In detail: do-it-yourself asus video card repair from a real master for the site my.housecope.com.
Visual artifacts are called out of nowhere stripes and nodules on the screen, cubic blotches that break the integrity of the picture and other defects. The appearance of such artifacts may be due to the presence of a malfunction in the graphics substation of the computer. In such situations, it may be necessary to repair the video card.
It is sometimes quite difficult to do this on your own. But sometimes, as practice shows, performing such a procedure can be quite useful. In the process of repairing a video card, much of what was previously incomprehensible to the user becomes clear. So, if you want to understand all the intricacies of video card recovery, you definitely need to familiarize yourself with the information presented in this review.
Before embarking on an incredible project called "DIY Video Card Repair", you need to figure out the cause of the breakdown. Most likely, the reader will not be surprised by the fact that any malfunction of computer equipment can refer either to the hardware or software part of the computing device. In this case, we will consider the first type of breakdown. Advanced users also call this action "digging for hardware". Let's get down to this procedure.
From simple to complex
The user's worries about the cardinally changing image on the monitor screen in certain situations can be completely in vain. Does this surprise you? In addition, repairing a video card with your own hands, of course, can involve fairly simple manipulations. You just need to be attentive and you will succeed.
If the computer you are using has a discrete graphics adapter installed, then the "iron problem" could very likely appear as a result of dust pollution. To eliminate this problem, you need to turn off the device and remove the video card from the motherboard slot. You can use an alcohol solution or a regular eraser to clean the contact pad of the video card module. As you can see, everything is pretty simple.
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Video (click to play). |
If the BIOS does not recognize the installed graphics adapter, then first of all it is necessary to perform this kind of maintenance only if there is no positive result. After that, you should proceed to further operations.
Repair of video cards from Asus and other manufacturers
It would probably be correct to start with the fact that malfunctions in the operation of graphic systems are often associated with improper functioning of the cooling system. As a result of such a malfunction, the GPU microprocessor and other components of the video card may be exposed to critical temperatures. It is for this reason that a game scenario that unfolds at the onset of a climax can turn into a jerky simulator. This situation can be corrected as follows.
First of all, you need to dismantle the video card from the computer case. The cooler and the radiator grille located next to it must be cleaned of dust deposits. In some cases, the axis of rotation can be lubricated with ordinary machine oil or special silicone. If all of the above does not allow you to achieve the desired effect, you can try to replace the cooling element, namely the cooler.
Integrated graphics: hot solutions
As you know, the prices for discrete-type graphic substations can sometimes alienate ordinary users due to their high cost.This is especially true when it comes to gaming video cards. When buying a computing device, a novice user, as a rule, relies on the capabilities of his personal computer. But in such cases, when the integrated microprocessor GPU is operating, there may be troubles associated with the heating of the device.
It should be noted that the procedure described for restoring the thermal mode of a discrete video adapter can only partially be applied to the built-in graphics engines. This is due to the fact that the cooling system of integrated GPUs does not have a mechanical element - a cooler designed to remove heat. Therefore, the order of actions that must be performed to restore the functionality of the integrated video card will be somewhat different. However, despite this, it can be used for independent graphics modules.
Warranty inconvenience
If you decide to repair a video card from NVIDIA on your own, then it's time to think about the expediency of this procedure. If the warranty provided by the manufacturer has not yet lost its relevance, then it would be wiser to take the device to one of the service centers for servicing the products of this manufacturer. If you are completely confident in your own abilities or you have no other way to return the GPU processor to work, then you can try to apply the recommendations below in practice.
Replacing the Thermal Paste Layer
Thermal paste is a special substance that is applied to a GPU microchip in order to increase the level of heat transfer between contacting elements of the cooling system, such as a radiator-microcircuit. When carrying out a comprehensive repair of video cards from the manufacturer Asus or a graphics chip from any other manufacturer, the specialist will definitely replace the layer of thermal paste. The process of applying this substance is quite simple. You can see for yourself. First, you need to carefully remove the cooling system elements from the graphics adapter board. After that, with a clean cloth, you need to wipe off the remnants of the hardened substance from the radiator side adjacent to the microcircuit, as well as from the GPU microcircuit itself. After that, on both planes it is necessary to apply a thin even layer of thermal paste. You can then reverse-mount the graphics module.
