e-GeForce 7600 GT
Item #:256-P2-N615-RX ($19.99 each) $19.99

Hi all, I just purchased one of these cards from the B-stock section of EVGA, and found, in a search of the product, people in this forum were saying the 256-P2-N615-TX had faulty capacitors on them that exploded after some usage time.

... /forums/tm.aspx?m=222357&high=Exploding+caps

Those caps must have been from the time of the Capacitor Scandal where an unfinished electrolyte formula was stolen and faulty counterfeit parts were sold to the industry.

Does anyone know if the -RX version of the part# also had these faulty exploding caps, as the -TX part had?

There's only a 90 day warranty so I don't know how long it takes to see the defect.

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I purchased one from the B-stock section of the EVGA site, and then saw the post about it later.

Comparing the blown caps pix from the other thread, and the photo on the B-stock section, I noticed, from the B-stock area photo of the board, two of the caps are no longer used, and all of them have higher voltage ratings now, so you're most likely correct, they did a re-work of the boards with the engineering for the caps.

I sure hope so, it just has a 90 day warranty now, and the other posts attached photo of the board looked like there was lots of dust on the card, indicating a long time passed before the caps exploded.

Oh well ...!... Only $20 so it won't be too bad if it goes bang!

Just hope it doesn't take out any other part of the system if it does crap out.

Thanks dhemke, that's comforting to hear (read)

By the way, the system shown in your signature WAS what my second system was after having the PET 2001 with the unheard of 32kB of RAM (modded of course) except for the DOS 6.22

Oh , one more thing, the drivers you mentioned, are those older, or the new beta ones?

pcmaster00

dhemke

I have(in my son's comp) two of these cards, one bought in '06 the other bought in '08, never had a prob with either one. I did re TIM both of them though. After running them in SLI I decided to put Zalman coolers on them, they still OC like day one and run cool.

'06 card is still under lifetime warranty, but I doubt I could find the stock cooler for it, it's been a while.

BTW, currently running the 260.99 drivers with these cards in SLI without a hiccup.

The original '06 cards were not the N615 (with 1 DVI and 1 VGA) cards more than likely.  They were probably the N554 cards (with dual DVIs) as the N615 was a big cost drop later on and the N615 cards never came with a lifetime warranty (that I know of). 

This is my '06 card... 256-P2-N553-AX, a 553, GT CO. The GT I have runs at the CO's speed with no probs.
 
***EDIT***
 
BTW, both these cards are dual DVI.

Hey, this is becoming a real thread, with large read numbers!

Thanks to both of you for the extra info.

dhemke, my system is a modified HP ThinClient model T5730

To my surprise, it's a 64-bit system, and I had the embedded version of WinXP 32-bit until recently.

I got the data sheets for the on-board chipset and discovered it can do more than HP let be known.

For example, it can handle more system RAM than they said, it can support hard drives, with a female-to-female 44-pin cable, and it's not only a 64-bit mobo, but can also support a Turion x2 Dual-Core 2.4 GHz CPU.

And, to my utter shock, it supports, and already has on-board, a PCIe x16 v1.1a slot.

So here we are, with my new PCIe x16 GeForce 7600 GT , for just $25 with shipping.

Of course, some additional mods were needed, such as the PCIe x16 flex-riser adapter, to allow clearing the inside obstacles, a higher rated wattage 12 volt power supply brick, I got a 16 amp (192w), and, of course a system fan. It was originally a fan-less device.

There's also a board pattern for another RAM socket on the mobo, not populated with the socket yet, but the board trace exists, so that's going to be my next mod, finding the correct socket for another 2GB of RAM.

I was going to put the unit away and get an i7 system, but now I can make it into a 1920x1080 HDTV DVR and Video Streamer, for my iPad2, not just throwing it in storage.

Originally it was just a 1GHz Sempron single core, with a 512MB Flash Drive and 1GB of system RAM running the embedded 32-bit version of XP, made to just be an internet terminal, and now it's a more useful 64-bit system.

Edit- I forgot to mention, it's also running Windows 7 Pro 64-bit.

Just to be sure, I also updated the bios to the latest R4 v2.02

It seems to be an open BIOS, because, even though the new CPU shows up as something else in the BIOS screen info section, the OS sees it as the correct CPU and other mods.

I've got the PCI expansion kit for it. It was originally used to put a 32-bit PCI WiFi board inside, using a PCIe x16 To PCI 32 adapter riser-card, and it worked nicely, but when I found out the original socket was the PCIe x16 v1.1a slot, I couldn't resist using it to get away from the stock graphics on-board chip.

With Windows 7 the original graphics was holding back the Win7 rating, as well as loading down the CPU to do the acceleration for playing back the 1920x1080 pix to the HDTV in Full screen.

I'm still waiting for all the items to arrive. I expect the new Western Digital 320 GB 2.5 inch drive in today, the 7600 GT tomorrow, and the new 16 amp (192w) 12 volt power-supply brick in by Wednesday.

I already have a Turion 2.2 GHz x2 Dual-Core CPU in, from two weeks ago, but decided to go for the extra 200 MHz and ordered a 2.4 GHz one. It showed-up defective and have to send it back for replacement, so I put the 2.2 GHz back for now to test all the other mods.

Pictures will have to wait until then, being I'll have to re-install the new replacement 2.4 GHz CPU later, anyway, and I also planned on making a tutorial as well.

Oh, you mentioned re-TIM-ing the 7600 GT.
Does it use thermal tape, or paste?

I like the Artic Silver paste, as I've used it on the stock GPU and CPU installation and it brought the temps to near ambient temperatures when idle. (after several usage cycles)

I don't think the tape can work as well, unless, of course, the gap between the heatsink and 7600 GT GPU chip needs thick tape instead of paste.

