Think I broke it :/

[acidrainy]

Snapped a chip off my gfx card earlier. Just really looking to see if anyone knows if its repairable :/

Here are some shots to try and better illustrate my problem.

Before (re-positioned):


After:


Result:



I think I know someone who can solder the chip back on, I just don't know that even after this is done, will it work?

[tommylittleboy@]

oh dear, how unfortunate! I dont think it is repairable I'm afraid, most retail soldering irons arent made for such small components, if you're very lucky you might be able to fix it, but the real risk is in the copper tracking. One blob of solder in the wrong place will completely knacker it, and you may end up doing more damage than good (to the motherboard). You can either have a look to see if there are any specialists who can do the job, but it may be cheaper just to purchase a new GFX. good luck dude!

ps, I have the same GFX, Radeon 9800Pro, is that just one of the memory heatsinks that has snapped off, or has the whole mem chip come off, and all the legs broken?

[acidrainy]

The person who would be doing it does it for a living. This person is also a friend-of-a-friend.

I have been researching graphics cards too though. X800XT-PE seems to be a kicker atm.

[tommylittleboy@]

What can I say, theres only one way to find out...maybe you could try it on an older board if you have one, first. I've had a bad experience with a soldering Iron and a PSU before, so I'm quite wary. The thing about chips, is they are extremely sensitive to static, heat etc, so theres absolutely no way of knowing whether itll work or not, thats why I suggested trying it on an old board first. If it blows, at least you would have tried I suppose, and youll have to get another one anyway

[bubbaganoush]

The pins are broken right where it comes out at the chip making it just about impossible to solder :/

[Daymonkey]

cant you just rma it, you have more chance of it being possible if you dont take a soldering iron to it.

[acidrainy]

It's well out of warrenty.

[acidrainy]

Its the 9800pro in my sig btw
Think I got that card around the date I joined. 12months on it, of course.

[Daymonkey]

at least try to rma to ati, you never know you might get a replacement

[acidrainy]

It's dead, R.I.P. 9800pro

Unless I can get another chip to replace the one which came of, I think I can consider the card dead

[tommylittleboy@]

I know this sounds silly, but have you actually tried to see if the card will work without the chip? I'm thinking on the principle that if you remove RAM, it wont affect the others

[Agent]

Well the pins are broke from the IC itself, so that chip is dead.
If you could get the same one, you could resolder that back on without too much problem.
See if you can get a dead card from somwhere like ebay.
If you manage to get one, and your mate cant do it for whatever reason, PM me.

[iranu]

If the break is a clean one i.e. in the solder and not in the chip or contacts on the pcb (or in the solder/chip interface), then you've got a chance.

If your contact does soldering for a living then he will know whether it's physically doable or not.

There is absolutely no harm in trying. Good luck.

[acidrainy]

See if you can get a dead card from somewhere like ebay.

Was the exact line my mate said to me. Never used ebay though, could be a tough one. :/

Is there a possibility of looking up the chip code and ordering one from somewhere? Again, I have absolutely no idea how to do this.

[Kezzer]

If the chip had a passive sink on it in the first place surely that would indicate that it gets hot, so surely in turn that would indicate that it needs a good, clean, strong solder

You can't RMA it 'cause you ripped off a chip

[exAndrzej]

Do you know who the manufacturer was for the original card ?

Some vendors have local repair facilities...

...you may be able to get a 'fix'

They may well charge you - but it would still be cheaper than getting a new one