Capacator kits for GA-K8NS Pro Motherboard?

[Gene1000]

Hello all, my first post here.

I have a 10-year old Gigabyte K8NS Pro motherboard that suddenly keeps shutting down on its own. Even when it's booting up and still in its BIOS, it will shutdown. It will do the same at any time in Windows XP (32). I've tried everything including different memory, new power supply, disconnecting devices, reinstalling the mobo on and on.

My guess is that it could be some of the capacitors, although none appear bad visually. My question is how and where can I purchase the proper capacitor kit for this motherboard? If there is no kit available, which capacitors do I buy, how many of each and from where?

Or, should I send the computer out for repair and if so, who does capacitor replacement and general trouble shooting?

Could the problem be something other than  the capacitors?

It's a great motherboard and I don't want to have to start all over from scratch with all of my programs by purchasing a different board. Can't seem to locate an identical board out there. Anyone have one for sale?

Thanks for your help.

[MarkJohnson]

wow, that's an old board.  lol   

I don't think it would be east replacing all those caps.  Might be easier to get another board.  maybe a used one off ebay or something.

also, it could be the cpu/graphics/memory, etc...

Did you ever have overheating issues? 

 maybe the CPU is just degraded?  Try increasing the cpu voltage a notch or two to see if it helps.

[Vezina]

Yes indeed looks like bad capacitors on the mobo or PSU.
It s time to upgrade.
You can get that fixed but whats the use.

[Gene1000]

Yes indeed looks like bad capacitors on the mobo or PSU.
It s time to upgrade.
You can get that fixed but whats the use.

Thanks for your advice. If I upgrade, I'll need new everything: Video card, sound card, memory, etc. Can't afford that.

The GA-K8NS is great for what I use it for. All I need to do is replace the capacitors, but I don't know which ones to buy and how many. Someone out there must know.

[Vezina]

I understand that.

The capacitor type is LOW ESR .
They are tall and very thin ones compared to usual ones ,rated 105 Celsius would be recommended.
You will have to buy similar capacities and identical or higher voltage rating.
Now you will have to replace most of them if not all to avoid issues.

You will have to calculate the cost of this caps and the cost of the replacement operation.
You may end up with the need to get another used motherboard if the cost is high.

What money have you set for the replacement ?There are some nice tiny AMD motherboards that have CPU-s and video integrated on them similar as power -> http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3681#ov  If you find one of these as used and one ram module you are good to go.

[Gene1000]

Thanks for the info. My main reason for not getting a different board is that I won't need to reinstall the OS and the MANY programs that I currently have on the machine. If I use the same board or locate the same model somewhere with the same chipset, all that I would need to do is switch the mobos, connect all of the hardware and the thing should boot right up. A different mobo means a lot of work starting from scratch installing zillions of programs.

I see many different types of capacitors in this board. Small ones, biggies, etc. I wouldn't know which and how to buy. That's why I was looking for a kit or an identical replacement mobo.
 
Anyway, I'll keep looking. Thanks again for your help.

[MarkJohnson]

I see ebay has a couple for sale, but at $100+.  I do see the non-pro for cheap if that is an option.  I also see the Ultra for $50.

Make sure to read carefully as the 939 version has the exact same model numbers as the 754 version for some reason.

also, XP is very forgiving on replacing motherboards.  It will say it detects a motherboard change, but give you three days to activate.  So everything will be intact and you can just re-activate or re-enter the product key.  I have done this many, many times in the past.

for ease of change.  make sure it is as close to your MB as possible.  same chipsets, cpu socket type etc.  otherwise you may need a reinstall like going from amd to intel or something drastic.

If you have an extra HDD you can just clone the whole XP install with clonezilla, then you can revert back your current XP install.

also, did you try bumping your cpu volts?  It have re-stablized my aging system in the past.  But be prepared for upgrade soon at this point.

also, consider replacing the whole thing.  It may be worth the time to reinstall than spend another $100+ dollars.  You can buy a brand new mb and cpu for that price on sale that would be significantly faster than what you have now.


Luck
-=Mark=-

[MarkJohnson]

You could always try a brand new 3200+ cpu.  Ebay have them for $8.00 free shipping.  You could get 3400+, it's the best 754 chip made, but they are $25+.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_nkw=3200%2B+754&_dmpt=CPUs&rt=nc&LH_ItemCondition=3

The one pictured with the tray of chips looks pretty good.

-=Mark=-

[Vezina]

MarkJohnson ,to much money for old stuff.
Better put some money for the future and buy a new less power consumption PC.
At least the new ones have better capacitors and higher processing power.
Sooner or later even if he gets the capacitors replaced the slots or the DIMM-s will start behaving.
And while replacing them it can happen some circuits to go bad in the PCB.

[Lieutenant Worf]

Have you tried Badcaps dot net?  They can give you advice, even if they don't have the kit. (Some motherboards mark the polarity of the capacitors backwards with the silkscreen, and some caps fail without bulging.)

Badcaps gave me the courage to re-cap a Compaq "pizza box" I got out of some guy's trash.  I replaced some bulging Nichicon HM(M) near the CPU.  Farnell gave me a low everyday price.  Then for $8 more on eBay (including shipping), I got a used CPU (upgraded from a 1.7 GHz Pentium 4 to a 2.8 GHz).

It's a great little unit now.

If you have lots of programs, I'd say GO FOR IT.  It will buy you time while you plan the switch to a newer system.

Hope this helps!

[kosobai]

I agree that retrofitting an old board is not the way to go. Once one component fails, others usually follow.

Patching it up is fun only as long as the parts can be had for a song.

Setting up a new system will be a pain in the butt to begin with, but the OP can at least be content that his system will be good for another decade or so.

[Gene1000]

Thanks for all of the great info, guys.

Somehow, I got the thing running again. I tried a lot of things and I don't know which one of them provided the fix....but I'm sure, it's a temporary one. At one point, it wouldn't even go into the BIOS at boot up or into safe mode. Kept locking up, kept reinstalling Windows, lost all of my programs, no desktop, all sorts of crazy stuff. I suspect it's a combination of things. Just an old computer.

I realize that I'm going to have to bite the bullet and upgrade. I prefer to build my own machine, which is what I've done for my last seven machines. But I'm not looking forward to having to buy all new components with the exception of the hard drives. Haven't done research on motherboards in years, so I don't really know what's out there. 

Anyway, I've gotten pretty good at re-installing XP and installing all of the drivers. A lot of practice.

Any recommendations on a good motherboard, processor and video card?
Thanks again.

 

[Gene1000]

I see ebay has a couple for sale, but at $100+.  I do see the non-pro for cheap if that is an option.  I also see the Ultra for $50.

Yes, I know. I purchased two of the GA K8NS Pros on the Internet recently and got burned both times. Also bought the non-pro model and discovered that it was DOA.

One guy has the pro model selling for $175 plus transport and he's replaced the capacitors. I can't see spending that much for a very old mobo.

Thanks for your reply.

[Vezina]

How much money you have for the CPU+Mobo+Video combo ?

If you want some video integrated you can go for an APU based build ,either Llano ,either the future Trinity.
If we are talking medium budget stuff you can go for a  FX 4100 /AMD X4 965 BE + AMD 970 chipset  + some 5670/6670 video card.