[SOLVED] What are these behinds the cpu socket?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Solution
D
They are called MLCC's....Multi-Layer Ceramic Capacitors. They provide final filtering of the voltage before it is presented to the CPU, for something called switching ripple. Loss of one may not be immediately noticed... but it might result in instability under heavy use-age scenarios. Especially so if you overclock since that exploits design margin your system no longer possesses.

It also might result in reduced processor life as (now) the ripple voltage will have higher peaks that slowly chip away at the silicon, so to speak.

A computer shop (one staffed with a real tech, of course) could replace it as it's easy to desolder and solder a replacement in. If it were one of the many MLCC's scattered about in most any other location...
Sort by date Sort by votes
D

drea.drechsler

Polypheme
Oct 16, 2017
9,874
2,666
62,790
They are called MLCC's....Multi-Layer Ceramic Capacitors. They provide final filtering of the voltage before it is presented to the CPU, for something called switching ripple. Loss of one may not be immediately noticed... but it might result in instability under heavy use-age scenarios. Especially so if you overclock since that exploits design margin your system no longer possesses.

It also might result in reduced processor life as (now) the ripple voltage will have higher peaks that slowly chip away at the silicon, so to speak.

A computer shop (one staffed with a real tech, of course) could replace it as it's easy to desolder and solder a replacement in. If it were one of the many MLCC's scattered about in most any other location I might not, but in this location (at the base of the CPU) I would. Especially if this is a board and processor you care about.

What I'm curious to know is how you managed to burn one up.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
C

Cinder6

Commendable
Aug 13, 2016
29
0
1,530
drea.drechsler said:
They are called MLCC's....Multi-Layer Ceramic Capacitors. They provide final filtering of the voltage before it is presented to the CPU, for something called switching ripple. Loss of one may not be immediately noticed... but it might result in instability under heavy use-age scenarios. Especially so if you overclock since that exploits design margin your system no longer possesses.

It also might result in reduced processor life as (now) the ripple voltage will have higher peaks that slowly chip away at the silicon, so to speak.

A computer shop (one staffed with a real tech, of course) could replace it as it's easy to desolder and solder a replacement in. If it were one of the many MLCC's scattered about in most any other location I might not, but in this location (at the base of the CPU) I would. Especially if this is a board and processor you care about.

What I'm curious to know is how you managed to burn one up.
Click to expand...

I shorted it out :sweatsmile:

I guess I'll buy a new motherboard:tearsofjoy:
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
D

drea.drechsler

Polypheme
Oct 16, 2017
9,874
2,666
62,790
Cinder6 said:
I shorted it out :sweatsmile:

I guess I'll buy a new motherboard:tearsofjoy:
Click to expand...

You're lucky the short didn't take out a VRM FET.

And that's the point: why spit in the face of lady luck? Surely you could find a shop with a tech, a fine tip soldering station and a good magnifier who'll swap that out for you. Surely a lot cheaper than a new mobo, and shouldn't even have to remove the board from the case.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cinder6
Upvote 0 Downvote
C

Cinder6

Commendable
Aug 13, 2016
29
0
1,530
drea.drechsler said:
You're lucky the short didn't take out a VRM FET.

And that's the point: why spit in the face of lady luck? Surely you could find a shop with a tech, a fine tip soldering station and a good magnifier who'll swap that out for you. Surely a lot cheaper than a new mobo, and shouldn't even have to remove the board from the case.
Click to expand...

I spoke to a bunch of computer shops. most don't do these repairs and the ones who do say to just buy a new mobo. repairs are about $180 😕
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
D

drea.drechsler

Polypheme
Oct 16, 2017
9,874
2,666
62,790
Upvote 0 Downvote
C

Cinder6

Commendable
Aug 13, 2016
29
0
1,530
Upvote 0 Downvote
NightHawkRMX

NightHawkRMX

Titan
Ambassador
Jan 1, 2018
18,499
3,978
73,540
There is a lot more to capacitors that matters in a place like this. I am not the most knowledgeable in this case but i am pretty confident you would need at least a mlcc with the same voltage and farad rating as the current one since CPUs are very sensitive. There may be other factors such as size you should concider. Also the current capacitors are surface mount, where the ones you listed arent.
Remember to try some soldering on other things first to make sure you don't damage your motherboard or killing other things in your system by an improper soldering job.
I really don't know how to know what rating the current mlcc are on the motherboard. Try to find a number on one you can use as reference to buy another identical one. You would be looking at something closer to this for reference. These probably aren't the right capacitors but they are the right size and surface mount.
https://www.alliedelec.com/product/...grzuIhCdqXvBfJnFulEaAk9uEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
NightHawkRMX

