8RDA+ Problems...Please help!

[TJB]

Hello...First time poster, long time lurker....

I recently upgraded my computer, and wanted to give my old computer to my Mom which would be a considerable upgrade from her old 650mhz Athlon. I had it for around 3 years, and never one problem. However, after I gave it to her, within 2 weeks she was having all sort of issues.

I haven't had a chance to see the actual machine yet, but I was hoping you guys could give me some advice, so next time I'm home to visit, I'll have a gameplan to diagnose the problem.

All of a sudden, when she came back to the computer and made the screensaver go away, the system locked on her. So, she rebooted it, and thenlooked like it was going to be ok, but once Windows was starting up, an error message came up saying the additional power cable to the video card (ATI 9700) was not plugged in. So, I had her (my Dad actually) reseat the video card and unplug/plug back in the power cable to the video card. That didn't seem to help at all. They kept getting the same type of errors.

I have a tough time believing it's the video card, since it is only a few years old and never overclocked, etc... Although, the symptoms seem to point to this. I have also read about the numerous problems this board has had with Bad Capacitors. Could this be the culprit? I had my Dad check out the board, and he confirmed that some of the capacitors appeared to be "bulging" and there was some light brown crusty stuff on the tops of some. Could the capacitors be going on this board? It is 2-3 years old.

I have a spare video card, so that will be the first thing I try when I get home. But, wanted to get everyones "expert" opinions first. I really love this motherboard (in fact for my new system I bought the 9NPA+ Ultra...Epox is awesome...), so I don't really want to get a new one if it is the capacitors. I read Gizmo's guide to replacing caps, so this is what I'd like to do (since this board is well out of warranty)


The specs on the machine (if that helps)
Epox 8RDA+ rev 1.1
Athlon XP 1800+
2x256 PC2100 Crucial Memory
350w Antec PSU
FIC Radeon 9700 Non-Pro 128mb

Thanks in advance for your help! Sorry to have been so long winded...

[Gizmo]

First, welcome to the forums and thanks for posting!

Second, at this point in time, I think it is pretty fair to say that any 8RDA that had the 'bad caps' problem has long since puked its guts out. The failures we are seeing with the 8RDA these days related to capacitors are simply due to component wear-out.

Third, it definitely sounds like your 8RDA is in need of new capacitors. However, given the problem you describe, I'm wondering if your PSU might not also be about done?

In any case, replacing the caps on the mobo is definitely in order.