There goes my new 4870x2...

[AmuseMe]

Its not bent right it half. I exagerated a bit. I mean, its kind of bent/starting too. Ill try to grab pic, and I'll also tinker with it some more.

[Dadi_oh]

Originally Posted by AmuseMe

Its not bent right it half. I exagerated a bit. I mean, its kind of bent/starting too. Ill try to grab pic, and I'll also tinker with it some more.

Have you tried the oven trick? Take all the plastic bits off and then bake the circuit board in the oven. Can't remember what temperature but the idea is to reflow solder that may have cracked. If the damage is from bending the board then a cracked solder joint is a very probable cause.

I have not done this myself. I read about it briefly and it does make sense since "IR reflow" is a step during manufacturing processes on Surface Mount lines.

What have you got to lose?

[Dadi_oh]

Originally Posted by Dadi_oh

Have you tried the oven trick? Take all the plastic bits off and then bake the circuit board in the oven. Can't remember what temperature but the idea is to reflow solder that may have cracked. If the damage is from bending the board then a cracked solder joint is a very probable cause.

I have not done this myself. I read about it briefly and it does make sense since "IR reflow" is a step during manufacturing processes on Surface Mount lines.

What have you got to lose?

Or apparently a heat gun can do the same thing.

[Caldezar]

A heat gun is a MUCH better solution for this. I reflow'd my brothers PS3 after the 'yellow light of death' hit it and it works like a charm now.

[AmuseMe]

I do no have access to a heat gun, but I might as well try the oven trick. Ill wait to get my camera back, and Ill go from there!

[Dadi_oh]

Originally Posted by AmuseMe

I do no have access to a heat gun, but I might as well try the oven trick. Ill wait to get my camera back, and Ill go from there!

Good luck! Looking forward to some results.

As I said, make sure that you remove the heatsink and anything else that looks like plastic that would melt. One source said 385 degF for 8-10 minutes. But I don't want to be responsible for further damaging your HW so do some googling first and find out what you are comfortable with.

[AmuseMe]

Just did some googling. Found all info I need. Hardforum.com has twenty-three (23) pages of it working for people: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1421792

I'll start this Friday.

BTW:

1: Remove the heat sink and thermal paste – clean well
2: Preheat oven to 385F to 400F (NO HIGHER!) (gas mark 6)
3: Lay foil over the oven rack
4: Make four (4) balls of foil, about 4cm high
5: When the oven is heated to its correct temperature, put the graphics card on the four (4) balls, (one on each corner)
6: Leave for around 6-10 minutes, NO MORE THAN 12 OR IT WILL MELT
(hardforum.com)

[Dadi_oh]

Originally Posted by AmuseMe

Just did some googling. Found all info I need. Hardforum.com has twenty-three (23) pages of it working for people: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1421792

I'll start this Friday.

BTW:

1: Remove the heat sink and thermal paste – clean well
2: Preheat oven to 385F to 400F (NO HIGHER!) (gas mark 6)
3: Lay foil over the oven rack
4: Make four (4) balls of foil, about 4cm high
5: When the oven is heated to its correct temperature, put the graphics card on the four (4) balls, (one on each corner)
6: Leave for around 6-10 minutes, NO MORE THAN 12 OR IT WILL MELT
(hardforum.com)

Just FYI here is some background on solder reflow method used in manufacturing.

Reflow soldering - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Another source on lead free solder (which the 4870X2 would be) suggests the following:

The reflow process window for conventional soldering is relatively wide. The melting point of the eutectic solder is 183ºC. The lower temperature limit for reflow is usually 200ºC and upper limit is about 235ºC. The lead-free alloy used for BGA solder balls has a melting point of 217ºC and requires a minimum reflow temperature of 235ºC to ensure good wetting. Maximum reflow temperature is in the 245ºC to 260ºC range, depending on complexity and density of the board.

Looks like 500F is the absolute max. For lead free solder somewhere around 217C (423F) to 235C (455F). Any modern PC components are going to use lead-free solder if they want to be able to sell in Europe so these temps suggest something higher than the 400F max recommended in the original post.

You could try at the lower limit first and see if it works. If not you might try moving up the scale without exceeding 245C (473F). And don't exceed about 8 minutes in the oven for any of these temps.

[AmuseMe]

Originally Posted by Dadi_oh

Just FYI here is some background on solder reflow method used in manufacturing.

Reflow soldering - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Another source on lead free solder (which the 4870X2 would be) suggests the following:

The reflow process window for conventional soldering is relatively wide. The melting point of the eutectic solder is 183ºC. The lower temperature limit for reflow is usually 200ºC and upper limit is about 235ºC. The lead-free alloy used for BGA solder balls has a melting point of 217ºC and requires a minimum reflow temperature of 235ºC to ensure good wetting. Maximum reflow temperature is in the 245ºC to 260ºC range, depending on complexity and density of the board.

Looks like 500F is the absolute max. For lead free solder somewhere around 217C (423F) to 235C (455F). Any modern PC components are going to use lead-free solder if they want to be able to sell in Europe so these temps suggest something higher than the 400F max recommended in the original post.

You could try at the lower limit first and see if it works. If not you might try moving up the scale without exceeding 245C (473F). And don't exceed about 8 minutes in the oven for any of these temps.

So in layman's terms, crank that oven to 500F, and bake 8 minutes?

[Dadi_oh]

Originally Posted by AmuseMe

So in layman's terms, crank that oven to 500C, and bake 8 minutes?

No I wouldn't do that. I spent a little time reading through that thread and looks like lot's of people used 400F. You also apparently need to be careful of electrolytic capacitors (the tall barrel shaped ones) so best to keep it lower as a starting point.

It is possible that a complete reflow is not necessary. Just enough liquidity to repair the cracked joint.

And there was some good advice about not bumping the oven while doing it. When the solder goes liquid the surface tension should hold things in place but if you jar it then you could move a component ( = bad )

You also need to let it cool before moving it. I would open the oven door after the 8 minutes and that way you let the solder re-crystalize and everything firms up. And that would also reduce the thermal shock of a sudden cooling. The manufacturing reflow overns go through a controlled cool down so that is what you are shooting for.

I wish I had a dead card to try. I had a 7900GT that stopped working but I tossed it out. One of the few times I have ever thrown something away