Random BSoDs

I have been having problems with my system over the last few weeks and I have completely run out of solutions. I am hoping someone here can come up with something I have missed. When I was installing my new PSU I noticed a blown cap near my RAM (see horrible picture below)


This is the best picture I could get with my old fujifilm camera since I don't have photoshop installed to size down a picture from my digital rebel. (I didn't think anyone would like if I posted a 3456 X 2304 image.)

A break down of my problems:
Completely random blue screens of death ranging from stop errors to IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
Warm boot up problems: My system will cycle with the diagnostic LEDs showing it going through the same steps repeatedly.
Cold boot up problems: Generally a BSoD during the windows XP start up

Attempted fixes:

A new Corsair HX620W PSU (purchased based on the Hardocp review)
A fresh install of Windows XP (I even switched from a pirated version of XP Pro to a legal version of XP Home)
Switched from my Creative SB X-Fi card to onboard. (I suspected it might be the problem since it seems to fail more often when I am listening to music of some kind.)


Misc info:
All temp. readings are well within limits.
Voltages are good with the motherboard's readings and with my digital multimeter.
Torture testing does not seem to effect when the system fails
OS is completely up-to-date
Anti-virus software is installed and I have yet to setup my mail accounts or browse any websites that I don't completely trust
All drivers are as updated as possible for my aged setup.
The system will run prime95, SuperPI, 3Dmark and memtest for HOURS at a time with no problems.
Oddly enough it seems to crash more often when I am listening to music, though it doesn't matter if it is a streamed music video or an MP3.

My system:
CPU AMD Athlon XP 3000+ (400 MHZ FSB)
Motherboard: DFI LAN PARTY NF2 Ultra B
Memory: Kingston HyperX 512 X 2
PSU: Brand new Corsair HW620W
Video Card: BFG Geforce 6800 GS OC
Hard Drives: WD 36 gig Raptor (primary)
WD 200 gig SATA (page file and storage)
Maxtor 40 gig IDE (old storage)
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum (removed)
Cooling: Koolance Exos liquid cooling system (currently only cooling the CPU)
Optical drives: Lite-on Dual Layer DVD-RW
Old but faithful Samsung CD-RW

Any help would be great. Thanks in advance.

How about just getting a new motherboard?? If you have a blown capacitor, you have a blown capacitor there's no point trying to cheat your way around it.

At the end of the day the capacitors are there to ensure the voltages flow properly through the circuitry and without them the timings on the signals will fluctuate, that's why good PSU's with stable voltages are vital for good stability in your system. After all, a computer only moves electricity around!

I can't see the cap in question because my work monitor is a piece of shit, but assuming you do indeed have a blown cap, I think, as the above poster suggested, a new board is in order.

That would be my advice.

You could try replacing the capacitor.

enginurd said:

You could try replacing the capacitor.

Click to expand...

I'm not trying to be a smart ass at all here, so please don't take it that way.... But does that ever actually work? I keep seeing people saying that you can resolder caps and other pieces/parts on mobos and video cards... but first of all, you would need the soldering skills of a ninja, and in the end, is it really worth it? If you've got one blown cap, aren't the odds of others following suit in short order pretty high?

I'm genuinely interested to hear if anyone has actually had success doing something like this, and if so, was the repair stable, are the repaired parts still in service?

Well the problem with replacing this motherboard is it is damn near impossible to find a good socket A board anywhere other then eBay. Anyone know of any other sites that might still be selling an Nforce2 motherboard?

digital_exhaust said:

I'm not trying to be a smart ass at all here, so please don't take it that way.... But does that ever actually work? I keep seeing people saying that you can resolder caps and other pieces/parts on mobos and video cards... but first of all, you would need the soldering skills of a ninja, and in the end, is it really worth it? If you've got one blown cap, aren't the odds of others following suit in short order pretty high?

I'm genuinely interested to hear if anyone has actually had success doing something like this, and if so, was the repair stable, are the repaired parts still in service?

Click to expand...

I replaced 22 capacitors on an old Abit BE6-II motherboard last week. It now seems to be running completely stable. (Prime95 for 10+ hours, memtest, etc) I wouldn't say I have the soldering skills of a ninja, but I went slow and was very careful not to be too violent with the board. I don't know if I would recommend recapping for anyone that doesn’t know how to solder, and having the right equipment probably helps a lot, but it does work.

I am hoping to post a worklog with pictures of my progress, but I may not get around to that for a few days because my primary computer is on the fritz.

To the OP: I looked a little bit, and did not find anything worth while. You could try looking in the For Sale forum and see if anyone is selling one. If not, it may be cheaper to get a new motherboard and CPU.

Oops, double post.

digital_exhaust said:

I'm not trying to be a smart ass at all here, so please don't take it that way.... But does that ever actually work?

Click to expand...

Yup. why would you need ninja skills to recap a board? is the board gonna vanish on you? hehe... oh, you mean precision-wise... nah. Capacitors are much easier to replace than chips, imo.

@OP: try recapping it first.