Symptoms:
Motherboard fails to POST.
Memory Test Fails.
System randomly and/or constantly reboots itself.
Fails to fully boot (or even install) Operating System.
System randomly and frequently freezes.
Random & frequent 'Blue Screens of Death'
BSoD or hard freeze under heavy drive activity (Either RAID, SCSI, or standard ATA) CPU temps abnormally higher than usual under typical or less load.
CPU VCORE & other system voltages are erratic or far out of tolerances. Resetting the system after a freeze and the system will not repost. (You have to completely power down then power back up.)
You have reinstalled the OS a few times when no physical capacitor failure was visible
One way to knock it out quick is to do a physical exam. Power down the machine and in good lighting, look at the capacitors. If they are bulging, leaking or burst then stop what you are doing for the only way to fix that is replace the board. If it is a fairly new machine, research the model and order the same one or call a technician to fix it for you.Capacitors look okay. Sometimes it takes time for a faulty capacitor to reveal itself.
What is a capacitor? They look like pills with silver caps all over the board. They have an X across them. The X is for easy determining bulges.
What causes this to happened? Could have been a faulty board or capacitor to begin with, static electrical shock, surges, or a bad power supply, especially one registering lower than normal volts.
- "Capacitor Plague is when a flawed electrolytic capacitor prematurely deteriorates and dries up. Once this happens the gas in the capacitor will expand with heat and build up a great pressure inside the capacitor. When the pressure builds up, the capacitor will expand (bulge), leak, burst or explode. During this time the capacitance will vary widely and may even short out"
Check out these sites for more details and pictures of blown capacitors.http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=195
http://www.badcaps.net/ident/
Computer Repair Lakeland, FL
