[SOLVED] GTX 1060 no signal and there's corrosion on it's PCB ?

[jakesq]

A friend's Gigabyte GTX 1060 hasn't been displaying an output for a while now, despite the card's fans spinning on startup.

The card has been tried in 2 computers, both to no avail, with different motherboards and PSUs respectively.

In an attempt to solve the issue, I opened the card to access the PCB, revealing what looks like surface corrosion on the board.
6-pin corrosion
Capacitor points

I suspect this is corrosion as it was orange in colour, although it appeared more as a residue than a metal deformity.
This is the powder it left after I scraped it off: Corrosion dust

The residue was around the 6-pin power plug, with some more around a 16v capacitor. Both of these areas had what appeared to be corroded solder, so I used a wick to remove as much of the old solder as possible (not entirely successfully, the existing solder was very stubborn), and applied new solder.

I tried this first with the 6-pin area, with no progress so I then resoldered the capacitor with no change in result.
6-pin resolder
Capacitor point resolder
The capacitor I resoldered

I've ordered a multimeter to try to diagnose the problem properly, I hope this reveals something simple like a dead/disconnected capacitor or something.

My questions are, is there any other cause for concern you can spot in these images, and any tips you can give me for troubleshooting?

Also sorry for the image links, I can't insert them into the body of the question for some reason.

Thanks

PCB Front
PCB Back
6-pin top (no corrosion as far as I can tell)

 

[vov4ik_il]

It is not. Just dirty. Isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs will bring it to factory state. I do not think this is the issue with the card though.
Does it get detected as a secondary GPU in your test system? When you boot it with a monitor connected to onboard or another known-working card? Does it show up in device list? Let you install drivers?

Let me know if you need component values and stuff. I repaired one of those last week, one of the guys here sent me one just like yours, GP106 chip with 3GB memory, had 2 shot DVI-D interfaces…

I've ordered a multimeter to try to diagnose the problem properly, I hope this reveals something simple like a dead/disconnected capacitor or something.

Oh I bet it is a little more interesting than just this ))
I can help you with diagnostics, but not with bare hands... Get a powered pci-e riser, 10-15A bench PSU, Multimeter (and/or scope) and check back here...
While waiting on tools, you could clean the card and remove all thermal grease and pads and clean it with 90% alcohol using cotton swabs or soft brush. There maybe physical damage or knocked off stuff on the PCB that you would not see as it is dirty. And remember about static electricity when handling.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

That does not look like corrosion to me either, but a dirty PCB CAN cause issues. I would take the whole card apart and clean it using isypropl alcohol and some sort of a brush, I usually use an old toothbrush.

Let it air dry for ~12 hours afterwards. A hairdryer can be used to help speed it up. