were all the motherboards (compatible with windows 98-ME) affected by capacitor plague?

[caprireds]

According to Wikipedia

 

The capacitor plague was a problem related to a higher-than-expected failure rate of non-solid aluminium electrolytic capacitors, between 1999 and 2007, especially those from some Taiwanese manufacturers, due to faulty electrolyte composition that caused corrosion accompanied by gas generation, often rupturing the case of the capacitor from the build-up of pressure.

Major vendors of motherboards such as Abit,IBM, Dell, Apple, HP, and Intel were affected by capacitors with faulty electrolytes.

In 2005, Dell spent some US$420 million replacing motherboards outright and on the logistics of determining whether a system was in need of replacement.

 

If not of all them were affected , what are some examples of those system with good capacitors ?

Are there any motherboards compatible with windows Me ,that have solid capacitors?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RainyShadow]

The ones not affected by this would have some dried-up capacitors by now anyways.

It isn't that hard to replace faulty capacitors, and the blown-up ones are much easier to spot than the dry ones.

The only real issue would be damage around the capacitor caused by the leaked electrolyte.

[caprireds]

43 minutes ago, RainyShadow said:

The ones not affected by this would have some dried-up capacitors by now anyways.

It isn't that hard to replace faulty capacitors, and the blown-up ones are much easier to spot than the dry ones.

The only real issue would be damage around the capacitor caused by the leaked electrolyte.

thanx Rainyshadow

what well built motherboard or desktop (if I find used or new ) do you suggest for me to install windows ME on it?

 

 

[RainyShadow]

I can't tell you any specific models, sorry.

Check the stickied topics, there you'll find some.

[Gansangriff]

I pulled plenty of computers from the scrapyard. Much more problems came with the machines of around 2005 to 2008. All of them, except one, died already. Two had blown capacitors, although they sometimes continue to work fine, even if one capacitor is out of order. My old machines (3 in number) around 1999 to 2001 seem to be much more reliable, as I've never spotted a bad capacitor on these boards. It isn't a secret, that heat wears electronics down in every aspect. It is also not a random thing, which capacitors blow up. They are often placed next to spots, where a lot of heat comes from. The mega single cores, like late 3 GHz Pentium 4 (around 2005) were heat-monsters with their giant coolers obviously generated much more heat than the Pentium 3 from around 2000.

I wouldn't look for specific boards. Even cheap stuff from back in the day can be reliable. Maybe it's a good thing to have a computer in stock.

[jaclaz]

Only a a single anecdata/datapoint, a couple VIA EPIA motherboards (small factor ones, mini-ITX) dating back to 2002/2003 are still going strong here.

Not the most powerful rigs around, either 600 MHz passive cooled or 1 GHz with a little fan, but still more than enough for 9x/ME (mine actually run either NT4 or 2K).

It is very possible that being low-low power the (limited) amount of heat generated avoided the capacitor issues (or maybe they have "good" capacitors from the start).

jaclaz

[Tripredacus]

It is worthwhile to point out that the "Capacitor Plague" was a current issue, where failures were occurring within the warranty period of the hardware. Most computers will get a 1 year warranty, while volume orders can potentially get up to three years depending on the manufacturer. This is not relating to the fact that capacitors can and do wear out, or that any computer (or electronic device) with a failed capacitor today is any way related to that situation.

The unfortunate thing about this is that while the actual brands and models of capacitors have likely been identified, it would be impossible to know what computers or devices they were used in. This is because capacitors are typically one of the components that are not locked in to a particular PCB design, and that the manufacturer will change the ones they are using based on pricing and availability. This is why you can end up finding motherboards or video cards of the same hardware revision using different components. So if x capacitor is identified as potentially being faulty, and it is found in x board, another of x board may not have it. Since the issue was from back then it stands to reason that there would be a greater risk of coming across an board with these bad capacitors if it is purchased as new or NoS, still sealed boxed retail or tray/bulk. A used board or computer is not likely to have this particular failure because if it were using the faulty components, it would have failed by now. But that doesn't mean that it would be worry free, as capacitors can go bad for other reasons besides manufacturing defect.

