since it's the cpu heatsink and it does not pressure the caps I wouldn't mind if there was no other way to install it

Well there definitely isn't any other way to install it unfortunately. I'm more concerned about the heat from the heatsink touching the capacitors. Not too concerned about vibration from the cpu fan as given the tight fit, I highly doubt there's going to be any vibration occurring.

borgie83 wrote:

Well there definitely isn't any other way to install it unfortunately. I'm more concerned about the heat from the heatsink touching the capacitors. Not too concerned about vibration from the cpu fan as given the tight fit, I highly doubt there's going to be any vibration occurring.

Cooler looks decent enough that it shouldn't matter.

The only problem i see is that you might can't connect the ATX connector.
The caps should be no Problem they don't look like they're under tension or something.
Perhaps the Caps will dry out sooner that near at the heatsink but they're rated 105°C so that should take a while.

Solarstorm wrote:

The only problem i see is that you might can't connect the ATX connector.
The caps should be no Problem they don't look like they're under tension or something.
Perhaps the Caps will dry out sooner that near at the heatsink but they're rated 105°C so that should take a while.

The ATX connector wont be an issue as the plastic lug the connector grabs onto is pointing outwards so it should fit straight on.

Regarding the caps, there is a slight bit of tension but not enough to be pushing them to the side. More just rubbing against them than anything.

On another note, the cpu fan pictured originally had the positive + negative wires connected to one 3 pin connector and the RPM wire connected to another 3 pin connector. The cooler came with an additional molex connector to plug the positive + negative 3 pin connector into it to obtain power from the psu leaving the RPM wire to connect to the motherboard by itself. I understand that Thermaltake did this due to the fan possibly requiring additional power compared to normal fans but I removed the RPM wire from its connector and placed it into the same 3 pin connector as the positive + negative making it a standard 3 pin connector.

Do you guys believe this will be ok or should I revert back to having the positive + negative on one 3 pin connector and the RPM wire on the other 3 pin connector?

Sounds like the only reason for separating the wires was so that it could be plugged directly to the PSU so as not to overload the motherboard connector. Unless it's a very powerful fan then I wouldn't be worried about it. Unfortunately most motherboards don't have documentation of what the amperage limits are for their connectors.

The CPU heatsink probably won't get hot enough to bother those caps, since it has a fan. If it was a burning hot passive heatsink it might be a bigger problem.
It looks like those are cheap caps though. I can't make out the brands but they don't look like any of the reputable ones. I notice some of them say "LE" on them - I hope that's not GSC LE, because GSC are some of the worst from what I've seen. If you're able to replace capacitors then I'd suggest recapping this board with some quality caps, then you shouldn't have to worry about them anymore.

borgie83 wrote:

On another note, the cpu fan pictured originally had the positive + negative wires connected to one 3 pin connector and the RPM wire connected to another 3 pin connector. The cooler came with an additional molex connector to plug the positive + negative 3 pin connector into it to obtain power from the psu leaving the RPM wire to connect to the motherboard by itself. I understand that Thermaltake did this due to the fan possibly requiring additional power compared to normal fans but I removed the RPM wire from its connector and placed it into the same 3 pin connector as the positive + negative making it a standard 3 pin connector.

Do you guys believe this will be ok or should I revert back to having the positive + negative on one 3 pin connector and the RPM wire on the other 3 pin connector?

Should be fine. A lot of coolers from "back then" did that to allow the fan to be hooked up to a separate fan controller (remember those?), but left the RPM lead so you could monitor that as well. Combining it shouldn't harm a thing. 😀

As far as the caps, I'd be most concerned about installing/uninstalling the heatsink, that you don't kick any of them, but being that close once mounted it shouldn't damage anything since it isn't bending any of them to fit, and if it's running at 100* C you have bigger problems. 😵

I always hated the Volcano 7 - ar full rpm it sounds like a helicopter taking off. I'd also be replacing that chipset heatsink with a large fan-less heatsink.

You really ought to replace those capacitors. Judging by the vent style, they look like Hermei, which is a very poor quality brand. Running a Tualatin adds to capacitor stress because of the higher power draw, and it also doesn't help that these capacitors have aged after all these years. Vintage systems also need clean power from a quality power supply just like modern systems do, so don't just assume you can drop in any old PSU and expect it to run reliably.

On older 486/Pentium systems you can get away with all this because of the relatively miniscule power draw.

Ok, just checked. The capacitors in question are branded Choyo. I read up on these and they are quite poor in quality but what capacitors were really good back in 1999-2001... I've had 4 gigabyte boards from this era and all had between 2-3 bulging or leaking capacitors.

I don't really want to replace the capacitors as yet because this board is brand new and the power supply is fairly decent (Corsair GS600 2013 edition) so I'm guessing there shouldn't be too much trouble along the way. Back then, capacitors failed not just because of their poor quality during "the great capacitor plague" but because the power supply's that tended to be used were also of quite poor quality. Cooling in a lot older cases was also inadequate which is another thing I won't have to worry about with my case (Corsair 600T White Edition).

borgie83 wrote:

Back then, capacitors failed not just because of their poor quality during "the great capacitor plague" but because the power supply's that tended to be used were also of quite poor quality. Cooling in a lot older cases was also inadequate which is another thing I won't have to worry about with my case (Corsair 600T White Edition).

Yea, we didn't have as wide a selection of PSUs back then as we have today. Keep in mind that capacitors don't always bulge and that capacitors can fail in storage without any use. As for which capacitors were reliable back then... Japanese brands. Asus boards always used them up until the late P3/early P4 era. Gigabyte's P4 boards had near 100% failure rates with OST caps on the VRM.

if the capacitors can be bent out of the way a little from the heatsink, I would do that... otherwise, leave enough room for them to be bent out of the way during replacement

borgie83 wrote:

... I'm more concerned about the heat from the heatsink touching the capacitors ...

Being a Tually of ~32W max TDP the caps in touch will probably be cooler than if they were standing alone, by dumping heat into the heatsink.

borgie83 wrote:

Ok, just checked. The capacitors in question are branded Choyo. I read up on these and they are quite poor in quality but what capacitors were really good back in 1999-2001... I've had 4 gigabyte boards from this era and all had between 2-3 bulging or leaking capacitors.

I don't really want to replace the capacitors as yet because this board is brand new and the power supply is fairly decent (Corsair GS600 2013 edition) so I'm guessing there shouldn't be too much trouble along the way. Back then, capacitors failed not just because of their poor quality during "the great capacitor plague" but because the power supply's that tended to be used were also of quite poor quality. Cooling in a lot older cases was also inadequate which is another thing I won't have to worry about with my case (Corsair 600T White Edition).

If the board is new old stock and case cooling is good those Choyos may soldier on for a time.

Beware however that after more than a decade even unused and well stored lytics should be watched with suspicion.