Did I break my 980ti?

john_park · 11 Aug 2015 at 18:05

Hi guys, unpacked my 980ti today and started to remove the cooler as I watercool. I have removed hudreds of coolers before and all was well.

I got the the 3rd last screw on the MSI card and the head had already been stripped, either it had already been opened or it was stripped during manufacture. I've spent all day trying to get it out using every method I could read about on the net and I have finally removed it.....................BUT, just in the last 2 seconds of removing it, I knocked a small part which moved..

When I say moved, it was bent up about 45 degrees towards the top of the card, I pushed it back into position...

Will the card still work?

mattcrane · 11 Aug 2015 at 18:33

Might sound silly but if that was me and I saw that a screw was stripped while unboxing I would have contacted the place I bought it from straight away and not gone any further.

john_park · 11 Aug 2015 at 18:40

It was bought from overclockers. I'd already removed the screw with the warranty sticker on it, I presumed they wouldn't have had it back now that the sticker was broken.

I'm just hoping somebody is going to let me know if they think it will still work.

humbug · 11 Aug 2015 at 18:45

That looks like a resistor, its impossible to tell if it will work of not, if it was bent at right-angles it may have come off on one side, if you know anyone with the skill to have a close look at it and make a judgment and solder it back in place if needed, this before putting it back in, i don't know but i guess its possible if that resistor shorts or whatever it could blow the GPU and even take something with it.

Or plug it in and take a chance....

bloodkil · 11 Aug 2015 at 18:45

It's hard to tell what it actually has (or hasn't) damaged. I'd just pop it in and give it a whirl.

Although i'd probably carefully solder it back as humbug said.

Five.Stars · 11 Aug 2015 at 19:05

First things first, even if you watercool, it is always a good idea to test card with original cooler as card could be DOA and you then spend an hour or so fitting a block, only to discover, eh card is DOA.

Secondly, warranty stickers on MSI cards do not really matter. Certainly that is what their CS advised me via email. As long as card isn't damaged and original cooler is re-fitted they accept an RMA.

All of this is too late for you, so unless you have gotten VERY, VERY lucky, you are now in possession of a very expensive paperweight.

I hope it works!

Scougar · 11 Aug 2015 at 19:13

I would take it to someone who knows how to solder on SMC's (surface mounted components, if that's the name). They are not easy to solder.

r7slayer · 11 Aug 2015 at 19:24

Try and resolder it. The card could likely suffer more damage if you run power through it! If it only moved then just simple re solder would sort it out. But i would see if you could find some one to do it as they would take the little resistor off and resolder it that way.

Freddie1980 · 11 Aug 2015 at 19:36

Just install it and see before you mess around with it anymore

traveyb · 11 Aug 2015 at 19:44

Can you see if there is any wire breakage at all? Good luck either way, that really sucks

new boy · 11 Aug 2015 at 19:57

if the legs are not broken, it will be fine. you didn't scratch the board did you?

I echo the statement that you should have sent it back if the screw head was stripped... If it IS broken, your going to have a hell of a time RMAing it I would imagine, if only because the screws are stripped so it has evidence of being tampered with

Lokken86 · 11 Aug 2015 at 20:04

There's no harm in a resistor bending at the legs as long as the resistor itself is ok and the solder joint is in tact. Fire it up.

D1craig · 11 Aug 2015 at 20:11

If that resistor is the one near the screw (that was stripped before you touched it) then is it not possible someone else knocked it as well?

r7slayer · 11 Aug 2015 at 20:29

Resistors are used to restrict the flow of current. If it isn't making proper contact then banging it in and firing it up could be the worse thing possible! Might seem okay at first maybe or possibly but if you get that sense of everything is okay and you start playing some games you never know that resistor which is used to limit the current for a particular purpose on the board at that place could potentially fry something if too much current is passed. That resistor has a purpose otherwise it wouldnt of been used.

Options are!

1 Try your luck with RMA?
2 See if the resistor is okay? Just bent and still makes contact your all good.
3 if not as above then solder it back into place.
4 Just fire it up anyways like ppl keep suggesting and potentially cause more damage to the card.

bemaniac · 11 Aug 2015 at 20:31

heh overclockers probably already saw this thread. I certainly wouldn't return an item I messed up though it's immoral.

Lokken86 · 11 Aug 2015 at 20:31

You could check continuity and resistance with a voltmeter if you want to be 100% sure before trying it.

r7slayer · 11 Aug 2015 at 20:34

Lokken86 said:
You could check continuity and resistance with a voltmeter if you want to be 100% sure before trying it.

This too! Hopefully hes got one lol!

new boy · 11 Aug 2015 at 20:36

r7slayer said:
Resistors are used to restrict the flow of current. If it isn't making proper contact then banging it in and firing it up could be the worse thing possible! Might seem okay at first maybe or possibly but if you get that sense of everything is okay and you start playing some games you never know that resistor which is used to limit the current for a particular purpose on the board at that place could potentially fry something if too much current is passed. That resistor has a purpose otherwise it wouldnt of been used.

Options are!

1 Try your luck with RMA?
2 See if the resistor is okay? Just bent and still makes contact your all good.
3 if not as above then solder it back into place.
4 Just fire it up anyways like ppl keep suggesting and potentially cause more damage to the card.

C'mon man, if the resistor's legs haven't snapped, the will work fine. If they have snapped, the card probably wont work at all. I cant see how bending a resistor forward and back is going to magically let more voltage through, unless it was twisted around so the legs touched and it bypassed the resistor, and to be honest, if you cant see that, you shouldn't be removing your cooler.

If the legs are still soldered in, 99.9% its perfectly fine.

If one of the legs snapped, oooops, try your luck with RMA, if not, find someone whos damn good with a soldering iron.

Jericho.u.k · 11 Aug 2015 at 20:45

mattcrane said:
Might sound silly but if that was me and I saw that a screw was stripped while unboxing I would have contacted the place I bought it from straight away and not gone any further.

This everytime, I cannot understand why you went any further.
Have you contacted oc to see as to why the screw was stripped in the first place as id have though it wouldn't have been done at manufacturers.

john_park · 11 Aug 2015 at 20:58

Thanks for all the help guys. I've had a good look around the board and I can't see anything exactly the same as what I bent/broke. I think one end definitely came off the board, but whether that end was actually attached anyway who knows.

I don't have a volt meter etc and even if I did, I wouldn't have a clue how to use it.

If I plug this in to my mobo etc, could it do damage to the mobo, or just the card itself?

Options

1. Try it with the stock cooler in my current rig, but that already has a 7970 in it? Is that possible?

2. Plug it into the new z170 mobo tomorrow with the 6700k and ram and see what happens? I hadn't set this up yet as I was waiting for some watercooling bits to arrive.

3. Order a new one to make sure I have a working one then try this one in there? If not I'll see what OC say, but if it does work I can go SLI for the first time...will my z170 Asus Hero run full speed SLI and a M.2 drive at full speed, I read something about not having many PCIe lanes...