There's a company selling silver filled thermal tape, for issues like this, but, it is best to have it touch the surface of the IC. I think I received some samples of the tape, and put them away several years ago, ... time to look for them.

Could it be the "new" 7600GT cards sold on the EVGA B-Stock section don't have this gap any longer? (those have just one each of analog and digital connectors, yours has 2 DVI)

After all, they did that re-work regarding the exploding caps, maybe this too?

When the card comes in, and I register it, I'll ask the EVGA techs that exact question.

Being it's going to be "crampt" for space in that PCI Expansion kit enclosure, I want as little heat from the card as possible. :)

Very nice pix's, by-the-way, ... I hope mine will be as good.! :-D

I'm wondering, if I get a similar standoff set, as I have on the HP Graphcs chipset, and CPU Heatsink, where it has a spring pressure screw, maybe I can find different standoff's that match the height needed, without having to alter the original stock standoff sets.

This way, I'll just need to clean the goop of mess under the heatsink, apply the Artic Silver Paste, and put the new spring-loaded spacers on to hold it tight against the GPU IC, and adjust for not smashing it, by the spring screws adjusting the pressure.

Is there a place selling these spring loaded spacer sets?

***Edit***
Regarding your favorite macro pix camera ... Can't ya just get a new battery door for it, from the company? ... Or is it so old it's no longer supported with replacement parts?

Last minute notation, on the first expected shipment, the 2.5 inch 320 GB drive ...
It's late arriving! ... It should have been here today thru FedEx handing to the Post Office, for delivery today, and no one can see where it's at.

FedEx hasn't a clue, the USPS never received it, and it's at my local area, just never handed to the local Post Office, according to the last tracking info from FedEx.

This same thing has happened 8 or 9 times already, and even with the first HP ThinClient I ordered.

The driver took it, and it was never found, and HP had to send out another one.
I hope this isn't the case again. And yet FedEx still kept the same driver each time.

I can't stand FedEx...!!!

Ahhh... , the Standoff's don't come off, that makes more sense now, to sand them down.

How do you keep from making one shorter than the others?
What's the measurement method while sanding, or is it not that critical?

As for the camera, ... With all your modding of the graphics cards, ... can't you just order a new battery door, for the camera, and change it yourself, without sending the entire camera in, or just throwing the camera out, and giving up?

Anyway, the FedEx driver decided to hand-over the package to the local Post Office, after three days, since Friday, when it arrived at my local area, until Monday after I called Amazon to let them know it was off the tracking "radar".

I bet if I didn't call to complain, the driver, or whoever at FedEx, would be, as you said, updating their own system!

So to FedEx... ... Mine NOT yours!

The 7600GT is also expected to arrive here today, by UPS, and tracking says "Out For Delivery"

Tomorrow, the new power pack arrives, again by UPS, so I'm sure to get both.

I still have to hope the local P.O. here doesn't screw-up the hard drive delivery today.

Oh, ... so all 4 standoff's are done together, at the same time. I thought you used a Dremel Tool on each separately.


Yeah, if the camera also has other problems too, (memory card not staying in tight), it's time to say good-bye. really sad though seeing how good the photos were.


Before I attempt that card mod, I want to make sure the card works
But eventually I'm going to do the same thing if there's a gap, unless I can find the silver filled thermal tape samples I have, and see how well that works.

Thanks for all your info about this, I learned a lot.
(also, ... thanks to the other members answering this, and my other threads)


Great, helpful forum here!

The card and hard drive are in, but the card just has two standoff's, not four.

And there's a gap noticeable, between the HS and IC.

Just 2 spacers, one at each opposite end diagonal from each other.

Doesn't that make a crapy contact between the IC and HS?

It also looks like it's not fully seated with just those two spacers,... One diagonal side looks higher than the other




Amazing, ... no wonder it's just $20 now.

There are 4 holes on the board, but it doesn't mean yours will line-up with them, and it's very nice of you to offer, but I'd feel really bad if I couldn't fit it on the card, and you went thru that expense.

Besides, ... Here's the kicker ... It's the -TX part# ... Not the -RX part# shown on the web page in the G-stock section.

That really ticks me off, since they (EVGA) went thru the trouble of posting that it's the -RX part#.

I may have to call the techs again at the support number, and ask ... W T Heck... ?


Wow, these must be re-conditioned, or something.

The spot where there are two(2) caps off the board, still have the wires soldered thru the card.

W T Heck ... again !

Yes, those are the measurements, exactly.
And copper HS with plastic hood & fan assembly

Here's something strange, there are two stickers with part #'s

One on each side, thin one on the front with -TX
Wider one on the back with the serial number too, but with the part # showing -RX

So now I don't know what part # this actually is...!

I was mistaken about the wires still in the spot if the missing caps, just blobs of solder there.

The board does look like it's been re-worked around all the caps.

Still though, ... Not a nice way to welcome a new customer into the EVGA community,
Also gives me a shaky first impression of the company, with two different part#'s on the card, and just two spacers now.

Yeah, you're right, I'm over reacting for just a $20 purchase.
Besides, the type of use I'm going to need the card for should have it last longer than the computer itself.

If you think I should put your cooler on it, how can I say no?
Does this site support PM's to me for my address and other info you'll need?

By the way, the 7600GT black sticker looks like it's been put over another original green & yellow sticker on the hood.

Does that mean anything to you?

PM sent.

Hey, ... can I at least buy ya a beer?

I feel bad having you pay for shipping without some extra thank you.
Do you have PayPal?

BTW- what's a vanilla 7600?

***Edit***
Hey I know what I can do for ya, I can register my card with your Affiliate Code!

Does that give you some extra points here, for virtual cash or something?