Rebuilding Portable GPU Modules
For video cards used in laptops, the repair procedure will be exactly the same as for stationary computers. To restore the laptop's graphics adapter to work, you need to follow the same sequence of steps. However, due to some technological features of laptops, for certain models, access to the video card can be very difficult. And if you take into account that in such extremely cramped circumstances the user will have to perform technical maintenance of two graphics adapters, then this lesson turns into a rather laborious process.
It will be extremely difficult for a beginner to cope with this task. It would be better to entrust this operation to professionals. Things are quite different if the user can independently get full access to the video card and cooling system. In this case, the user has every chance of successfully completing the repair of the video card.
Overheating GPU
Let's try to fix the hottest problem that can arise with a video card with our own hands. This is GPU overheating. After exposure to critical temperatures, it is quite possible to repair the GPU with your own hands. However, one should not trust too much the advice of various experimenters, who unanimously assert that household appliances such as an oven or an iron can easily be used as a technical device designed to restore "floated BGA balls".
We hasten to assure you that if one of the soldering points of the GPU processor has moved away, then painlessly it will be possible to restore contact only with the help of specialized equipment, or, more precisely, a soldering station. Sometimes an industrial hair dryer or a hot air gun can be used as an alternative. However, in this case, you need to remember about some microelectronic nuances. So how can you repair your video card at home?
The gun should be equipped with an adjustable discharge temperature indicator. All plastic parts such as the cooler, latches and fixing elements must be removed from the video adapter board. It is necessary to prepare a piece of foil in advance, in which it is necessary to cut out a window corresponding in size to the size of the GPU chip. The rest of the graphics adapter area should be covered with this material for protection. The video card must be fixed on a flat surface that is not afraid of exposure to high temperatures.
Now on the thermo gun you need to set the temperature to 150 degrees and warm up the surface of the graphics module for 3-5 minutes. After that, you need to move the hair dryer regulator to the 300 degree position. Using a pre-prepared foil template, it is necessary to warm up the graphics chip for a couple of minutes. Now all that remains is to wait until the video card has completely cooled down and check the performance of the visual effects module. In most cases, video cards last a long time after repair. After this procedure, be sure to inspect the graphics card for punctured or swollen capacitors. These are definitely subject to replacement.
Now you know how you can restore the performance of your video card. In the case of a successful technological service, the prices for repairs will now scare you. Although, to be completely honest, it is better to repair an expensive video card in a specialized service.
This entry was posted in Repair on October 17, 2015 by katrinas11. Thank me, share the link with your friends on social networks:
After connecting the video card, the computer beeps for its absence. In other words, the mother's BIOS does not see the video's BIOS at the correct addresses. With modern vidyahs, this usually happens for three reasons:
Firstly, the most frequent breakdown is dc-dc converters (pulse converters), because the GPU is powered by a volt and a half, memory from one and a half to two, and only 3.3V, 5V and 12V come to the AGP connector from the motherboard. Of the most common faults, these are rotten mosfets (power field-effect transistors) APM3055L (3054) and PWMs of the same anpek (marking APWxxxx). Sometimes these parts outwardly look serviceable and even produce the required volts, but here you need an oscilloscope, because the current must not only be, it must also be clean. It is worth noting that manufacturers (mainly on video cards up to GeForce2) sometimes install linear stabilizers - wagon variants. Usually datasheets for everything power are easily found on the Internet.
The second reason is the video card BIOS meeting. As a rule, this happens after crooked experimental overclockers. If in the first case you need a soldering iron and parts, then here you can simply boot by inserting a sick AGP vidyah at the same time as a healthy PCI and flash the BIOS back. At the same time, when loading Windows, sometimes they even put firewood on the patient and even a picture appears. (For diagnostics, the BIOS chip of a video card can be removed altogether.) Firmware and bios are different for different cards and different generations of cards, look in the same place, in the internet: diamond and overclockers will help with this. A large collection of different bios on the website of the mvktech or ATI BIOS Collection. Here's how to flash the Radeon's. Here's how to flash nVidia cards.Despite the simplicity of this advice, I strongly recommend starting from the first, because in the case of a noisy (by current) or malfunctioning power supply, the bios will recover for a couple of days, which can be fatal for the GPU.
