Dell C521 Bad Capicitors-Replace Motherboard

The Dell Dimension C521 are notorious for having bad
capacitors which cause the motherboard to fail.

Bulging and leaky capacitor near the center of the motherboard.

Ah! My Dell Dimension C521. This was a computer I bought for my parents in 2006 for Christmas brand new. I figured it would last them the rest of their lives. Well, it didn't.

Within 6 months there were complaints of it freezing up and being slow. Slow opening programs as well as internet browsing. I gave them a used Dell Dimension 2350 to use and it's still going strong. Anyway, I broke it out recently and decided maybe it just needed some more RAM. It had ! GB installed with a possible 4 GB maximum (of course Windows XP will only show about 3.3 GB). I tried adding another 3 GB and had major trouble.

The computer would boot to BIOS and then show the Windows welcome screen...then die, just shut off. This seemed kind of strange. Maybe the memory? I doubted it. It seemed that I could only install memory in just the first memory slot. Slots 2,3,and 4 were a no go. Even when trying 256 MB and 512 MB sticks. I switched out all sticks showing they were good.

So, I did some research. It seems Dell subcontracted out their capacitors from around 2004 to 2006, which were of very bad quality. The only remedy being to replace the motherboard. I did finally get around to replacing it. I bought it on ebay and installed it. Works perfectly! Now I have 3 GB installed on this Dell Dimension C521 and its showing 2.87 GB through system information. Its working fine. I think I will keep it there. So if you are having problems with your Dell Dimension C521 shutting off, the motherboard may be the culprit. Here are some photos of the motherboard I replaced showing the bad capacitors that were ruptured and leaking.
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