I've just put a second hard drive in my computer, no problems there. But while I had the case open I noticed two capacitors that are bulging at the top. No sign of any leakage. These are not among the large group by the CPU, but are two smaller ones next to the memory slots. My question is: How much to I need to worry about this? Should I be shopping for a new mobo? Mobo is Epox 8KTA3+.

You should be looking around for a new motherboard. Bulging capacitors are a bad sign and they could give up at any moment. When the do then your motherboard is toast. Repacing then by hand is nigh on impossible. Stuart

Contact EPOX This space for rent

Thanks StuartS and jam for the responses. Will contact Epox, and if no help there will look for a new board. Have been thinking of a new build for myself and passing this one on to my 14 year old grandson. Guess I'll have to fix this one first, don't want to give him a defective computer.

I've saved motherboards with bad capacitors. A decent soldering iron, some desolder braid, and some replacement capacitors can do the trick. But if you can't get the capacitors cheaply, or for free (maybe from a another dead motherboard) it isn't worth your time. Internet computer forums with for sale/trade sections have many people selling good Socket A motherboards for $20.00 to $30.00. If you want to save that motherboard, you should stop using it immediately. When the capacitors fail, they can take out other motherboard components. You start getting blue screens, until it won't POST anymore. Then it is trash. Hopefully Epox will help you out.

You might report this to http://www.badcaps.com They keep track of companies that use cheap crappy caps.

I don't see where they track companies. Almost all motherboard manufacturers fell prey to the nefarious bad cap manufacturer(s). WILL POST FOR FOOD.