Mystery of the dead MSi GTX 980Ti LED

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Hey folks, been having a little bit of a head scratcher with my MSI 980Ti gaming 6G.

card works perfectly... apart from the fact the LED logo on the side doesn't illuminate.

thought it could be a dead bulb so took it apart to see whats happening under the hood. It was clean enough and the screw with the MSI seal had not been broken, the thermal paste also appeared to be original.

there appears to be a connector on the top of the board which has nothing attached to it though and on the cooler and shroud there are no additional cables other than the PWM fan control.. no even loose or broken wires where a connector maybe at one point was

looking online the 6G looks like it should have 2 cables coming from the cooler, 1 the fans, and the other a 2 wire cable going to the LED?

I'm a tad confused here and the online retailer I bought it from has since gone the way of the dodo and stopped trading.

being prepared for the fact that he / she may have swapped the cooler (no signs of it though) what do you all think should be the next step?

Used cooler? (what are the options for a direct swap to a Gaming 6 PCB?)

Rewire the LED myself? ( I can see 2 wires going into where the LED is so may be able to do something there)

Its not affecting gameplay in the slightest... just annoys me when something doesn't work and I cant figure it out...

Could it be as simple as MSI had released a non illuminated version?

 

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Leave it alone, it's just an LED.

But the LED adds tangible FPS gains no? Just like racing stripes on Ford Fiestas?

 

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IIRC the 980ti Armor uses the exact same PCB just with a lesser heatsink, but the idea somebody swapped the heatsink from a broken Gaming onto an Armor is a bit far fetched. Maybe the LED doesn't work? Or maybe it only works if MSI software is installed to control it?

I have the same card but no window so can't check for you

*EDIT*

The LED should be controllable from the visualizer bit in GeForce Experience, so if it's "off" there it won't light up.

Yeah my initial thought was software based, but after trying it out on a few systems its all the same regardless if its a new build or old and also regardless what the software says.

I had a 970 for a while, again MSI, and that was on as standard.

 

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Well least I have established the LED works with a little help from a soldering iron and the fan connector off my ATI 9800 Pro

 

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Well least I have established the LED works with a little help from a soldering iron and the fan connector off my ATI 9800 Pro

I'm sure you will excuse the jankiness of this for tonight.

Turns out the previous owner wanted the LED off but felt it was easier to take a pair of wire cutters to the inside of the card rather than click a button.

Ill be getting a new fan connector tomorrow and cutting / soldering the wires to the correct length and using actual insulation sleeves rather than the glorious blu-tack on there at the moment

 

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Did you find this out from the previous owner or from your own detective work ?

Detective work.. Kept me outa trouble this evening anyway.. Such a short amount to strip back and solder haha.

Turns out the msi logo is an enclosed unit and just held on with adhesive. I removed it from the shroud and did my best to tidy it up.

Glad it worked though as Msi won't sell the coolers in their own and a new one is £60 from aliexpress. . . If it even arrives

Still.. The hardest part was actually finding a 2 pin fan connector, none in maplin or any of the small pc shops.. Hence the poor butchered 9800 pro.

So at the moment it's LED >solder> two of the cables from a 3 pin fan extension > solder > 9800 pro fan connection

Pcs off now though, I know the led isn't blown so I'll not tempt fate with the bluetack monstrosity anymore and see to it tomorrow

 

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The problem is, each time you boot the pc you have to turn it off.

OP is going to some serious work just to try and get the worlds most brightest annoying LED to light up

And now rewired and heatwrapped.. As good as new

Benefit of a smoked glass case, no overglow.