Swollen Capacitor on my old Radeon 4850

Xblade · May 27th, 2012, 08:52

So yer, my pc has been very reluctant to boot since my lifetime psu blew up in it way back when. I've always gotten it to work though. I just got my hands on my pc after about 2 months and it was being uncooperative again. Ended up plugging it directly to a bad socket and after turning it off and on like 30 times since it wouldn't post(at all) my psu blew.........so off to best buy to pick up another one -_-. So I scanned my mobo a few times to make sure no capacitors were blown...and I kept trying to get it to post. I get it to post after removing the gpu, and--surprise surprise, putting the gpu(radeon 4850) back in causes it to turn into a zombie when I press the power button. I take a closer look at the gpu and notice a swollen capacitor. Would just one swollen one cause the card to keep the pc from booting it? Is it also possible that the gpu helped along the frying of my previous psu? Would it be possible to replace the fuse in my Corsair Builder 430 cx2? There was no burning spell when I heard it blow.

I'd like to point out that I've already ordered a 6850(which had some complications of its own) that I should be getting next week, so I'm not particularly worried about the state of my 4850. I think I'll last on the mobo's onboard 4250 for 3 days. Just curious.

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**Yeloazndevil** · May 27th, 2012, 10:13

I would replace that crap PSU just to be on the safe side, I had the same PSU and all it has done is cause me problems.

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Nintendo Network ID: Yeloazndevil

Xblade · May 27th, 2012, 10:33

Already replaced it with a crappy thermaltake 600 watt(which is like double what my system draws). Its the only one they had at best buy that wasn't china-generic or over 100 bucks.

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Princess Garnet · May 27th, 2012, 20:33

Th Corsair CX isn't a very good PSU, but it's not a bad one either. I know that might sound obvious by the price it has, but what I mean is that the best ones of that series are actually the older and lower wattage ones. The original Corsair CX 400 (not 430), followed by the second version Corsair CX 430 that you have, are probably the better two to have. The higher wattage ones are actually relatively worse off if I remember right, not because they're "bad", but because they have a weaker percentage of their power on the +12V rail, so they're comparatively "overrated" compared to what today's PCs use.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xblade

Is it also possible that the gpu helped along the frying of my previous psu?

It's more likely that the PSU let the GPU get damaged, even during the surge or slowly over time, but even good PSUs can't prevent everything so you can't be sure. Regardless, yes, a bad capacitor can cause that.

__________________
"The heart has it's reasons that reason knows nothing of."

Xblade · May 27th, 2012, 20:42

The thing its been hard to get the pc to post since that lifetime I had went kaboom during a power surge a while back, so I'm thinking that may have blown the capacitor on the 4850(though it ran fine...with maybe some lower than expected performance). Luckily there are none blown on the motherboard...I didn't want to spend any more money than I did on the new gpu(which I got by luck for 115$).

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Princess Garnet · May 27th, 2012, 20:56

So wait, with a new PSU and GPU it's still not posting? If so, the board, RAM, and/or CPU could be bad, or even the disk drives.

__________________
"The heart has it's reasons that reason knows nothing of."

Xblade · May 27th, 2012, 21:15

It'll post without the gpu in now(though if I rape the power button on my psu long enough eventually it'll post with the gpu in.) I guess the ram threw me off when I was trying to get it to post without the gpu with my corsair 430 cx 2 in. At any rate I need to pick up a surge protector today, have none here after moving. I'm pretty sure the combo of me turning my psu off and on(unplugging/switching)over and over + the loud ass spark I heard when I initially plugged in the psu killed it.

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Lasnap · May 27th, 2012, 21:51

I would start with the essentials plugged in aka a single stick of ram and that would be about it no gpu no hdds just a single stick and see what happens. I had a bad HDD throw off the entire process of trying to fix a computer in the the past

__________________
Love Knows No Bounds!

Xblade · May 28th, 2012, 00:41

It was the gpu that kept it from booting, I removed everything separately already. I had already suspected it and the swollen capacitor on it reaffirmed my suspicions. Right now I'm installing the driver for the on-board. :\ My gpu can' get here faster.