[jaclaz]

39 minutes ago, Tripredacus said:

Most computers will get a 1 year warranty, while volume orders can potentially get up to three years depending on the manufacturer.

Or 2 years - by Law - for non-business customers in EU.

jaclaz

[Wunderbar98]

Hi caprireds. Of course not otherwise who would still be running the hardware. This household runs Windows 98 era hardware almost exclusively for years with only rare issue, not typically capacitor related. If you already own the hardware then just 'run what you brung'. If purchasing online requesting detailed hardware pictures may be of limited use but will not identify most problems. Either will the sellers 'word' that everything's in working order (when last tested in 2006).

It is best to either get stuff for free (giveaways not stealing) or negotiate the best purchase price possible, then a failure won't seem as catastrophic. It also depends on how well the hardware has been stored, transported and maintained. Any component can fail anytime even new stuff, maybe especially new stuff as there are so many untested and un-broken in components. My last new vehicle purchase, for example, was 10 years ago. There were two items that needed replacement under warranty (rear shocks, heater blower fan). Since then it hasn't needed a single part aside from regular wear and tear (battery, filters, oil).

[caprireds]

10 hours ago, Gansangriff said:

I pulled plenty of computers from the scrapyard. Much more problems came with the machines of around 2005 to 2008. All of them, except one, died already. My old machines (3 in number) around 1999 to 2001 seem to be much more reliable, as I've never spotted a bad capacitor on these boards.

you made a good point ..  unfortunately , a very hard or impossible to find those used pentium 3 systems ,sold where I live.

[caprireds]

5 hours ago, Tripredacus said:

Since the issue was from back then it stands to reason that there would be a greater risk of coming across an board with these bad capacitors if it is purchased as new or NoS, still sealed boxed retail or tray/bulk. A used board or computer is not likely to have this particular failure because if it were using the faulty components, it would have failed by now. But that doesn't mean that it would be worry free, as capacitors can go bad for other reasons besides manufacturing defect.

very good point indeed .. 

[caprireds]

47 minutes ago, Wunderbar98 said:

Hi caprireds. 
It is best to either get stuff for free (giveaways not stealing) or negotiate the best purchase price possible, then a failure won't seem as catastrophic.

last month I bought the motherboard ASRock  775i65G , with cpu intel E5700 ,2 GB ram... it is the most easily found (used) motherboard that is comptible with windows 98- Me ,I  installed windows ME on it, it works fine till now... though it is produced on the capacitor plague era... I'm worried that  it won't  live long.

actually my only reason for using win ME is the vintage gaming.  I read somehwre that even win XP ,can't render some old games as good as win 98 ?

 

Edited November 30, 2020 by caprireds

[Wunderbar98]

Rendering is game, hardware, driver and settings specific, too many variables to generalize. For me the best is to run the OS and hardware that's best suited for the game. If it came out in the Windows XP era then stick with that. If it's an older Windows 98 era game, especially DOS, then use Windows 98. There are plenty of older games the community has figured out how to run on newer hardware/OS, sometimes better and sometimes not. For me if i can play the game on native hardware with native OS that's almost always preferred.

Well it sounds like your hardware is good to go, game on! Keep the hardware clean to prevent heat build-up, even around the capacitors. If the BIOS supports temperature monitoring, set a temperature alarm. If you haven't thoroughly cleaned the board and re-seated the CPU with fresh thermal paste, it is highly recommended before runtime. At your discretion (follow safe practices), if you've never opened up the power supply and cleaned out the dust you'll probably be in for a surprise. A clogged power supply will not let the case properly ventilate. Treat your classic hardware with care but really just enjoy the system. Life has many more worries than an old motherboard :)

[farfigs11]

I have the ASRock  775i65G also, worked fine for a while then got progressively problematic. Seems to be USB 2.0 and/or BIOS related but maybe it's just bad caps.   The first boot attempt fails, usually gets past BIOS on the second or third attempt.  I can say which board to stay away from in that era- MSI -particularly 7211 -every one I saw had leaking caps.  I never had a cap problem with a Dell. 

[ZaPbUzZ]

An important factor in capacitor plague is the Power Supply. If it was below 320 watt it was horrible.