MSI PM8M3-V recap

[caps_buster]

MSI show on it's website this image, of a MSI PM8M3-V mainboard:



As you can see, the Vcore output is populate with 7 Oscon polymer caps. In reality, however, you get this:



A strip down version, from 7 caps to 3 (!)... and that is for the power hungry P4 CPU's! Yes, there are also the two top caps, but they are not polymers and even the another top two up are Vcore connected (3300uF 6.3V)...
But the main rip off is the caps type used. They are OST 680uF 4V caps, so not a good caps by any way In short, they show you seven polymers, but deliver there OST crap caps. Is not that irony?

To make this post more usefull, the caps list for MSI PM8M3-V goes as follows:
5x 680uF 4V d8 OST RLA (+4 leftovers)
2x 3300uF 6.3V d10 OST RLX
3x 1000uF 16V d8 Panasonic FL (+1 leftover)
12x 1000uF 6.3V d8 OST (+4 leftovers)
2x 470uF 10V d8 G-Luxon
1x 10uF 16V d4 SMD

Mine MSI PM8M3-V is PCB v. 1.0. Only there Ost caps on side, FOUR missing! That is stealing by MSI marketing!



AGP powering is rather underpowered, not to mention NIKOS mosfets bad rep:



Ram's run on Ost caps too, completely:



Vcore is supported with big 3300uF Ost caps (and two small Ost caps nearer the socket LGA 775 on top):



Near NIC (Realtek RTL8100C) is G-Luxons (!) ... a terrible known bad caps. Unacceptable!



The Vcore input have space for 4 caps, just there are used and they are Panasonic FL caps, witch cannot be bought on Digikey and I did not suppose they are even original Panasonic caps... What is worser is, that they are d8 only, while 16V caps are hard to source even with d10, not to mention d8...

[caps_buster]

So this obviously cannot stays like that, because the mobo is starting to shown first unstability issues and crash on load, so, there had to be recap. I also wanted badly to give the mobo back the nice polymers, the MSI marketing striped it off... In short, I wanted to trumph out the advert Because even better that Sanyo Oscon polymers exist - and that are Nichicon LE polymers. So I made my list of ideas, how the recap shuld look like:

9x Nichicon LE 820uF 2.5V d8 493-3058-ND
2x Nichicon HZ 3300uF 6.3V d10 UHZ0J332MPM-ND
4x Nichicon HZ 1000uF 16V d8 UHZ1C102MPM6-ND
16x Nichicon HM 1000uF 6.3V d8 UHM0J102MPD-ND
2x Nichicon LE 470uF 6.3V d8 493-3066-ND
1x Taiyo Yuden 47uF 6.3V 587-3406-1-ND

However certain things go wrong. The first was, that I managed thru friend to order only the original number of the 1000uF 6.3V caps, 12 of them. I had to improvise and replace the remaining 4 unused before with the Samxon GC caps, witch is similar is quality, tested good caps.
At lest I see what caps are new there, lol.
However worser was, that the only one d8 caps for 16V was really hi-end elytes Nichicon HZ, but they are out of the stock for months. So, what to do? I had no chance but to press on and thy some improvisation there...
And at last I completely forget the little SMD cap behind the AGP slot, witch I indented to replace with ceramic caps, when there is available even 47uF ceramic SMD caps with the little 12210 size!

So the main idea was to get the Vcore voltage filtering on hi-quality level, witch I managed easily by using the best polymers ever produced (nothing beat their ripple current rattings):



But now what to do with the input caps, that are not stock? In the end I managed to squeeze easily in their places (luckily, there is nothing upclose near them) replacement caps, witch I took from my stash - a Panasonic FM 1000uF 16V d10:



Of course I added even the unused one, right after the input coil:



Ram's get a quality Nichicon caps too now, so they cannot complain on discrimination changes:



What I also did miss is the sad look of six empty places, where a good quality ceramic caps should be, so the Vcore will be stable even in extreme situations:



As I mentioned, on the previously unused places I slap the Samxon GC caps:



And the NIC controller must be jumping out of joy, because it got the quality Nichicon LE polymers voltage filtering instead of the G-Luxon crap caps - now this is a jump in quality!



Over on the CPU socket, there come together two important caps. A Nichicon HZ - the best electrolyte caps ever when come to the ripple current (Samxon GA are par to par with it, but nothing other come even close, not even Rubycon MCZ, yet the Man Yue stoped manufacturing them ) and then the Nichicon LE - best polymer ever made:



And at last - overal look on the Vcore regulation - now it look far much better that before!



And the result? Well, the CPU and rams and HDD is working perfectly. The Vcore regulators, with the serious heatsinks, are - even that no fan is blowing at them, yet I removed the serial and parallel ports to get them better ventilated - after a day of work, night of stress test and half day of gaming heardly even warm...!
That well shown the fact, that quality caps means lesser temperatures of the components. That was just great. And with stock box fan and no case fan...!

Now just the AGP cap and some of these ceramics...