EDIT: Holy crap its taking forever for these drivers to install >_>

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Last edited by Xblade; May 28th, 2012 at 00:51..

May 27th, 2012, 08:52	#1
Xblade Eating your Future Join Date: May 2008 Location: The Shadow Realm. Posts: 8,111	Swollen Capacitor on my old Radeon 4850 So yer, my pc has been very reluctant to boot since my lifetime psu blew up in it way back when. I've always gotten it to work though. I just got my hands on my pc after about 2 months and it was being uncooperative again. Ended up plugging it directly to a bad socket and after turning it off and on like 30 times since it wouldn't post(at all) my psu blew.........so off to best buy to pick up another one -_-. So I scanned my mobo a few times to make sure no capacitors were blown...and I kept trying to get it to post. I get it to post after removing the gpu, and--surprise surprise, putting the gpu(radeon 4850) back in causes it to turn into a zombie when I press the power button. I take a closer look at the gpu and notice a swollen capacitor. Would just one swollen one cause the card to keep the pc from booting it? Is it also possible that the gpu helped along the frying of my previous psu? Would it be possible to replace the fuse in my Corsair Builder 430 cx2? There was no burning spell when I heard it blow. I'd like to point out that I've already ordered a 6850(which had some complications of its own) that I should be getting next week, so I'm not particularly worried about the state of my 4850. I think I'll last on the mobo's onboard 4250 for 3 days. Just curious. __________________

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May 27th, 2012, 10:13	#2
Yeloazndevil Touka <3 Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 11,870	I would replace that crap PSU just to be on the safe side, I had the same PSU and all it has done is cause me problems. __________________ Nintendo Network ID: Yeloazndevil

May 27th, 2012, 10:33	#3
Xblade Eating your Future Join Date: May 2008 Location: The Shadow Realm. Posts: 8,111	Already replaced it with a crappy thermaltake 600 watt(which is like double what my system draws). Its the only one they had at best buy that wasn't china-generic or over 100 bucks. __________________

May 27th, 2012, 20:42	#5
Xblade Eating your Future Join Date: May 2008 Location: The Shadow Realm. Posts: 8,111	The thing its been hard to get the pc to post since that lifetime I had went kaboom during a power surge a while back, so I'm thinking that may have blown the capacitor on the 4850(though it ran fine...with maybe some lower than expected performance). Luckily there are none blown on the motherboard...I didn't want to spend any more money than I did on the new gpu(which I got by luck for 115$). __________________

May 27th, 2012, 20:56	#6
Princess Garnet From Love and Limerence Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Ohio Posts: 6,555	So wait, with a new PSU and GPU it's still not posting? If so, the board, RAM, and/or CPU could be bad, or even the disk drives. __________________ "The heart has it's reasons that reason knows nothing of."

May 27th, 2012, 21:15	#7
Xblade Eating your Future Join Date: May 2008 Location: The Shadow Realm. Posts: 8,111	It'll post without the gpu in now(though if I rape the power button on my psu long enough eventually it'll post with the gpu in.) I guess the ram threw me off when I was trying to get it to post without the gpu with my corsair 430 cx 2 in. At any rate I need to pick up a surge protector today, have none here after moving. I'm pretty sure the combo of me turning my psu off and on(unplugging/switching)over and over + the loud ass spark I heard when I initially plugged in the psu killed it. __________________

May 27th, 2012, 21:51	#8
Lasnap Elven-Dragon Mage Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: USA Posts: 1,873	I would start with the essentials plugged in aka a single stick of ram and that would be about it no gpu no hdds just a single stick and see what happens. I had a bad HDD throw off the entire process of trying to fix a computer in the the past __________________ Love Knows No Bounds!

May 28th, 2012, 00:41	#9
Xblade Eating your Future Join Date: May 2008 Location: The Shadow Realm. Posts: 8,111	It was the gpu that kept it from booting, I removed everything separately already. I had already suspected it and the swollen capacitor on it reaffirmed my suspicions. Right now I'm installing the driver for the on-board. :\ My gpu can' get here faster. EDIT: Holy crap its taking forever for these drivers to install >_> __________________ Last edited by Xblade; May 28th, 2012 at 00:51..