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Knocking bits off a 7900GS (With pictures!)

Darg

Darg

Darg

Soldato
Joined
6 Sep 2006
Posts
6,302
Location
London
Okay, basic rundown of my current problem:

I have had my 7900GS for about two months now. Bought off a guy in MM and it turned up with a slightly bent PCB but worked fine so no real complaints there.

Anyway I got a P5N-E Sli (on my third now after the first two died) and I was trying different ways of fitting a 80mm fan to blow onto the Noctua NB I had installed.

One of these was simply hooking the fan onto the rear thumbscrews of my VF-900 gfx card fan. This worked perfectly and I was very happy after all the hassle I had trying to use plastic ties to get it hooked on to the Noctua NB.

Anyway on one of the several taking on and taking offs of this fan I knocked a resistor or capacitor off of it. I found it after I took the card off the P5N-E motherboard so at first I assumed it was from the faulty motherboard. Now it didn't kill the card straight away. I had it on my old Asrock motherboard and it was working away okay for a while but I started getting random crashes whenever I tried to use 3D apps and then they started happening in just windows and eventually my computer just refused to boot.

This is my first question:
Is this a resistor or a capacitor and does it matter which way round I soldered it? (and yes I know I'm not the best solderer but these are tiny :o )
resorcapki9.jpg




This is on the back of a memory section as you can see here:
resfaroutjw4.jpg


Second question:
Could this have permenently damaged the graphics card even after soldering it back on?



Okay.. I was trying anything I could think of to try and get the machine to boot. On one of my rummagings i managed to knock off a capacitor from around the power socket area. I soldered it back on after much effort and it seems to be stuck on the correct areas okay. Still no luck though and the machine still gives the 1 long and 3 short beeps of graphics card doom.

Capacitor:
deadcapcr1.jpg




Okay now I spell like burning and my heads a bit woozy from inhaling solder fumes. What I want to know is.. can it be saved? Should I try soldering the little guy on the other way round?

Is it time for a 2900XT?
 
Tom|Nbk said:
Oh dear.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry i killed your card :(


Thanks megatron. Actually I barely nudged the capacitor. It was always a bit loose since I got it in the post (it was only wrapped in bubble wrap). The other capacitors seem to be sturdy but that one was always a little dodgy.

As for the fan, it seemed like a great idea at the time :o
 
I loved my 9800Pro, it's still purring away to itself in my gfs computer.

My 7900GS seems doomed though. I did my best with the soldering but it just doesn't seem to have worked. My dad said that those resistors can melt inside if you even try to solder them on yourself. and the capacitor got boiling hot even though I was only touching the base with the soldering iron.

Luckily though he brought home an old X600 from someone that didn't want it anymore in his work. Anyone know how these fare roughly?

Equal to my old 9800Pro?

And it seems my new P5N-E Sli motherboard is working for the time being. The fan on the X600 is killing my head though. Whiney as hell. Think I'll order the 2900XT tomorrow.
 
Possibly Rroff, I was trying to be careful with the heat but our soldering iron is a pos and I needed to hold it against the solder at times to make it melt.

I've stuck a spare Zalman NB heatsink on the X600 to get rid of that incredibly annoying whiny fan. Got a 80mm fan blowing over the HS and memory atm and it seems to be running okay. Any way of checking temps on these cards? AtiTool doesn't show up. I didn't bother downloading CCC just the drivers. Would that show temp?

EDIT:

And also, I don't want my Zalman VF-900 cooler to go to waste. Can anyone tell me which, if any, of the newer cards could use it to get cooler/quieter. Am I right in thinking that all the DX10 cards so far need extra heatsink parts for VRMs or whatever?

What about the 1950XT/Pros?
 
It was quite simple to unclip the fan and heatsink from the card and the NB HS was able to fit on perfectly.

Can you recommend the 8800GTS 320? I see you have one yourself. Can it play all latest games at maximum settings? What's the fan like when it revs up high?

And what's it like for overclocking?
 
I'd probably just go for the cheaper Asus and overclock it myself. What are the differences apart from the warranty and the overclock?
 
I wouldn't like to get a card that was busted so I won't sell it to anyone either. I was annoyed enough at receiving a bent card from the MM. Atleast it still worked okay though.

I'm still tempted by the 2900XT. It has the potential to beat the GTX if ATi get their act together with drivers which I'm sure they will. Price wise compared to the GTX it's a steal.

Damn.. decisions..

Oh and yea I meant I was looking at the OCUK sorry, used to seeing the Asus as the cheapest.
 
AGHH!HH!H!HH!H!!!

I just spent €406 on a 2900XT...

The doubt.. aghh! Buyers remorse! It'll pass soon. My dad is gonna freaking take my head off.
 
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