On the part of fairly modern vivid vividness of the GPU crystal, it is possible to determine by a simple call of resistance in relation to the case (ground, Vss), if the device shows zero, it is definitely a corpse, if 3-10 Ohm, then there is still a sense of tinkering.
Well, and the third, unfortunately, is also a very common malfunction - this is a violation of the BGA mounting, that is, the destruction of the ball contacts under the GPU or memory. I am flying with an electric stove, because I am not rich and I can only dream of a mounting stove. At home (and without preliminary training) I strongly do not recommend contacting, because not only will you finish a half-dead video card, but you will also get burns. And someone will manage to arrange a fire.
Sometimes they fall apart. We check the generation with the oscillator.
Finally, we should mention the chipped SMD elements. Usually such a nuisance occurs when the hard drive is unsuccessfully removed in a narrow ill-conceived case. To begin with, you need to carefully examine the whole vidyahu and preferably with a magnifying glass. It is convenient to compare suspicious places with a similar device (if available).
Doesn't let mom turn on the power
Definitely, one of the feeders (for GPU or memory) has broken through and it is short on mass.
More and more often there are video cards (series GF6xxx and older), with which the motherboard is silent as dead. The postmap can show:
– 1D - On AwardBIOS v6.0, in addition to the initial configuration of the Power Management system using the 1Dh code, the device table is also built in the 0E000h segment, connected to SMBus (SMB_DEVID_TABLE). And there is such a comment (I give it freely in translation from English) that if there is a "hang" on the 1Dh code, then this is for the simple reason that SMB_DEVID_TABLE is incorrect (?).
– 0d. 25 - Albatron KX600 (0d - initialization of VideoBIOS, 25 - PCI resources are distributed), The same will be done on Intel chipsets ../../ x.
– C1 on nForce (a la "we don't see the memory", which is understandable, unlike all chipsets, nForce has a PCI Memory Controller and in case of problems with PCI, memory initialization can be difficult).
1. Blade of GPU or bridges HSI or Rialto (there can also be broken roads, SMD jumpers and SMD chokes). Products of the company are especially fatal Palit daytona, which have a common heatsink on the GPU and HSI. As a result, neither one nor the other is really cooled, and the former usually does not withstand the bullying just HSI. The same goes for Radeon, where Rialto usually has no radiator at all, and even overlaps with the GPU.
2. The lack of power supply to the bridge is similar to (Sparkle often suffers from this) or the HSI bridge is chipped. Gigabyte The GV-N66256DP has a generic sore - the L14 throttle.
3. Demolished conduits on PCI-E lines are also useful to look at.
Dots and streaks in the image are also usually the result of a violation of the BGA editing.
“Quadruple vertical white dotted stripes” usually directly indicate the lack of communication on one (although perhaps more - the picture must be seen) data lines between the GPU and RAM. The reasons may be different - non-waste memory, non-waste GPU, chips on the GPU, broken memory. The crossing bridge (realto) is not capable of this, it is not in his diocese.
The death of individual memory microcircuits is also not excluded. It is quite difficult to calculate the dead m / s of memory, and if it does not heat up, then only by brute force. Although, as practice shows, the “wet finger” method gives a fairly large percentage of accuracy. The meaning is simple: with a wet finger we touch the case of the memory microcircuit or resistor and capacitor SMD assemblies near (and / or under) the memory microcircuit. If stripes and artifacts begin to change color or disappear - here he is a client for soldering or subsequent replacement.
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Video (click to play). |
A possible malfunction of the GPU itself - the conveyor burned out. Replacing the GPU is rather complicated, so sometimes it makes sense to use a program like “RivaTuner” or “ATI Tray Tool” to revive it. First, reduce the frequencies, then alternately switch the processor pipelines: all sorts of shader, vertex, pixel, vertex, whatever else will be developed there. Maybe you're lucky, and not all of them burned out. After that, it remains to take the BIOS editor, add new frequencies or a combination of pipelines to the native BIOS and fill it with the video card. Selection of utilities. Another collection of utilities.
Noisy faulty DC-DC converters (primarily memory, but no one excludes the GPU power supply either) can cause similar symptoms, check with an oscilloscope. Usually keys (mosfets) shit sometimes PWMs.
If the card gives out colored garbage in the form of squares and there is no image (like on Dandy with a poorly inserted cartridge), first of all we look at the memory power supply.
