News Botched GPU baking job is fixed by a maestro chef — Northwest Repairs resuscitates a dead graphics card by reballing its core and memory

[Admin]

An RX 7800 XT with a previously-failed reflow attempt came in for repair and was fixed by reballing its core and memory chips. One of the VRAM chips needed to be replaced as well but at the end, the card finally booted, and this customer's Facebook Marketplace find was salvaged.

Botched GPU baking job is fixed by a maestro chef — Northwest Repairs resuscitates a dead graphics card by reballing its core and memory : Read more

 

[A Stoner]

So, how much does something like this cost? I have an RTX 2080 that does not work that I would like to transplant in place of a 1060 I have for my backup machine because I upgraded my side monitors from 16x10 1200p to 2160p monitors and now the backup machine struggles when I remote desktop into it to do maintenance. Obviously, i have no idea what is wrong with it, but what would a nominal job like this cost at a guy like this expert baker?

 

[M0rtis]

Ooooh I had to do this several times back in the day with my laptop's 8800 GTX. It was a known issue with the series although I cant remember which component had the solder that would get cracks in the traces I believe ?

It was replaced once near the end of the warranty period and after that, I was left to fix it myself by reflowing the solder by heating the card in the oven and letting it cool slowly. It took about 2 hours of gradual heating and cooling and was very doable if you followed a guide or just used some brain cells to think about heating and cooling cycles.

Luckily the card didnt have any plastic components on it that needed to be removed. I doubt its as easy to do with a modern laptop card since everything is on a single motherboard. Those were the last glory days of the MXM 3.0b graphics cards being used in laptops.

Unfortunately doing this is only a stopgap solution because the solder joints do fail again and the time between failures reduces with each reflow. I eventually replaced it with the only alternative - the 9800GT which was unfortunately pretty much the same card with the same flaws. Still, the laptop lasted me a good 5-6 years and was only just starting to show signs of ageing.

My pro strat worked out. If you buy a gaming laptop, if you have a choice, dont pick the highest resolution screen possible. Pick the tier below that. You will get a better screen since the technology available for it is mature and your hardware can push that resolution easier, giving your laptop a longer usable lifespan.

 

[bit_user]

So, how much does something like this cost?

Yeah, it seems to me like a tricky business model, since not many people have the level of skill nor specialized equipment needed for such repairs. If it takes a lot of time, as well, then you're talking about a real cost for the business. Yet, consumers wouldn't pay more to fix a card than what it would cost to get a replacement on the used market.

My guess is that the majority of their repairs are easy jobs like a blown capacitor and their base rate probably more than covers those. I wonder how much revenue they get from these Youtube videos, because those might serve as more than mere advertising, to help recoup the costs of the more tricky repairs.

I upgraded my side monitors from 16x10 1200p to 2160p monitors and now the backup machine struggles when I remote desktop into it to do maintenance.

That's interesting. One of my PCs at work has an old GTX 1050 Ti hooked up to a 4k @ 60 Hz via DisplayPort. For regular desktop stuff, it's been great. Not sure about the demands of remote desktop, since I don't use it on that machine.

FWIW, I had a lot of trouble with that monitor + graphics card using HDMI. It had lots of trouble achieving sync. The same cable & monitor work perfectly on a laptop with intel iGPU.

 

[bit_user]

If you buy a gaming laptop, if you have a choice, dont pick the highest resolution screen possible. Pick the tier below that. You will get a better screen since the technology available for it is mature and your hardware can push that resolution easier, giving your laptop a longer usable lifespan.

I never really got the point of laptops with more than about 1080p resolution. I already had one of those 20 years ago, with a 15.4" screen. The DPI was high enough I never felt a need or desire to get anything higher in that size laptop, which is also as large as I would consider buying.

Needless to say, the same is doubly true of phones.

 

[Notton]

I never really got the point of laptops with more than about 1080p resolution.

When the laptop outlives its useful life, having a high quality screen (1600p, >400nits, >97% DCI-P3, >120Hz) allows it a second life as a streaming/multimedia device.
Installing a light weight OS, like Bazzite, Mint, SteamOS, etc. helps.

The higher resolution helps with video image sharpness when sitting closer, and I find it a much better gaming experience overall.
I say this sitting on five mediocre 1080p 14" and 15.4" laptops collecting dust compared to my 8.8" alldocube 70 mini ultra that I can't stop using.