Matrox Parhelia DL256 broken chip-cap

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as mentioned in the title, I have a Parhelia 256 pictured here:

http://img02.taobaocdn.com/bao/uploa...zQT_012423.jpg

which still works and seems to have no problems....however, I can plainly see on the back of my card there is a pair of surface mount pads that look like something broke off of them.

I can see from the card, there are a few banks of vram and each bank is accompanied by what appears to be a small, surface mount, presumably ceramic-chip capacitor. I'm pretty sure the missing cap is going to be identical to these other similarly placed chips.

I'm looking for all the advice I can get on determining capacitor value of a totally unknown, unmarked/unlabeled ceramic chip-type device.

Thanks for reading.

[stj]

Re: Matrox Parhelia DL256 broken chip-cap

0.1uf multi-layer ceramic (MLC)
higher is better if it fits.

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Re: Matrox Parhelia DL256 broken chip-cap

Whoa! Thanks for the fast reply!

1.How did you know that?

2.Why would higher be better?

3.I would think the voltage of the cap should matter too, right? or are ceramics weird and voltage at that level doesn't really matter?

Thanks for your help

[stj]

Re: Matrox Parhelia DL256 broken chip-cap

1: because .1 is the usual value used across chip power pins.

2. higher will smooth more noise.

3: the voltage is going to be 3.3v or lower across the cap, and they dont make caps that low - so any will be fine.
with ceramics you can go as high as you like without any issues - use 3Kv if you want!!!

you can go salvage a pair of caps from any old logic board btw, like an old network card or a dvd player or whatever.

the best thing about ceramics is they dont age.

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Re: Matrox Parhelia DL256 broken chip-cap

well, jeeze, thank you!

I'll give that a shot and post if it worked out.

bonus round:

near the same bank of vram chips, there are several little black (I assume resistor banks, maybe zero ohms) that appear to be bridging some of the vram pins into the gpu. one of these little things seems like it was crushed, I assume by the same force that lobbed off the ceramic capacitor. it's certainly small enough I can't solder it by hand, but any thoughts as to what that might be?

it looks like this, but the whole "chip" might be the size of the tip of a dull pencil

http://p.globalsources.com/IMAGES/PD...stor-Array.jpg

it's a 256MB card that's generally sold in 128MB versions, I suspect the things i'm looking at are used to announce the presence of the additional 128MB on the back of the card...but I'm honestly no expert.

[stj]

Re: Matrox Parhelia DL256 broken chip-cap

1k resistor array - atleast the one with 102 on it is 1k.
probably acting as an inductor to remove any "noise" from the signal.

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Re: Matrox Parhelia DL256 broken chip-cap

allow me to amend, the picture I posted wasn't the actual chip in question, but the closest approximation I could find online at a moment's notice. Turns out the actual chips - all of them infact are black with no writing of any kind on them. is that a better case for them likely being zeros?

thanks again, I really appreciate it.

[stj]

Re: Matrox Parhelia DL256 broken chip-cap

no markings means too small to print on.
you would have to check one with a meter - they wont be 0-ohms
10ohms wouldnt surprise me.

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Re: Matrox Parhelia DL256 broken chip-cap

that will be an interesting challenge, as I have inherently shaky hands and the chip in question is incredibly small, is that the kind of thing a non-machine can even replace? I'm worried i'll just leave a wad of solder connecting all of its pins :/

[stj]

Re: Matrox Parhelia DL256 broken chip-cap

i can replace them,
hot air and tweezers.

btw, when working on that type of stuff, meter probes are sharpened like needles!!

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Re: Matrox Parhelia DL256 broken chip-cap

I wondered if I can pull that off..any suggestions on hot air tools I could use? or really..I'm not above working out a payment plan to you if you (or anyone willing to jump in) could work something out.

I can replace the capacitor easy, but I'm not so sure about my hands at replacing the resistor package...

[stj]

Re: Matrox Parhelia DL256 broken chip-cap

wait on the u.s. guys to respond, postage to me would be a bitch!

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Re: Matrox Parhelia DL256 broken chip-cap

It would be, but this is also an incredibly rare video card, and provided the shipping is under 100 dollars, might be worth it. It's a tough call though as I'd need to work out some kind of insurance policy of sorts for it....


hmmmm...I'm sure I can get the resistor off with tweezers and a sharpened soldering iron/heat gun, the hard part would be getting the new one on, i'm not even sure my eyes are up to the job, I may need magnifying goggles.

oh, any preferences on heat gun?

[stj]

Re: Matrox Parhelia DL256 broken chip-cap

hot air, not burning air.
special soldering gear.

if you cant put one on, dont take the old one off - your risking the card for no reason.
btw, i know of the parhelia, although i'v never seen one - it's the first card to be sold with triple independant outputs.

[volumetricsteve]

Re: Matrox Parhelia DL256 broken chip-cap

that's the QID model, which is crazy expensive, even now it's like a 600 dollar card where you can find it. Mine just has dual DVI ports, but has really hi-res outputs so splitters can more easily split it up into 3 screens.

I'm looking at this for the hot air:
http://www.heat-guns.com/steinel/hl2010E.html

I'm inclined to agree with you about removing the resistor, but I do want to be ready if it falls off, as it's being used in a machine that'll move around a lot

thanks again for all your help, at least I'm not completely in the dark anymore!

[stj]

Re: Matrox Parhelia DL256 broken chip-cap

if you have 220-240v in your house then we are talking about something like this:
http://www.dx.com/p/gongjue-8018lcd-...rk-blue-277080

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Re: Matrox Parhelia DL256 broken chip-cap

ahhh gottcha, I'm on 120v, but that's a good starting point, i'm digging around for a 120v version

edit:

just discovered this, which looks pretty good unless i'm overlooking something:

http://www.amazon.com/Saike-852D-Dig...s=hot+air+120v

[stj]

Re: Matrox Parhelia DL256 broken chip-cap

right idea, but i'm sure there are cheaper ones.

i cant check the shipping cost from my location.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261381786963

[stj]

Re: Matrox Parhelia DL256 broken chip-cap

looks like an interesting company actually.
some very nice high-end stuff!
http://www.yihua-soldering.com/produ...tion-en/155895