If some color has disappeared, and the card has two outputs, then in addition to the channel strapping, it is also worth checking the multiplexer. There was a very indicative case: he treated Leadtek GeForce 6800 Ultra, with two DVIs, the red is almost gone. I looked, at the second output, the picture is in order, I start to call the piping of the red channel at the first exit - I don’t understand what it is, all the piping is in order, but the red one rings to the ground of about 7 ohms. I'm starting to figure out what this could mean - the video processor is in order (judging by the second output), the strapping is also in order, so what's stopping me from living? And then I remember that on any single-processor video card with two outputs (it does not matter, SVGA / SVGA, SVGA / DVI or DVI / DVI) there is a multiplexer that alternates the picture for each of the outputs from the GPU + horizontal, I search and find some then 16-legged from the 3257 series, I unsolder - indeed, one of the multiplexing lines is punched to the ground; picked up an analogue from some corpse, planted it - it all worked.
This is true if the board uses an intermediate multiplexer / switch in the GPU VGA-port circuit, but if it is not there. Actually, the diagnosis itself in the absence of one or two colors is not difficult. RGB pins (R-Red, G-green, B-blue) on the connector are called for the presence of 75 ohms.
- If the resistance is not underestimated or overestimated (and this happens), call and solder the 75 Ohm matching resistor on the corresponding channel and check the p-n junction of the final stage of this GPU channel. Usually it is in a cliff and this is not a ball dump, it is the GPU that is dead. Very rarely, a channel choke connected in series goes into an open circuit.
- If the resistance is less than 75 Ohm, we release the channel from the elements, turn it on in parallel and understand that the strapping has nothing to do with it (or with anything).
From practice: strapping elements rarely fail: again, the GPU sags through the channel. Sometimes terminating resistors are not installed, then it's even easier.
Works but hangs, black screen
Sometimes black screens are stable and occurring all the time, sometimes it takes a long time to be detected. Be that as it may - arises in complex 3D applications, usually games. Details.
Anti-aliasing and anisotropy
Some software features can reduce the likelihood of black screens. The first step is to enable vsync in the driver settings. Second: in Windows 98 BS occurs much less often than in Windows 2000. Anti-aliasing and anisotropy increase the likelihood of BS appearing.
It is possible that newer BIOS versions for the GW6800le reduce the likelihood of this occurrence. I haven't tested it myself. It looks like the matter is in the changed memory timings.
Replace or add capacitors.
Memory strap modification
Memory stress affects. A lower voltage, for example 2.72 V -> 2.68 can help clean up. After adding / replacing capacitors, you can slightly raise the spring.
DIY video card repair.
Hello friends. In today's topic, we will consider an issue that sooner or later interests every user who is not used to keeping an eye on the cleanliness and cooling system of his computer. The question sounds like this: how to repair a video card actually manually.
How to monitor the cleanliness of the system unit and avoid stupid problems with overheating of chips can be found in the article “Why the computer is warming up.
As practice shows, and I have had it for at least 5 years, about 90 percent of breakdowns are due to poor-quality cooling, which leads to overheating of the chips.
In video cards, the main element is the video chip, which is usually located under the heatsink. In the screenshot below, number 1 shows the video chip of the Msi rx2600pro video card, and under the second is the heatsink removed from the chip.
Now I will describe how I carried out the repair of this particular video card under the influence of warming up the chip using a soldering hair dryer. The breakage of this element was caused by the "blade" of the video chip, which caused vertical artifacts to appear all over the screen.
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This is just one of the breakdowns that occur with video cards and it is the most common.
Malfunctions of video cards are as follows.
* When the device is turned on, the picture is not displayed on the screen.
* Appearance of all kinds of color distortion.
* POST beeps about card initialization error.
* The appearance of vertical and / or horizontal "artifacts.
* All different picture display glitches under load on the chip.
* Braking of the picture during the game.
All of the above problems have different ways of solving, but in this article we will touch upon the "artifacts" that usually arise due to the "dump" of the chip itself or its memory.
By "dump" should be understood the process of breakage or burnout of the contact inside the chip or from its "seat". A break may occur if the computer is dropped and hit. Burnout occurs mainly due to the operation of chips at elevated temperatures, which in turn is caused by negligence in monitoring the cooling state. The contacts also burn out due to incorrect power supply.
