motherboard capacitors

Have 3 capacitors on this mother board that are bulged (not leaking). They are next to processor. My last computer had this same problem. I don't know if this was something that happened when it died. It blew the pwr. supply. Apparently did something to the mobo. No other physical signs (no burn tracks or leaking from caps). My ? is, is this usually the sign of the mobo being on the way out ? And would replacing a pwr. supply, before it decides to blow possibly prevent demise of mobo ?

 

The bulging capacitors can be a sign they're about to go,changing them is a job for someone who is a skilled solderer and has a working knowledge of electronics. The bulging capacitors are the cause of a symptom though and that is an unstable computer,if a computer is stable and working I would not recommend the capacitors be changed or any action be taken.

I'm little confused by the rest of your post,I'll assume what your tryna say though and answer.

Unless the power supply is seriously out of spec changing a working power supply for a working power supply offers little to no advantage,capacitors are rated at a voltage higher than what they're used for often 16v-35v when working at 12v so if the 12V rail is at 12.4V it may shorten the lifespan of the capacitor as opposed to running at 12V but not so significantly it warrants a new power supply as they are designed to run at that voltage.

So in response it won't be the power supply that's dying,the first time when your power supply died it took the motherboard with it which is unlucky and unfortunate but the swollen capacitors are USUALLY not a symptom of a dying power supply.

They are a symptom of an old computer,or poor quality/defective capacitors.

If your computer is unstable, you can do a basic check of power supply voltage by running any voltage measurement program such as speedfan.

http://majorgeeks.com/SpeedFan_d337.html

 

I replaced three such capacitors on an old P3 I still have kicking around. It went from being my most stable Windows system to resetting itself a couple of times before successfully booting up and then once every few days after that. It is now once again my most stable Windows system.

Unlike most electronic components, electrolytic capacitors degrade over time, especially if they spend a considerable time sittle idle without a charge on them. There is an oxide layer on one of the plates (the negative one IIRC) that requires a voltage to renew itself. When you leave one on the shelf for years and years without a charge, there won't be enough of the layer left to avoid leakage, subsequent heating, evaporation of the electrolyte, further degradation, and then eventual failure.

It is unlikely that they would cause a power supply failure. A power supply whose output has gone a little unstable could seriously shorten their life but they wouldn't be the only component being seriously stressed. I would expect the entire motherboard and maybe a drive and a card and possibly some memory to be going right along with them.

If I really liked the system, I'd find some replacements and swap them out at the first sign of instability or when I simply had a weekend without anything better to do. This goes for more than PC's. Any piece of electronic equipment that I really want to keep running will see me under its hood looking for compromised electrolytics and cleaning it out.