Question Capacitor on Motherboard

[iwani88]

So today i was cleaning my pc, and my GPU is a bit 2 big for my case, and while I was installing the GPU back again one capacitor just fell off, I went in panic cuz I didn't know that capacitor job on the MOBO.

But I hooked everything up again and PC was running well, did some bench marks and its running 100%.

I also try to put the 2 pins of the capacitor further away from each other just so that they don't short.

I tried to look for the capacitor number and so, and it only appear that the capacitor is used for VGA capacitor.



Is there any problem of leaving it like this?
the two pins wont touch each other so no shortening will happen.

 

[iwani88]

the capacitor is right below the pci express port

 

[SkyNetRising]

the capacitor is right below the pci express port

Can you show a photo?
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

What model motherboard is that?

 

[iwani88]

https://imgur.com/awGU5Lq

View: https://imgur.com/awGU5Lq


Asrock B450M PRO4 R2.0

 

[iwani88]

Can you show a photo?
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

What model motherboard is that?

View: https://imgur.com/awGU5Lq


Asrock B450M PRO4 R2.0

 

[SkyNetRising]

Is there any problem of leaving it like this?

Well - I'd be uncomfortable to use motherboard with broken off components.
Either re-solder the capacitor (get somebody to do it for you) or get a new motherboard.

 

[Grobe]

Given the location on the motherboard, I'd guess this particular one is used to stabilize voltage for PCIe slots, possible other as well.

If this turns out being the case, the mobo may just functions well until you put in a PCIe component. Or it could simply behave unstable from time to time.

Anyway, without complete schematic this would be guesswork only. Replacing it should be the safest option regardless.

 

[Eximo]

I can't really read the label from the stock image (even found a review with close ups, guess which cap was never in focus), but it shouldn't be too hard to find a replacement capacitor. You would want to remove the old one completely.

I think it is a 270 uF 10mm SMD electrolytic capacitor. Just have to get one that is the right height so as not to be taller than the PCIe slot. With the broken off part in hand, shouldn't be too hard to track one down. (I agree it is likely for the 3.3 volts provided via the slot, but you can check this by measuring across it)

Then it is down to your access to soldering skills.

https://www.mouser.com/c/passive-components/capacitors/?capacitance=270 uF&product type=Electrolytic Capacitors

 

[Avro Arrow]

That happened to me as well. I found a capacitor loose in the case of a PC that I was building. The motherboard seemed to have all of its capacitors in place (I used a blown-up image to try to find one missing) and I never did find where it came from.

Every motherboard I own still works perfectly months later so I don't worry about it.