I am touching on the topic of repairing a video card, because, as I have already mentioned, I have recently carried out repairs of this type.
A man approached me with a request to fix the breakdown of his video card. The breakdown, he said, was the appearance of strange vertical stripes across the computer screen.
Having accepted the equipment for repair, I began to fix the problem, but for a more detailed analysis of this situation with the application of video filming of all stages of the repair, I turned to a friend in a way that second hands would not interfere with me. By the way, my friend is a phone repairman and I think that from his practice, we will take something useful for further articles.
Let's start to repair the video card, which I divided into six stages and to each of which I will attach a video file with the work done.
Stage one: “Disassembly and cleaning.
I hope you already know that the video chip of a video card usually has heatsinks with passive or active cooling. In the first stage, we remove the cooling system from the chip. To do this, unscrew the 4 radiator mounting bolts. After we remove it to the side. Having unscrewed the bolts, the radiator remains either on the thermal paste adhered to the chip or, in some cases, on the latches passing through the textolite of the video card. We carry out cleaning around our patient - the chip with a toothbrush, having previously moistened it with alcohol.
Stage two: “Removing the thermal paste.
As mentioned earlier, in the system, the role of heat sink and filling the void between the heatsink and the chip is performed by the applied thermal paste, which over time either burns out completely or partially sticks. At this stage, we remove it, both from the chip and the heatsink itself. Remove the sticky paste with an alcohol-coated napkin. I have adapted to do this with a toothbrush. In general, friends, you yourself, having done the same work, will choose for yourself a familiar cleaning product in the future. So, having eliminated the remnants of the paste, we proceed to the third stage.
Stage three: “Fixing the video card. Flux application.
When the "patient" is ready to warm up, you need to secure it comfortably.The fastening in this case was carried out using the holder, which can be seen in the video below. Having fixed the card, we apply flux with a stick around the video chip, it is also called "soldering fat". We apply the flux without regret; we will eliminate the residues after the end of the procedure.
Stage four: “Warming up with a Lukey B52D soldering hair dryer.
We put our soldering hair dryer on 300 degrees to warm up. In general, every owner of a soldering station should know how his hairdryer heats up, whether the temperature readings correspond to real ones. Ideally, of course, it is better to carry out the entire heating process with an infrared soldering station - under its heating, you can bring the chip to a "floating state" which is very convenient for shrinking it to its seat. In the absence of such a station, we will use the Lukey B52D soldering hair dryer. Gradually we begin to warm up the chip by running a hairdryer along its edges in the area where the flux is applied. Noticing the boiling of the flux, we “shrink” the chip into place by pressing it, without stopping the heating process. In my case, pressing was done with tweezers. The whole warm-up process took us approximately three minutes. You can adjust the heating temperature yourself, the main thing is that the chip is brought to an almost floating state.
Stage five “We remove the remains of the flux and let it cool.
Having finished the work on "shrinking" the chip that we have warmed up to its place at the fifth stage, let the card cool down for a couple of minutes, and we can start to eliminate the remaining flux. If during the heating process you notice that somewhere there is no flux, then you can add it. But we add, without interrupting the process of repairing a video card with our own hands.
Stage six “Assembling the device.
The last, final stage of the video card repair, which was done by hand, has come. After warming up and shrinking the chip and removing excess flux, we can start installing the cooling system. By this time, I think your card has cooled down. Is not it? If not, then it's okay.
We take a high-quality thermal paste and apply it in an even layer on the video chip. Avoid getting the paste past the chip, and if you suddenly "missed" it is advisable to immediately remove it with paper or a rag. We install a radiator on top of the chip with the applied paste, fixing it with fixing screws.
All the guys. So we have learned how to repair a video card with our own hands when “artifacts appear.
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Hello dear blog readers. A powerful laptop usually has a powerful processor and video card.
If you like to play games but forget about cleaning laptop from dust , that is, there is a risk that the video card in the laptop may overheat and fail, later you will have to repair or replace the damaged components with new ones.
Before you start doing something, you need to spend laptop diagnostics , it will allow you to pinpoint the cause of the problem. If during work or play appears video card artifacts , then it is necessary to replace the video card in the laptop.
Alternatively, you can try to repair the laptop video card. We are talking, of course, about a discrete (external) video card. You have two options here:
- Contact a service for repair.
