Did I break it? ga-ma78gm-s2h

[sannask]

If I have to ask, the answer is probably yes, isn't it.

I was shifting the contents of one computer to a different case, and as I was unscrewing the mobo from the case, a little transistor/capacitor/resistor/silver thingie fell off. I think what happened, when I was pulling out the video card, I might have knocked the card against this little piece and knocked it loose.
On this picture : http://www.build-your-own-computer.net/image-files/ga-ma78gm-s2h-02.jpg : it's the silver thing that is under the vertical red line for 'analog audio ports'.
In this image: http://media.bestofmicro.com/K/K/161444/original/AMD-Gigabyte-MA78GM-S2H-board.jpg : it's the part that is on the upper left hand side, between the screw hole and 'pcb made in china', above the '10' in the circle with the arrows.
(I am on the netbook, which is slow and grindy, or else I could use an image editing program to mark this more clearly.)

How do I find out what this piece is in charge of? IE, can I run the computer without that piece there? I still have the piece, is it worth trying to solder back on myself? Is the mobo tanked? If I have to buy a new one... does anyone even sell mobos that will support an amd athalon x2 chip and whatever ram I have in here... and oh gosh I'd have to reinstall the OS wouldn't I.... oh geez oh geez please tell me I can run the mobo.

Should I just assemble everything and turn it on and pray? If it runs, will it only run for a little while?

I'm totally screwed, aren't I. screwed screwed screwed in many terrible ways, aren't i.

 

[Novuake]

Plug it in and try it. If it works backup your data. It shoudnt damage any of your other parts if it does.

Getting a board that will work shoudnt be an issue as well and most of the time a fresh windows instal isnt necessary.

Remove your windows password to make it easier to access your data of the hard drive though.

RAM is very cheap at the moment so relax, try it, get back to us.

 

[jaquith]

IMO - try soldering it back together, it looks like a capacitor for the onboard sound or maybe a PCIe controller. I cannot read the chipset.

 

[sannask]

Ok, I will try....

But what does ram being cheap have to do with my mobo potentially setting itself on fire? : o

Also I forgot to say in the first post, there are tiny little letters printed right outside the little box that the piece is in, and it says 'CEC38'. Don't know if that helps.

I will attempt to get my hands on some solder... I thought my husband had a little solder iron around here but I haven't seen it since the move, so... hm. I'll look for this.

 

[jaquith]

RAM...fire...Huh?!

 

[jaquith]

CEC 38 is just the capacitor size (ceramic).

 

[sannask]

RAM...fire...Huh?!

well, the 'fire' is mostly me being snarky, as in, if the mobo doesn't work and I try to start it, it would burst into flames (because that is just what i need today). Novuake said "RAM is very cheap at the moment so relax, try it, get back to us." and I was wondering why ram being cheap affected the part where a capacitor had come off my mobo.

 

[jaquith]

I assume mixing-up posts??!!

Just don't get messy with the solder and you 'should' be okay.

 

[sannask]

Sorry I let this go.

Husband took it to work and soldered it back on. It's a company of electrical engineers so presumably they did it well XD. I put everything together, turned the comp on, and it's been chuggin' just fine for a week or so now.

There may be something funky going on with the onboard sound... the speakers that are on the green line-out port work fine, but none of my 5 pink-plug microphones are working right... so I gave up and plugged in the usb webcam+mic. I say this to say, I don't know if the broken capacitor is affecting the pink mic port or if my mics are all just crap... but over all, it seeeeeems to be working!

Thanks for fielding my spaz. At the point I'd first posted this, both computers in the house were giving me colossal headaches and heart attacks, so I was very frazzled. So far all seems well. Thanks a bunch!

 

[sannask]

Best answer selected by sannask.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey