P
Prune
- Jan 1, 1970
- 0
I posted in computer newsgroups as well but this may be more applicable,
especially if there are any computer engineers.
I was running for about a year without problem two 1 GB sticks of DDR2
SDRAM in dual channel in a watercooled system.
I was having some random crashes over the past couple of days. Looked
inside and turns out the waterblock on the Northbridge had popped off, with
the clamp ripping out one of the looped fasteners on the motherboard it was
attached to. Put the waterblock back but still no dice. After using
memtest, it turns out that the second DDR memory channel (pair of slots) is
gone--the same RAM module would work in the A slots one but not the B
slots--errors in the second, with error rate seeming to be somewhat
proportional to the FSB frequency I set in the BIOS.
Looked under the waterblock again and it looks like there's a missing
surface mount ceramic capacitor. I think I may have crushed it while
reinstalling the waterblock. So either from overheating or breaking the
cap, some damage appears to have occurred and now I can only use one of my
1 GB sticks D: It's sure strange though that the second channel slots work
at all; I wouldn't have expected a partial failure with error rates
depending on the FSB...
My question is, can I just replace the cap I think I crushed with a random
one, or maybe unsolder one of the others around it and measure its
capacitance with my LCR meter and use that, in the hope of restoring
function? Or what if I didn't crush the cap and there's actually not
supposed to be one there? I'm not sure how to deal with this.
I'm also looking for suggestions for the best place to ask this.
especially if there are any computer engineers.
I was running for about a year without problem two 1 GB sticks of DDR2
SDRAM in dual channel in a watercooled system.
I was having some random crashes over the past couple of days. Looked
inside and turns out the waterblock on the Northbridge had popped off, with
the clamp ripping out one of the looped fasteners on the motherboard it was
attached to. Put the waterblock back but still no dice. After using
memtest, it turns out that the second DDR memory channel (pair of slots) is
gone--the same RAM module would work in the A slots one but not the B
slots--errors in the second, with error rate seeming to be somewhat
proportional to the FSB frequency I set in the BIOS.
Looked under the waterblock again and it looks like there's a missing
surface mount ceramic capacitor. I think I may have crushed it while
reinstalling the waterblock. So either from overheating or breaking the
cap, some damage appears to have occurred and now I can only use one of my
1 GB sticks D: It's sure strange though that the second channel slots work
at all; I wouldn't have expected a partial failure with error rates
depending on the FSB...
My question is, can I just replace the cap I think I crushed with a random
one, or maybe unsolder one of the others around it and measure its
capacitance with my LCR meter and use that, in the hope of restoring
function? Or what if I didn't crush the cap and there's actually not
supposed to be one there? I'm not sure how to deal with this.
I'm also looking for suggestions for the best place to ask this.