- Make a video card repair yourself.
Regardless of which option you choose, it is advisable to read the information below, it will be useful to both.
Any video card stops working normally mainly due to overheating.Much less often there is a situation when a video card produces artifacts almost immediately after buying a laptop. In this case, the laptop is repaired or replaced under warranty.
The main reason for overheating of the video card and processor is poor laptop care. Think back to the last time you changed your thermal grease and cleaned your laptop from dust. A long time ago? Then you better not delay with this.
If it just so happens that overheating has already happened, then the only way to save the video card is to warm it up. Read more about reballing in the article - warming up the video card .
Remember, regardless of the quality of warming up, a video card experiencing thermal loads will still fail. This usually happens 2-3 months after warming up.
You can extend the lifespan of your refurbished video card by installing more reliable cooling that will securely fix the video card chip so that it does not come off.
But this option is problematic since it is not always possible to find suitable cooling for a desktop computer, let alone laptops.
If such prospects for repairing a laptop video card do not suit you, then the best option would be to replace the video chip in the laptop with a new one.
to the menu ↑
After purchasing a new video card for a laptop, we proceed to replace it. The principle of this procedure is that it is necessary to disassemble the laptop in order to get to the compartment with the video card. Remove the old one and install the new one. Before starting, be sure to remove the battery from the laptop.
After the laptop cover is removed, the laptop motherboard will appear in front of us. The video card and processor usually come under cooling in the form of a cooler with a heatsink. We remove the cooler and then the video card itself. Or the video card itself, if it is over cooling.
We remove the dried-up thermal paste from the radiator.
We apply a thin layer of thermal paste to the chip of the new video card. The most important thing is to make the layer evenly thin over the entire die area of the new video card.
Install the video card back and assemble the laptop. That's essentially all.
Thus, you yourself can fix your laptop without the help of a service center. Well, to extend the life of a new video card, change the thermal paste at least once a year and clean the laptop from dust. Finally, I recommend that you read an article about laptop stand ... In summer it is especially important, besides, you can do it yourself.
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Have you ever experienced your graphics card stopped working? God grant, of course, that this never happens, but still! What to do, for example, if you hear that the computer is booting, but there is no image on the monitor (black screen)?
What we usually do in such cases: substitute a known working video card (or switch to integrated video) and make sure that the problems are with the graphics adapter. But what to do in this case? Can we provide video card repair ourselves?
The good news is yes: DIY video card repair is quite possible! The bad thing is that after such a repair there is no guarantee that the video card restored in this way will work for a long time. Also, the repair itself may end unsuccessfully if we do not follow certain rules. But let's talk about everything in order! 🙂
So, we have a non-working video card from Nvidia, the GeForce 9500 GT model. Like this:
What's the problem? The video card worked for a long time in harsh temperature conditions, which led to its overheating. As a result of this, a fairly typical (in such cases) thing happened: the "dump" of the BGA chip of the video card.
Don't be scared by the word “dump”, nothing has fallen off there 🙂 This is just how the people call the electrical contact of the BGA balls array with the printed circuit board of the card that occurs as a result of prolonged overheating. Usually, this phenomenon occurs as a result of the presence of a small section of cold soldering, which is subjected to prolonged and strong heating.
This is not to say that this is a 100% marriage of the manufacturer: there can be quite a lot of tin balls in the array and the violation (or oxidation) of the contact of even one of them can lead to a complete (or partial) loss of the card's performance. So overheating, be it a video card or a central processor, is a very unpleasant thing. Try to avoid it in every possible way!
And in this situation, we have no choice but to try to repair the video card with our own hands, on our own. So, first of all, we need to take care to remove all plastic plugs on the card, stickers (stickers) located on the back side from the card. Anything in the area of the graphics chip can melt.
Yes Yes! You heard right: to melt. After all, we will repair the video card by heating it, and all the “unnecessary” need to be removed, just for every fireman. Of course, perhaps nothing like this will happen, but just make it a habit - it will come in handy 🙂
We will also need to remove the fan and cooling system. We do this with whatever is more convenient for us. Personally, I use this screwdriver with interchangeable nozzles:
We unscrew the screws securing the fan, remove the metal cover and get the following picture:
As you can see, the cooling system requires thorough cleaning, and the fan itself needs preventive maintenance, since its efficiency has decreased due to lime adhered to the blades and dust crammed into the bearing.
