This is a useful article.

"Finger-pointing and fury as manufacturers try to dodge blame

"It has all the elements of a good thriller: a stolen secret formula, bungled corporate espionage, untraceable goods, and lone wolves saving the little guy from the misdeeds of multinational corporations. In this case, a mistake in the stolen formulation of the electrolyte in a capacitor has wrecked hundreds of PCs and may wreck still more in what is an industrywide problem." -

http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/resource/feb03/ncap.html


Eric,
http://www.legge40.freeserve.co.uk/BuyerBeware.htm

That story has already been covered here ...

mobo problems beyond belief

It wasn't just PC mainboards that were affected, but other non-computer consumer electronic devices also suffered from these defective caps, though to a lesser extent

yes, my friends Abit SA6-R had the problem but my youngest daughter is still running my SA6-R with no problems so far. Back then when I had the system it ran 24/7 for a year and a half. Guess I got mine before the counterfeit caps got around.

If you can solder, even half-a$$ed, you can easily replace the caps yourself.

More scandal ...

IBM's capacitors are dodgy too, but it's hushed up.

Many users also complain of Sony Playstation 2's giving up the ghost after about a year. I wonder if they also suffer from this problem (note: there is no evidence that they do, but it doesn't half make you wonder).

Nichion <sp>?

Too lazy to pull my box out of the desk, open it up and look at the name but I think that's what they are.

Rubycon, as now used by Abit and others.

Also, Nichicon, as pointed out by Tarkus.

Rubycon is the best brand of wet caps. Polys have a better life but are expensive and hard to find. Samxon are also good. The best place to find them is thecapkingDOTcom. You can also try badcapsDOTnet, Mouser, digikey