NightHawkRMX

Titan
Ambassador
Jan 1, 2018
18,499
3,978
73,540
Hey my guess was right about it being am4. Well since you arent experiencing any issues right now, you wouldnt see any difference in the short term if it was fixed. If you didnt fix the issue you would see no difference right now. If you messed up bad the board wouldnt post.
It is pretty risky when working with sensitive components. I am only an amature at soldering, but i dont think i would risk it and it would be even harder if you never have soldered anything before. If this was an electrolytic capacitor that burnt near the the 24 pin or something it would be an easy repair since those capacitors are clearly labeled, large, and easy to work with. However a surface mount capacitor dealing with a risky part of the board it would be much harder, since they are much smaller and generally unlabeled.
If you do try to repair this yourself, i would invest some time into learning how to properly solder. Using some flux would make this job mhch easier.
You could replace the motherboard aswell.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cinder6
Upvote 0 Downvote
NightHawkRMX

NightHawkRMX

Titan
Ambassador
Jan 1, 2018
18,499
3,978
73,540
https://store.rossmanngroup.com heres a good soldering store. The guy that runs this also runs a youtube chanel "lous rossman" repairing motherboards to macbooks. You could watch some of his videos to get more comfortable with what you would be doing. He relpaces faulty capacitors and other surface components all of the time. He know his stuff. Just an fyi, he isnt the most family friendly but he has gotten better lately.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
D

drea.drechsler

Polypheme
Oct 16, 2017
9,874
2,666
62,790
Cinder6 said:
its a b350-f

seems like a risky process, even if i do manage to get it on, how would i know if its working?
Click to expand...
I can't really say what value MLCC. It is a chip capacitor and surface mount. I'm sure if you asked about you could get someone else who's actually done this before.

But as far as replacing it to be sure it works...that's a bit of a process. You first have to determine which voltage it's filtering: VCore and VSOC are the most likely candidates. To do that, you have to probe the base of the socket with a DMM.

But before I'd go probing it I'd remove the damaged MLCC since it's already cracked. What you DO NOT WANT is two of the layers shorting together and shorting out the VRM again. There are several capacitors in parrallel, so if you remove one completely there's still SOME filtering just not enough. Once it's completely removed then you can power on the board-- just bring it to BIOS and that's all-- and probe the capacitors to read voltages and determine which one it is and it's value. You need to know that so you can compare AFTER you solder in the new one.

After you determine voltage and values, shut down and pull the processor. DO NOT PUT AN OHMMETER ON ANY LEADS OF THE PROCESSOR SO BE SURE TO PULL IT NOW!!! Then put an ohm meter across the pads of the missing cap: it should be very high one way, very low the other. Do the same for the caps surrounding the missing one and remember the results. After you put in the new cap measure them all again if it's still high one way, low the other...not low BOTH ways meaning you left a solder bridge. If the ohm-out is good you've not likely done anything that could further damage anything.

Now, just for grins and giggles power up the board with CPU out...yes it will fail to boot even to BIOS but this way you can see if any smoke is released without the processor at risk. If things DO smoke now...oh well. it was a binner anyway and nothing lost. If you want to pull memory and GPU go ahead and do that too, this is just a smoke test. You can also check for voltages but don't expect them to be close to correct value as the processor is missing to present a load and advise the VRM controller on what to do.

Now put processor (and memory/gpu if you pulled them) and boot back to BIOS...first thing is measure voltages again with the DMM and compare to what they were before you took it apart. Should be the same.

Kinda involved, but not too hard and using only basic troubleshooting tools (a DMM/ohmeter), and something I'd attempt since the board's a binner otherwise. If it's soldered in it's probably working as it's supposed to but there's no really good way to test for it. If you've never done this sort of thing, you may be a bit daunted....
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom