Soldato
- Joined
- 11 Mar 2013
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- 5,590
Or just buy a new card and be done with it, Sorted
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Help diagnosing IceQ HD 7950 issue
- Thread starter vanp
- Start date
Fine if you have £150+ to get something with equivalent performance, otherwise worth a shot I would think
Associate
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- 2 Sep 2013
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- 2,333
Whilst I'm no expert on the soldering side, the situation they are in is:
A. HD7950 will run in PCIe 2x only. Crippling the full performance of the HD7950. Even a cheap new card will likely offer better performance at this point.
B. Whether buying a new card or not, the HD7950 will remain anyway.
In any event, the HD7950 will remain, in it's current crippled condition. Since it's basically long in the tooth, and may require replacing anyway since it's not fit for duty (even against a cheap RX 550), may as well give it a chance at a repairing either way. What you gain is potentially saving on needing a new card for another year or two (or even more). At worst, you just need to replace now vs replacing a year or more later with a cheapo card that'll outperform the crippled HD7950. It's a full win for the repair attempt in any scenario at this point.
A. HD7950 will run in PCIe 2x only. Crippling the full performance of the HD7950. Even a cheap new card will likely offer better performance at this point.
B. Whether buying a new card or not, the HD7950 will remain anyway.
In any event, the HD7950 will remain, in it's current crippled condition. Since it's basically long in the tooth, and may require replacing anyway since it's not fit for duty (even against a cheap RX 550), may as well give it a chance at a repairing either way. What you gain is potentially saving on needing a new card for another year or two (or even more). At worst, you just need to replace now vs replacing a year or more later with a cheapo card that'll outperform the crippled HD7950. It's a full win for the repair attempt in any scenario at this point.
Thanks for all the great advice chaps.
I fully agree with Meddling-Monk - no sense not trying to repair it. I'd much rather keep it since it's still excellent (when working fully) for 1080p gaming, which is all I do. And graphics card prices are so inflated right now, it's a better idea to try and save it at this point in time.
I'll keep you updated.. I did attempt a ghetto fix last night (my soldering iron and tools are all stored in my parents shed, miles away) - I tried to heat up a variety of different metal objects, using a tealight candle, to melt some solder on another bit of circuit board that had excess, so I could apply a tiny bit to the pads, but I couldn't keep it hot enough
My dad has a small tipped soldering iron and some flux, so will hopefully have it up and running this weekend.
Quick question, I've got some old AMD CPU's that are worth nothing.. they seem to have very similar sized capacitors on them.. is it worth trying to use one of these or just have a go at soldering?
I fully agree with Meddling-Monk - no sense not trying to repair it. I'd much rather keep it since it's still excellent (when working fully) for 1080p gaming, which is all I do. And graphics card prices are so inflated right now, it's a better idea to try and save it at this point in time.
I'll keep you updated.. I did attempt a ghetto fix last night (my soldering iron and tools are all stored in my parents shed, miles away) - I tried to heat up a variety of different metal objects, using a tealight candle, to melt some solder on another bit of circuit board that had excess, so I could apply a tiny bit to the pads, but I couldn't keep it hot enough
My dad has a small tipped soldering iron and some flux, so will hopefully have it up and running this weekend.
Quick question, I've got some old AMD CPU's that are worth nothing.. they seem to have very similar sized capacitors on them.. is it worth trying to use one of these or just have a go at soldering?
*UPDATE*
Well I managed to do a tidy bit of soldering, despite shaking like I had caffeine withdrawal...
And for a short while it did indeed work perfectly!!
However, after about 10mins of the Render test, I noticed the Clock speed was a bit erratic, fluctuating up and down 100mhz or so.. after I tried to run Dota 2, it finally gave out and gave me this BSOD:
Which after a bit of googling does appear to be related more often than not to a hardware issue - which makes sense.
The good news was that I have found that that tiny missing component was indeed the problem as it not only displayed in PCIE 2.0 x16 but also ran in the primary slot.
The bad news is, I've had to break that tiny bit of solder off again as the machine won't run properly with it like that, too unstable, crashes after about 20secs now. So for now, I've got it installed and running again, but in the secondary PCIE slot and still at x2 mode
The only thing is, having struggled to solder that tiny, tiny amount, I now realise that the chances of me finding the correct part (as it seems tolerances will need to be exact, a blob of solder won't do) and being able to solder an even smaller amount with my bare hands are nearly zero. Such a shame
Well I managed to do a tidy bit of soldering, despite shaking like I had caffeine withdrawal...
And for a short while it did indeed work perfectly!!
However, after about 10mins of the Render test, I noticed the Clock speed was a bit erratic, fluctuating up and down 100mhz or so.. after I tried to run Dota 2, it finally gave out and gave me this BSOD:
Which after a bit of googling does appear to be related more often than not to a hardware issue - which makes sense.
The good news was that I have found that that tiny missing component was indeed the problem as it not only displayed in PCIE 2.0 x16 but also ran in the primary slot.
The bad news is, I've had to break that tiny bit of solder off again as the machine won't run properly with it like that, too unstable, crashes after about 20secs now. So for now, I've got it installed and running again, but in the secondary PCIE slot and still at x2 mode
The only thing is, having struggled to solder that tiny, tiny amount, I now realise that the chances of me finding the correct part (as it seems tolerances will need to be exact, a blob of solder won't do) and being able to solder an even smaller amount with my bare hands are nearly zero. Such a shame
Associate
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- 2 Sep 2013
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- 2,333
OK, my electronics knowhow is a bit out of date (nearly 20 years out of date), but would it not be possible to obtain a physically larger cap (with same numbers required) with feet that you can manuever and then solder down into the points? Other than it looking ugly, and easier to break off, shouldn't it still the job?
Anyone with experience able to confirm that?
Anyone with experience able to confirm that?
Soldato
- Joined
- 22 May 2015
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- 2,679
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- Manchester
Not experience as such, but logic says that's a very good shout. It'd certainly make the soldering job a lot easier.
No, that wouldn't be any easier. To solder something this small you heat up the entire area (a very, very small area in this case) with either a soldering iron tip or a hot air rework station to flow the solder and set the component in place. Trying to solder these individual pads would be madness.
I can be a bit easier to solder SMD components if you get an assistant to direct a hair dryer at full temp over the PCB. That extra few tens of celcius make all the difference.
You'd need to desolder one of the remaining caps to test it's capacitance if you wanted to go full replacement. I still maintain that the value is probably unimportant and just popping a 100nf on there will suffice.
That said, I'm not sure the BSOD is entirely the fault of the solder bridge in the first place
You'd need to desolder one of the remaining caps to test it's capacitance if you wanted to go full replacement. I still maintain that the value is probably unimportant and just popping a 100nf on there will suffice.
That said, I'm not sure the BSOD is entirely the fault of the solder bridge in the first place
Those caps are pretty easy to replace. The secret ingredient is liquid flux. Flux not only gives a clean solder but it also will force the solder to only adhere to the pad. Pop some flux on the solder pads and then tin them. A bit more flux then, while holding your soldering iron tip to the edge of the solder in order to melt it, drop the cap with a pair of tweezers on to it.
Clean afterwards with Isoproply Alchohol (flux is corrosive).
Easy But then, I do use a workstation so it's even easier. 
Clean afterwards with Isoproply Alchohol (flux is corrosive).
Easy
But then, I do use a workstation so it's even easier.
Associate
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- 2 Sep 2013
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Fairly common issue I would say (for many companies), more often than not they simply slap it in and see if there's any power going to it (and doesn't spark or explode). If so, unless it was something they are specifically assigned to sort out, it's 100% OK and not their "particular" departments problem, it's up to the end user to keep RMA'ing it until it reaches everyone it needs to have a look at it to fix. In short, everyone is just passing the buck and hoping users get caught out and needing to spend more. Throroughly hate RMA teams now (from manufacturers and their assigned repair companies, and why I am 100% happy to sing the praises of a retailer like OcUK).
And from the item description, I'd say HIS brand yeah.
But hoping OP has access to some of the suggested materials to try a repair again. A 7950 that's functional is very worthwhile item to keep (I wouldn't have even needed to change mine if it didn't finally bite the dust, a good long 5 year service and still capable, brilliantly designed kit for back then).
Wow, quite a few more replies - cheers guys!
I'm not adverse to trying the fix again, but I just don't think I've got the skills - I'd imagine all of this soldering was done by a very precise assembly line robot at some point.
The amount of solder I put on was only doable because I didn't have to worry about getting it on both pads at once. Trying to do that again but only get it on separate pads is a very hard ask.
Yep the brand is HIS. I've got an HIS 6870 which I've never had a problem with - are they known to have quality issues? Might avoid in the future.
For now I think I'll just continue to use the card until prices drop and something better comes up - it still is way better than my 6870 even at x2 speeds. I've just reinstalled Battlefield Bad Company 2 for some fun - a decent little online following still play it too!
I'm not adverse to trying the fix again, but I just don't think I've got the skills - I'd imagine all of this soldering was done by a very precise assembly line robot at some point.
The amount of solder I put on was only doable because I didn't have to worry about getting it on both pads at once. Trying to do that again but only get it on separate pads is a very hard ask.
Yep the brand is HIS. I've got an HIS 6870 which I've never had a problem with - are they known to have quality issues? Might avoid in the future.
For now I think I'll just continue to use the card until prices drop and something better comes up - it still is way better than my 6870 even at x2 speeds. I've just reinstalled Battlefield Bad Company 2 for some fun - a decent little online following still play it too!
Just a note, if you remove the solder so it puts you back to square one with it running at PCI-E 2.0, then it's worth noting that wouldn't affect mining performance in the slightest so you could sell the card with a caveat it's only good for mining or repairand put the money towards an upgrade/replacement. Wouldn't be mega money but more than spares/repairs value.