Running a GF6800 with a 330 16 capacitor missing - how bad an idea?

[Plester]

A question to those w/ electronics backgrounds. A capacitor that you can see in the picture linked below is missing - it is the one in the lower right hand corner of the board - 330 16 printed on top. It will be tricky to solder it back on as the legs are mostly gone on the bottom of the cap. I have old hardware w/ capacitors that i can poach - just wondering if I can't find a 330 16 (assuming that means 16v) can I use another 16 cap like a 100 16?

In This Picture

 

[bobsmith1492]

The main thing is to use one of the same capacitance, i.e. 330 uF. The voltage just has to be at least 16v, although higher voltage ratings are safer.

Look for a 330 uF cap rated for at least 16 volts.

Disclaimer: I can't see the picture, so I'm going by just what you said.

Oh, and you could probably use a bigger cap, like 470 uF.

 

[Plester]

see if i can dig one up somewhere. card runs fine btw without - but what is that doing to it?

 

[bobsmith1492]

It probably just filters the power to remove fluctuations due to the switching logic; i.e., increases stability. If it works, don't worry too much about it.

 

[imported_Kensai]

I prefer to always replace the caps if they're missing. It's a good habit to have.

 

[Mark R]

It looks like its one of the smoothing capacitors for the voltage regulator. Best to replace it with a power-supply grade one of the same, or better, rating - 330 uF, 16V. Although any capacitor with a similar sort of spec would probably do, as long as you're only replacing one, rather than the whole lot.

If the card works fine without it, then I'd take my chances running without the capacitor, than risk soldering a new one - soldering SMT is difficult at the best of times; also, those caps are very close together and that multi-layer circuit board is just begging to delaminate if overheated.

 

[Bassyhead]

Originally posted by: Mark R
It looks like its one of the smoothing capacitors for the voltage regulator. Best to replace it with a power-supply grade one of the same, or better, rating - 330 uF, 16V. Although any capacitor with a similar sort of spec would probably do, as long as you're only replacing one, rather than the whole lot.

If the card works fine without it, then I'd take my chances running without the capacitor, than risk soldering a new one - soldering SMT is difficult at the best of times; also, those caps are very close together and that multi-layer circuit board is just begging to delaminate if overheated.

Good advice. If the card runs fine without the broken capacitor, I would leave it alone and avoid the risks associated with soldering in a new capacitor.

 

[Plester]

i found a 470 16 on an old tape drive - so i put that on it - definitely helped - i was getting aftifacts w/ any overclocking on the card, which dissappeared after putting the cap on. thanks all.