PC problems
 

My computer is screwed :(. Couple of days ago, there started to be a problem with the display. Nothing shown on the monitor, and it wouldn't even reach the boot-up screen. It still turns on though, and the fans turn on.

Brought in it to a shop where the tech confirmed that 2 capacitors on the motherboard were blown, due to overheat caused by the nearby fan's inability to cool it sufficiently. He said they don't replace capacitors, as there is a 50/50 chance that you'll lose the motherboard. They're going to try to insulate the CPU and try some other stuff, and gonna call me back in a day or two. Anyways, there is a good chance that I'll end up having to buy a new one.

This is just to let all of you know where I've been for the last couple of days, and that I might be absent for awhile. Could be a week or more. As soon as I'm up and running again, I'll resume my duties in the Grammar section and elsewhere. Sorry for the inconvenience! :)

Huh. If those caps are necessary for the board to function properly, doing other stuff won't help a thing. O.o

I'm not surprised they won't replace caps though, motherboards are multilayered and it's not a simple soldering job. Most "repair" shops only fix stuff by replacing parts that plug-in anyway, as boards are too cheap to spend much time on troubleshooting.

The problem actually sounds more like a RAM glitch to me, but that's a moot point if it's already in the shop.

Good luck. :)

acethor, same thing to me happened when my power supply was going shoo shoo

i think sebatianos used to have the same problem

Good luck, those kind of tech problems are so unpredictable!

If the shop won't give You new capacitors, You can always look look for a friend with a soldering iron and ask him to exchange these - that is what I do when this kind of problem occurs.
My friend checks what kind of capacitor I have to buy and when I get these - one hour wait, one beer given to friend and capacitors are brand new :)

Actually, it is. Done that before.

If you don't know they're multi-layered, then you've been incredibly lucky. Either way, it's certainly not something I'd recommend as a first-time soldering project. ;)