Vid Card Capacitor

[PacFu]

The video card forum really cant answer, but If you have a nVidia 6800GT, at the rear of the card, by the molex, there are 2 large capacitors. What are they for?

Say, when installing, one falls off (not break), is it really needed? Or should I RMA back to eVga? Or solder it back on?

It must have came off at installation, so I've been running it for a week with seemingly no probs.

 

[PottedMeat]

i dont have a 6800GT but theyre probably decoupling/filter capacitors that decrease the noise/ripple on the power rails to the graphics chip.

what do you mean falls off? are the leads still intact?

if they are, you could just solder it back on, if you do make sure the polarity is correct - most electrolytic caps dont like to be reverse biased.

hell if you can do without it for awhile, just RMA it if its free

 

[PacFu]

Originally posted by: PottedMeat
i dont have a 6800GT but theyre probably decoupling/filter capacitors that decrease the noise/ripple on the power rails to the graphics chip.

what do you mean falls off? are the leads still intact?

if they are, you could just solder it back on, if you do make sure the polarity is correct - most electrolytic caps dont like to be reverse biased.

hell if you can do without it for awhile, just RMA it if its free

Yes, leads still intact perfectly. As for polarity, the plastic base under the cap is shaped oddly to fit under the trace on the PCB so I'm sure which way it goes on. I'll eventually get it RMA'd, but I'll wait till I get a spare card.

 

[JHutch]

Say, when installing, one falls off (not break), is it really needed?

Well, actually, no, it isn't needed. See, we got bored one day and realized there was some extra space at the end of the circuit board, so we decided to throw a couple of capacitors on, since they always make things look so darn cool.

One of the "chips" on the board is just for looks, too, but I'm not going to tell you which one. Half the fun is tinkering with this stuff yourself!

JHutch

*rolls eyes*

 

[PacFu]

Originally posted by: JHutch

Say, when installing, one falls off (not break), is it really needed?

Well, actually, no, it isn't needed. See, we got bored one day and realized there was some extra space at the end of the circuit board, so we decided to throw a couple of capacitors on, since they always make things look so darn cool.

One of the "chips" on the board is just for looks, too, but I'm not going to tell you which one. Half the fun is tinkering with this stuff yourself!

JHutch

*rolls eyes*

Obviously its on there for a reason, jobb, I meant that all the cap really does it hold power, so at worst the card wouldnt run to spec, correct? What I meant by that is would it still be ok to run the card till I have the time to RMA.

 

[JHutch]

I just reread what I wrote and I offer my apology. That came out much snarkier than I intended. Was just trying to be humorous on how I read your question. I knew what you meant, but the wording struck me as funny. Didn't want to sound so mean; I officially apologize.

JHutch

 

[Peter]

Sarcasm isn't for everyone 😉

 

[blahblah99]

There's a 0.999999999[r] chance that you'll need that capacitor, but since 0.9999999999[r] != 1, then there's that slight chance that your video card will run okay without it.

 

[PacFu]

accepted

 

[iwantanewcomputer]

Originally posted by: blahblah99
There's a 0.999999999[r] chance that you'll need that capacitor, but since 0.9999999999[r] != 1, then there's that slight chance that your video card will run okay without it.

keep that rubbish out of the rest of the threads

 

[blahblah99]

Originally posted by: iwantanewcomputer

Originally posted by: blahblah99
There's a 0.999999999[r] chance that you'll need that capacitor, but since 0.9999999999[r] != 1, then there's that slight chance that your video card will run okay without it.

keep that rubbish out of the rest of the threads

I'm just proving my point that this forum is getting filled with crap. I'll give a real answer when a real question is formulated.