The next step is to remove the GPU heatsink. It would seem: what is so difficult here? But, as one movie hero said in a film about various evil spirits: "There is a catch everywhere!" Here it lies in the fact that often (especially if the chip was operated in a severe temperature regime), when dry, the thermal paste tightly glues the crystal and the heatsink together.
It is categorically not recommended, in this case, to use heroic force and pull this matter upon yourself, or, as experience erroneously suggests, to pick something up! This can damage the crystal! There is a simpler and more elegant solution: we take a regular household hair dryer and slowly warm up the clutch area.
After a while (5-10 seconds), we begin to slightly shake the radiator from side to side, as in the photo above. Thermal paste, softening under the influence of temperature, will allow us to do this. Warming up this thing a little more, we can easily separate our radiator from the crystal:
Try as completely and as carefully as possible to clean both the "base" of the radiator and the crystal itself from the remnants of the old dried thermal paste. At the same time, try not to scratch the metal surface of the radiator (this will reduce its heat transfer coefficient). Do not scrape, it is better to warm up separately and wipe off the old paste.
With the crystal, it is also as careful as possible: if you did not manage to remove some part of the paste (like mine, for example), then it is better to leave it. Anything that is erased - be sure to delete! Otherwise, the thermal paste, under the influence of temperature, will, as they say, “bake” and then it will be very difficult to remove it without damaging (chipping) the core itself.
Before we start repairing a video card with our own hands, let's take a closer look at the graphics chip.
Why did I highlight some of the areas in the photo above? See, the larger area is the graphics card chip itself, and the smaller area is the GPU die (GPU - graphics processing unit). Along the perimeter of the crystal, we see a white sealant (compound) that performs several functions: protects the crystal from dust getting under it and fixes it to the substrate.
What is the "trick" here and why repairing a video card with your own hands can end unsuccessfully, no matter what efforts we make? The area (array) of BGA solder balls is not only between the chip itself and the PCB textolite, but also between the crystal and the substrate graphics card!
Do you feel where I'm going? The harsh reality is that we can repair the video card ourselves (if we are still lucky) only if there is a violation of the contacts of the balls directly between the PCB and the substrate. If the “dump” occurred under the crystal, then we can hardly do anything about it. Even such an operation as reballing (complete replacement of an array of balls using a stencil) will not save in this case, since this procedure is performed only for the “bottom” of the entire chip, but not for the crystal!
So, I hope we have learned the necessary minimum of theory? Moving on! To repair a video card at home, we need a flux and a disposable syringe. I use the usual GFR (alcohol-canin), which is called “GFR-flux”.
We collect the substance in a syringe (about one cube). If it remains, it will be possible to drain back.
Note: You can use any other inactive (ideally neutral) flux. For example, "F1" or "F3". The original LTI-120 is also suitable. Although, with LTI, not everything is so simple: leave it as a last resort 🙂
We carefully apply the tip of the needle to the edge of the substrate, tilting it so that the flux we squeeze out of the syringe is under the chip. After pumping it, if necessary, tilt the card slightly so that it spreads well between the balls. Ideally, we want to achieve an effect where the liquid appears a little from all sides.
Advice: after use, rinse the syringe (just take several times of water from the tap and squeeze out through the needle). If this is not done, the rosin in the needle will dry out and clog it. It will take a long time to clean or throw away.
Now we can be sure that when heated, the flux will fulfill its function. Why fluxes are needed, what they are and how to use them correctly, we considered in a separate article, so we will not repeat ourselves.
After that, we can proceed directly to the repair of the video card with our own hands! To do this, we place it in such a way that we have free access to the GPU from above and below and, using a soldering station, we begin to heat the substrate around the perimeter.
Note: under no circumstances heat the crystal itself! It may fail!
How I do it, I'd better show you in video format, since you can't clearly illustrate here with photos alone.
Now let's comment on this video a little. When you warm up the video card from below (under the chip), try to keep the hair dryer perpendicular to the plane of the PCB, otherwise I didn't manage to shoot and warm it at the same time. Also, be careful not to flare the small card components located on the back side (they can be easily shifted, given the heated solder underneath).
