Solid caps.

[Chiropteran]

If solid capacitors are so great, why do server boards still use mostly regular capacitors?

Just browsing on newegg, for example, almost all the Intel server motherboards are loaded with conventional capacitors.

 

[Zap]

Marketing? I believe solid caps can and will fail, so it isn't as if a motherboard (or any other device) with solid caps will last forever. It's just that normal caps now have a bad rep with enthusiasts.

 

[AmberClad]

If nothing else, the fact that they're low profile makes them less likely to get in the way of other components.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Old designs? When were those intel server MBs first released?

Using solid caps for normal motherboards (vs. $300 ones) seems to be a 2008 change, probably because they're finally affordable enough.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: AmberClad
If nothing else, the fact that they're low profile makes them less likely to get in the way of other components.

That's a good point.

Also, they're shinier. 😉

 

[tcsenter]

Premature failure or accelerated aging in both solid and liquid caps results from manufacturing flaws, inferior materials, or inappropriate application. There is nothing about solid caps that make them more immune to manufacturing flaws, inappropriate application, or funny business such as inflating the specs of inferior caps.

Good electrolytic caps that are appropriate for the application should last at least the five to six years that most motherboards will be in service. However, solid caps are increasingly justified around areas like the CPU due to significantly more stable ESR performance at higher temperatures where the accuracy or error margin for electrolytic derating assumptions can be fickle (not because they last longer).

 

[toadeater]

It's CHEAP liquid caps that are bad. That's what gave liquid caps a bad rep a few years ago when Abit and some other companies were hit with a bad batch of caps. You had leaks, fires and all sorts of horrible things happen. Ever since then, solid caps became a required marketing buzzword. Solid caps do have advantages, but not much on non-OC'd systems.

What they need to use solid caps on if they don't do already is power supplies! That's where you still have leaky, explosive cap problems.

 

[cactusdog]

Most people dont try to overclock the bejesus out of server boards like they do desktop boards.

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: toadeater
It's CHEAP liquid caps that are bad. That's what gave liquid caps a bad rep a few years ago when Abit and some other companies were hit with a bad batch of caps.

every (incl. people like Dell & HP) company had problems (some apparently still do).

 

[taltamir]

so... how much harder / easier it is to have manufacturing flaws in solid caps vs liquid caps? how much do those pristine awesome uber quality liquid caps cost compared to solid caps that deliver similar reliability? And are the risks of a fire really lower in a solid cap (it can't leak) in case something does go wrong?

 

[bradley]

It wasn't necessarily that those faulty caps were cheap; they were counterfeit capacitors which got into the supply chain.

Otherwise, electrolytic capacitors generate more heat and tend to dry out quicker, meaning they will have a shorter lifespan... as much as six times shorter depending on operating temperature. Solid caps also operate with less impedance than electrolytic caps, meaning they run more efficiently and stable at higher frequencies. All these elements are a better match especially for people tending to overclock their motherboards.