Burned capacitor?

[Masterec]

Hi,

This is a follow up thread to:
http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...puter-Troubles


When i plug the power to my computer I hear a very low volume high frequency noice (this is without turning the computer on). This is a sign of a short somewhere, or am I completely wrong?

So i unplugged everything and pulled out the motherboard from the case.
I went thru every soldering and capacitor and found this:

http://img821.imageshack.us/i/closeupfs.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/808/sideek.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/600/upside.jpg/

In the closeup you can see that its a bit "pointy". The top of the capacitor has swollen.

In the second pic you see that it is a bit higher than the similar capacitor that is right beside it.

In the last pic you can see that the top has "broken" and theres come some black stuff out of it. I have no idea if that black stuff belongs to the capacitor of just some dirt o.O

Any help would be nice, and is there any possibility that is is the problem why the computer wont boot and there is that high frequency sound.

Thanks in advance

[vesseblah]

When i plug the power to my computer I hear a very low volume high frequency noice (this is without turning the computer on). This is a sign of a short somewhere, or am I completely wrong?

So i unplugged everything and pulled out the motherboard from the case.
I went thru every soldering and capacitor and found this:

Any help would be nice, and is there any possibility that is is the problem why the computer wont boot and there is that high frequency sound.

High pitch noise is usually totally normal and annoying thing that low cost low quality transformers do. It's not necessarily a sign of anything being broken, and those are inside PSU, not on motherboard...

...but yes, that capacitor looks unhealthy and is either dead or dying soon. If you're feeling adventurous and have soldering gear you can try swapping it with another one that has same bottom dimensions and same stats (or higher voltage than the 6.3v, it'll just cost more).

Could be something else is making noise than the transformers inside PSU, but it's quite unlikely without computer being turned on. The fix for the noise is re-laquering the transformer coils and if you google for it there's tons of information around on how to do it and with what materials.

[Masterec]

Id find it very unlikely that there would be anything wrong with the psu, it is a sub e months old corsair 500w psu. Im not saying its completely impossible just unlikely. Is there any way the sound could come from there being something wrong on the motherboard?

Oh and another thing, the sound stops when i unplug the 24 pin and comes back as soon as i plug it back in.

[vesseblah]

Oh and another thing, the sound stops when i unplug the 24 pin and comes back as soon as i plug it back in.

ATX PSU will run at low power ready state when it's plugged into motherboard, ready to wake up when you press power button (just like any home AV thingies like TV that starts from remote) so it's still not a proof of which component makes the noise. You should be able to hear the difference if it comes from the PSU or the motherboard if you listen carefully while it's plugged in.

It's unlikely that the Corsair PSU is that low quality the transformers are noisy, but it's possible especially if it's CX500 model. New CX400/500/600 are weak links in Corsair's lineup and way below the standard of VX/TX/HX/AX lineups.

[Enola]

That capacitor is dead, the problem is dead capacitors tend to happen because of over tension meaning someplace else allowed the voltage to spike higher then what the capacitor was designed for, granted if your are lucky he might just have blown up due to being defective or old or both.... but wouldn't count on it too much.
Anyway those capacitors cost a few cents you can just try to replace it, but wouldn't count on it to solve the problem, good luck either way.

[FlawlessSoul]

As others have said, your caps are dying. Horrid, horrid things. Synthaxx hit the nail on the head mentioning Solid State Capacitors. Another improvement made since your motherboard was made is the introduction of ferrite chokes. A choke is visible on your board in the first picture, the donut shaped core with a wire coiled around it. Your high frequency noise (aside from the fact you have a dying motherboard) could also be due to the vibrating coil, since it's an old and/or cheap motherboard. Using hot glue or blutack can help reduce it by damping the core against the wire.