"TTverre" said:
The MB is an Asus P4G8X-Deluxe and the processor an Intel 3.06 GHz and 1 Gig
of RAM. The processor was running a little hot, so a while back I installen
a Thermaltake Subzero4G Peltier element for silent cooling. It has worked
fine as far as I can see. The Power supply is/was a 550W Enemax. The
soundcard is a Audigy2 EX. The PC has 2 160Gig hard disks, a DVD reader and
a DVD write disk.
I agree. The only way out of this is to take everything out, start with a
minimum configuration and install units one at a time. There are no visible
hot spots on the MB, but some of the electrolyts have some black goo on top
of the cans. Not an ordinary leaking electrolyt as fare as I can see, but it
might be something. Has anyone seen this before?
I am a lucky man, a year back a got a wrong order from a company than I
never returned, and Paul, you guess right, it is a brand new P4G8X-D MB. It
might come in handy now, but first the heat must go away. It is midnight in
Oslo, and i have 30.3 degrees C in my living room. We are not used to such
temperatures here up north i Norway, so it will hopefully go away in a few
days.
T.T
Norway
Well, right away I can see the reason the power supply failed.
The Peltier killed it. Some of the larger Peltier coolers draw
20 amps from +12V, and they really should be powered from a separate
ATX power supply rated for more than the max current draw of
the Peltier.
Peltier coolers must be carefully insulated to prevent condensation.
There is some kind of compound that people apply to the socket
area, after the processor is installed, plus the use of neoprene
gaskets, to try to prevent moisture laden air from getting at
the socket area. This is a messy process, to say the least.
The electrolytic capacitors with the black goo on the top
have failed. The failure may have damaged one or more of the
MOSFETs as well, so examine them for signs of burning or cracking.
(Try wiping the black goo off the capacitor, and see if there
are cracks or signs of internal gas pressure causing the
aluminum to bulge. Maybe the black color is some kind
of chemical reaction from condensation?)
You will need to replace the capacitors, either using the
services of a local repair shop, or look for "Big Badger" in
the Abit motherboard group. "Big Badger" replaces capacitors
for motherboard owners in Europe, as does "Homie" in North
America. "Homie" has a web site, and he will replace all the
electrolytics for $50 USD. To reach Big Badger, you need to
make an email address from Big_Badger, his provider btinternet,
ending in a .com to complete the address. I don't think he
has a web site.
You could try a warranty replacement, but if there is visible
corrosion on the motherboard, then Asus may refuse to honour
the warranty.
In terms of cooling, a water block is a better alternative than
a Peltier. Just make sure that the radiator for a water system
is outside the computer case, so the case air is not heated up.
Water blocks maintain a reasonable temperature for the processor
(neither hot nor cold), without the risk of condensation.
Your air temperature of 30C is simply amazing. We are having a
cooler than normal summer here. Having just had a thunderstorm,
the temp here is 18C, after today's high of only 25C.
HTH,
Paul
