Radeon 7000 Capacitors

[trag]

Are these going to need replacing eventually? What do folks think? They look fine, so far. Also the marking seem a little different than I'm used to. They say '100' NL '16G' NL '572' where "NL" => Newline.

I'm guessing 100uF X 16V, but I'm not sure. 100F seems high.

 

[cheesestraws]

Sounds like you're describing the last image in the top post on this page?

SMT Electrolytic Capacitor with no Voltage Rating

One questions that comes through our department is from customers who are trying to identify a surface mount Aluminum Electrolytic Cap and there is no Voltage listed. Once we start looking at the cap we often find that the voltage is listed, however as a letter and not the actual voltage value...

forum.digikey.com

 

[joshc]

Yeah, due for replacement at some point, I don't think any caps are immune. They probably run at high temps, being on a relatively high performance video card so no doubt that will shorten their lifespan too...

 

[trag]

Sounds like you're describing the last image in the top post on this page?

SMT Electrolytic Capacitor with no Voltage Rating

One questions that comes through our department is from customers who are trying to identify a surface mount Aluminum Electrolytic Cap and there is no Voltage listed. Once we start looking at the cap we often find that the voltage is listed, however as a letter and not the actual voltage value...

forum.digikey.com

Yep, that matches up pretty well. So I guess they are 100uF at 16V. Thank you.

Yeah, due for replacement at some point, I don't think any caps are immune. They probably run at high temps, being on a relatively high performance video card so no doubt that will shorten their lifespan too...

Well, these are on cards that have never been used. So the question becomes do they degrade just sitting there?

 

[joshc]

Well, these are on cards that have never been used. So the question becomes do they degrade just sitting there?

Yes. See my post about two boxed/sealed, never used, IIsi adapters that had leaky capacitors:

https://68kmla.org/bb/index.php?threads/dont-forget-to-recap-stuff-like-pds-nubus-cards.38687/

 

[trag]

That's kind of what I figured.

Yes. See my post about two boxed/sealed, never used, IIsi adapters that had leaky capacitors:

https://68kmla.org/bb/index.php?threads/dont-forget-to-recap-stuff-like-pds-nubus-cards.38687/

That's kind of what I figured, although these R7000s are considerably newer than any IIsi adapter.

I have a fair sized box of 64MB Sapphire R7000s I'd like to convert (replace Flash chip) and sell, but I'm debating whether to recap them too.

If I recap them I'd want to recoup that cost, and I'm not sure hte market will pay for it.

 

[joshc]

True, those are a bit newer indeed. I'd only pre-emptively recap if you want to keep that stuff for yourself. I wouldn't recap if you're just selling them, that can be someone else's problem, as long as the stuff works/is tested as it is.

 

[trag]

Thanks, @joshc . I appreciate the advice.

Do you have an opinion on whether folks care if the latest firmware is installed? They can flash it to 2.26 in an OSX machine. I'd rather not set up an OSX machine to do the flashing, which would mean leaving the cards at 2.08. But if folks are likely to care, I can haul out the Beige G3 or one of the MDDs.

 

[joshc]

Hmm. Depending on what benefit flashing to 2.26 provides, as a buyer that might be something I would want? (sorry, I'm not clued up on the Radeon 7000).

 

[trag]

Hmm. Depending on what benefit flashing to 2.26 provides, as a buyer that might be something I would want? (sorry, I'm not clued up on the Radeon 7000).

Thank you for taking a swing at it anyway. It was probably a silly question. Who knows what folks would want?

Yeah, I'm not sure if the update provides anything more than minor fixes. I should probably just get the OSX machine set up. It would be nicer to just install the cards in a six slot Mac and flash them there. Of course, I could Xpostfacto the six slot Mac, I guess. Is that still available? I never used it back the day. I was a very late OSX adopter and never really liked it much.

I've been installing the new chips blank and then flashing to 2.08, because the Radeon 2.08 installer will flash a blank chip. It'll be another step to update to 2.26.

Alternatively, I could just pre-program the chips with 2.26 rather than flashing them -- although flashing them with Radeon's flasher utility provides a nice test that they update properly. If any user wants to drop back to older firmware, that ability is already tested.

Okay, I'm just kind of mumbling out loud here.