooth current, would a capacitor rated at a higher voltage (say 330uf/16V) work too? Are there any other consideratons I would need to make?

Thanks for any help!

 

[PowerEngineer]

I'm not sure that the capacitor is responsible for your high temperatures; I'd look at reseating that heat sink. However, I can answer your question about voltage ratings; as you suspect, a capacitor with a higher voltage rating (and the same capacitance) should work just as well.

Good luck!

 

[genghislegacy]

believe you need more than a capacitor change for this, and better cooling regarding both the fansink and the air flow inside the case will work better.

 

[The Land of Smeg]

Well after I replace the capacitor, I intend to install the Copper heatsink that I got (Thermaltake Geforce 4 Cooler with Coolmod), to replace the stock aluminium one. I'm a little unsure about using the Memory heatsinks as they are seperate to the one for the GPU and don't cover the whole are of the memory module.

About the airflow, the Exhaust fan is above the Graphics Card, and the Graphics Card vents down. Some advice on how to achieve better airflow in this situation would be appriciated.

 

[jagec]

why don't you just re-flow the solder joints on the current capacitor? It should be a little bit easier than soldering a new one in place, though obviously still a pain.

 

[thomrk]

Cap should be rated for low ESR as well as 105 deg C, and don't let the heatsink touch it. Higher voltage is OK but not beneficial.

 

[The Land of Smeg]

Originally posted by: jagec
why don't you just re-flow the solder joints on the current capacitor? It should be a little bit easier than soldering a new one in place, though obviously still a pain.

I forgot to mention, The leg was bent, and it was pulled out of the capacitor cylinder itself. The legs are still well soldered on the PCB.


Thanks for the low ESR tip, thomrk

 

[FrustratedUser]

Originally posted by: The Land of Smeg
I have a Leadtek GeForce 4 Ti4200 (128MB) and a while a go I reseated the heatsink (Stock) so I could fit a Thermal sensor underneath the heatsink (no I didn't put the sensor on or in contact with the core!).

When I reseated the heatsink (by reseated, I mean took off and put back on the heatsink, and I used new Thermal Compound too - Artic Silver 5) there was a capacitor in between two memory modules accompanied by a hole in the stock heatsink designed to fit around the capacitor, and well when I put the heatsink back on, I accidently bent the capacitor so now one of the legs is wobbly and I'm not sure if it's doing it's job.

It has been working fine since then, but the card has been running rather hot at Idle 40*C, on a hot day it's gone above 80*C Idle (!!!!) and on load (which has not been attempted on a hot day) it has gone up to 60*C. I also have a 120mm exhaust fan running above the card all the time and the fan has been running when I got those temps, I happened to get the fan the same day that I bent the capacitor so that's a relief- it could of been worse. I believe the high temps are attributed to the broken capacitor, because if it were getting temps as high as that before I installed the heat monitor and exhaust fan, I'm sure the card would of fried.

Make no doubts, this card is out of warrenty.

So now intend to replace the GSC 330uf/6.3V (Polarised) Capacitor, it seems simple enough with my basic experiance with electronics, and at the back of the PCB there seems to be enough room to maneuver the soldering iron, but as delicate as computer hardware is, would I need to make any other considerations when choosing a 330uf/6.3V capacitor(rated at 105*C)? My understanding is that capacitors are used to smooth current, would a capacitor rated at a higher voltage (say 330uf/16V) work too? Are there any other consideratons I would need to make?

Thanks for any help!

Yes they will work fine.

 

[midway]

Originally posted by: The Land of Smeg
So now intend to replace the GSC 330uf/6.3V (Polarised) Capacitor, it seems simple enough with my basic experiance with electronics, and at the back of the PCB there seems to be enough room to maneuver the soldering iron, but as delicate as computer hardware is, would I need to make any other considerations when choosing a 330uf/6.3V capacitor(rated at 105*C)? My understanding is that capacitors are used to smooth current, would a capacitor rated at a higher voltage (say 330uf/16V) work too? Are there any other consideratons I would need to make?

Thanks for any help!

Don't try this with a crappy radio shack soldering iron though, if you've already got a good soldering iron (i've got a nice hakko i like) then great, if you don't I'd highly recommend getting a quality soldering iron.

 

[Tiamat]

yeah agreed with the quality solder iron. You cant afford to use a cheaper one with such a delicate process. Luckily you are trying to do this on a graphics card. Motherboards are almost impossible to do by a common person.