[SOLVED] Knocked SMD Component

[Roppard]

Hello everyone,

I got Gigabyte GA-B250 -HD3P motherboard in bulk with other MBs and components. It was quite dusty and there were also drops of some dried liquid. Looked like a spilled coffee. I decided to gently clean it using a cloth, but managed to knock off a small SMD component. It can be clearly seen on the photo below in the right top corner:

it is located below the main PCI-E slot:

I have tried the motherboard using a single GPU and it booted up normally. However, I am hesitant to do some workload tests, as I am worried what kind of issues can this cause. I do not want to destroy my GPU due to some over-voltage or spike or whatever, as I suppose it is either a missing resistor or capacitor.

Is it safe to use this motherboard? I do not have skill nor tools to re-solder the component. Anything remotely similar to heat gun I own is hair dryier.

Thanks for any info!

 

[kanewolf]

Based on the writing on the top of that chip -- http://www.ite.com.tw/en/product/view?mid=78
It is used to enable the PCI slot. If you don't use the PCI slot you probably won't have any issues.
Obviously there is no guarantee, but since this was return bought in a bulk surplus buy, you should already expect there to be no guarantee.

 

[Roppard]

Based on the writing on the top of that chip -- http://www.ite.com.tw/en/product/view?mid=78
It is used to enable the PCI slot. If you don't use the PCI slot you probably won't have any issues.
Obviously there is no guarantee, but since this was return bought in a bulk surplus buy, you should already expect there to be no guarantee.

Thanks a lot for your answer. Sure, I do not expect any guarantee, I just want to verify if it is safe to use the MB and to what extend.

I have read that description of the chip. However, I am not sure, which PCI slot this should affect. I mean, there are 5 of them in total, 3 big ones and 2 small ones. Any idea which of those I should avoid using?

 

[kanewolf]

Thanks a lot for your answer. Sure, I do not expect any guarantee, I just want to verify if it is safe to use the MB and to what extend.

I have read that description of the chip. However, I am not sure, which PCI slot this should affect. I mean, there are 5 of them in total, 3 big ones and 2 small ones. Any idea which of those I should avoid using?

There is only one PCI slot. All the others are PCIe. The PCI slot is the one near the barcode sticker on the picture you posted. You can see how it is different than all the others. Notice how all the others have a plastic bar that lines up toward the rear motherboard edge of each slot. The PCI slot doesn't have that blocker.

 

[Roppard]

Based on the writing on the top of that chip -- http://www.ite.com.tw/en/product/view?mid=78
It is used to enable the PCI slot. If you don't use the PCI slot you probably won't have any issues.
Obviously there is no guarantee, but since this was return bought in a bulk surplus buy, you should already expect there to be no guarantee.

Yeah, I see which one you mean. Well that sounds very promising, I doubt I will ever use that slot. Up until now, I thought that PCIe and PCI basically refers to the same thing, will know better in the future. Do you think there is some chance of it affecting the PCIe slots aswell? I do not really mind if the motherboard itself stopped working, as it is not that valuable, but if I use it and it fry some solid GPU or other component, that would be quite painful...

 

[kanewolf]

Yeah, I see which one you mean. Well that sounds very promising, I doubt I will ever use that slot. Up until now, I thought that PCIe and PCI basically refers to the same thing, will know better in the future. Do you think there is some chance of it affecting the PCIe slots aswell? I do not really mind if the motherboard itself stopped working, as it is not that valuable, but if I use it and it fry some solid GPU or other component, that would be quite painful...

Unknown on impacting PCIe slots. Without X-Ray of the board to determine what pin that connects to.

 

[vov4ik_il]

Take this piece and the board to someone who can use a soldering iron and set it back where it belongs. It is a minute job.