Graphics card capacitors

Question

My graphics card (geForce 8600GT) stopped working, because it has some blown capacitors.

I will try to replace them myself but I have no experience repairing hardware. I'm not sure what capacitors I should buy. The capacitors I need to replace are three "FZ7C 1500 6.3V" and one "FZ7C 1000 6.3V".

Is it ok if I replace them with these?
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/1500uf-6-3v-motherboard-electrolytic-capacitors-20-piece-91615?item=24
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/6-3v-1000uf-aluminum-motherboard-capacitors-20-piece-pack-94455?item=18

Answer 1

Yes, they should probably be okay.
However, since they are probably under a fair bit of stress (heat mainly) being part of a graphics card, ideally you would replace them with some high reliability/temperature rated versions.
Purchasing parts that have a datasheet from a "reputable" electronics supplier (Mouser, Digikey, Farnell, RS, Newark, etc) mean you can make a selection based on the ratings, and make it less likely that you will get some cheap and nasty caps.

To show the difference between typical aluminium electrolytic types (almost certainly the caps used on your card) here are a couple of datasheets from the same (reputable) manufacturer:

Standard 1000uF
High Reliability 1000uF

The parts you show should work at least for a while, but if you have the inclination, I would have a look and see if you can find some better parts that fit your board. The footprints for these parts are pretty standard, so it shouldn't be hard to come up with plenty of options. If you need any help deciding then just update your question.

Answer 2

Aluminium electrolytic capacitors are the most vulnerable parts in a PC, where it can get fairly hot. Oli pointed at two different classes of capacitors, where there are two parameters to pay attention to: life in hours, and temperature. A standard electrolytic capacitor is rated at 2000 hours (not much!), and 85°C. Long life caps typically have a 5000 hour life (but note that some types in Oli's second link are also only 3000 or even 2000 hours), and are usually rated for higher temperatures, here 105 °C.

You'll say that it doesn't get that hot inside your PC, but electrolytic capacitors have an interesting property: for every 10 °C lower their life doubles! So a 5000 hours/105°C capacitor will last 20000 hours at 85°C, that's 10 times the life of a standard capacitor.

Answer 3

There are several things to consider, when choosing replacement capacitors:

1. Capacity and operating voltage - best keep them the same. It's OK to use capacitors rated for higher voltage than the original ones (e.g. 10V instead of 6.3V) and it's generally not OK to use ones rated for a lower voltage (e.g. 3V instead of 6.3V)
2. Physical compatibility. This primarily includes leads spacing and capacitor body diameter. Some PCBs allow for multiple mounting options - for example 3.5mm & 5.0mm leads spacing plus a SMD footprint. In some cases, height may also be of concern.
3. Capacitor quality. You can't throw some general-purpose capacitor into a modern video card or motherboard and expect it to work. What you need are higher-grade, low impedance (or low ESR) capacitors, rated for 105°C.
4. Brand name. Try to stick to the proven manufacturers - Nichicon, Chemicon, Rubycon, Sanyo and Panasonic, to name a few. Their capacitors can be expensive, though. Some mid-range options may be OK too, but you'll need to do your research.
5. Supplier reputability. In short, do not get the capacitors from [just any] eBay store or DX. In 99% of the cases, you'll get fakes - cheap capacitors with a poorly-printed brand name on the label. Have a look at the image at your second link - it's a mix of "Sanyo" and "Suncon". Yeah, right! Oli has already listed some reliable sources.

Finally, I'd suggest the BadCaps forum as an excellent source for further information, shopping suggestions, capacitor replacement techniques and so on. Here are some of the forum threads I keep bookmarked: The Recapping FAQ, What capacitors should I buy?, List of Bad Cap Manufacturers