In 2007 I purchased two XFX 8600GT video cards, mainly because of the manufacturer's claim of lifetime warranty.

Yes, they do have such a lifetime warranty as long as you read their fine print which says that you have to register the card within 30 days of purchase.

In my excitement to build my machine, install my operating system and tweak it, I missed these 30 days and never realized the importance of this registration.

Afterall, XFX is one of the top manufacturers of quality video cards. What could happen?

Fast forward to 2010.

"Popp!"

What was that? It sounded like the noise from a kid's toy gun. Hmm, strange.

Days later, "Popp! Popp!"

On my knees I searched for the source of those popps but could not figure out where they came from.

Days later, another popp and my monitor went black.

Reboot, black monitor, although I could hear that my computer obviously was booting.

Out comes the video card, and there they were.

Exploded and leaking capacitors. Mind you, I'm not a noob when it comes to exploded and/or leaking capacitors. I've fixed the power supply of my 32 inch flat screen TV, a cheap TV at that and I expected it wouldn't last that long for the price paid, by replacing the bad capacitors. US$ 4.50 plus shipping later I was back in business, proud of my soldering skills I haven't used since 40 years when I was a teenager. But, back to my top quality video card.

XFX denied of course my RMA request so I fired up Google to get help from more helpful folks. And there it was. I was not alone. Other people had exploded caps on their XFX cards. Digging deeper, I noticed that the faulty cards had one thing in common. Cheap crappy Sacon FZ capacitors, manufactured by a chinese company which changes their company name faster than some people change their underwear.