In the video above, I did not show the whole procedure, as you understand. The bottom must be heated long enough (3-5 minutes) so that the smoke from the flux, which you may have noticed, began to rise quite intensively above the board (this is evidence that the board has warmed up well). The first stage will be “boiling” and bubbling of the flux - this is normal.
Also, do not hesitate to warm up the place under the crystal itself (you can do this through the board).The main thing: do not hold the hair dryer in one place - smoothly move it over the area (to exclude places of local overheating of the surface). Keep the funnel of the hair dryer at a distance of 2-3 centimeters from the surface to be treated. I personally set the air flow to an average value, the temperature that the soldering station shows at the same time is 420-450 degrees Celsius. The second value is the limit for my "Ya Xun 880D".
The temperature spread here is due to the fact that its sensor itself is located directly in the handle of the hot air gun, and the air temperature at the outlet of the hot air gun is already different (lower). Plus, here you can add the inevitable heat loss due to the ability to absorb and dissipate heat by the treated surface itself, the temperature in the room, the proximity of the hair dryer to the heated area, the power of the air flow, etc. That is why only empirically it will be possible to select the exact value of the operating temperature (thermal profile) for a particular soldering station.
To what state should you warm up? Here, again, there are indirect signs by which we can navigate. The whole procedure takes approximately 5-8 minutes. The spread of time is due to the factors listed above. It also depends on the quality of the flux used, the type of solder from which the BGA array is made on a substrate (lead or lead-free). In the process of strong heating, the flux should evaporate (smoke) fairly decently.
Another important marker is the visual detection of the melting of the solder on the elements located on the chip around the die (usually a series of small SMD capacitors). When the solder "shines" on them, it is a sure sign that the balls of the substrate have reached their melting point, which is exactly what we need! For greater confidence, you can take tweezers in your free hand and try to slightly move the chip itself: gently push it (literally by a millimeter) to the side and you will see how it “wobbles” and, due to the forces of surface tension of the molten balls from below, will snap into place. After that, the heating can be safely stopped!
Note: some craftsmen, instead of a station, use a regular building hair dryer or repair the video card with their own hands, “baking” it in a household oven, after wrapping it in foil! Frankly, I am not a fan of such radical methods of "repair", although (if the guys succeed in everything), then why not? 🙂
During the heating procedure, you can monitor the surface temperature with a thermocouple or pyrometer (infrared thermometer). This will help in the future to better navigate in the selection of the correct thermoprofile.
Note: when cooling the video card (and any other element), do not use forced airflow - fan, etc. Let the part cool naturally, no need to "fit" it. We don't need the microcircuit to receive a thermal shock (shock), do we?
This is how you repair a video card with your own hands! Whether they were successful or not, we have yet to verify. To do this, we need to do a few mandatory things. Out of habit, I clean (where possible) the board from the flux residues. In this case, it is the rosin remaining after the evaporation of the alcoholic component. The rosin is neutral (it does not interact with the components of the board) and, in theory, it may not be necessary to wash it off, but, for the sake of order, let's go over it thoroughly with a brush and a cleaner.
We washed more or less (the rosin dissolved), let it dry and apply fresh thermal paste to the crystal (“KPT”, “AlSil” or “Zalman” - I respect):
Now we put the whole "constructor" back together (we fix the heatsink, screw on the cooler, connect it to the connector on the board).
Before installing the card into the system unit, let's go (just in case) with an elastic band over the contacts of the Pci Express connector and that's it - can you install a component on the motherboard to check what we've got?
But it turned out, as we can see, everything is not even bad.There is an image on the monitor! Do-it-yourself video card repair is possible! Of course, to be completely sure, we need to install the operating system (it was not at hand), install the video card driver and, ideally, run some kind of stress test for stability, which will show us, in the end, we managed to repair the video card ourselves or No?
Note: The free and easy-to-use tool "FurMark" can work very well for this test.
Otherwise anything can happen: the video card seems to work, but the driver is not installed or does not pass the stability test. Also, as you understand, we cannot give any guarantee for this type of "repair" and we do not know how long the device will work? But, as they say, on the other hand, we “pumped over the skill” of repairing video cards at home, and the client received a temporary working computer. We did what we could, and then there will be what should happen!
As always, I am waiting for your comments, feedback, constructive criticism below under the article 🙂
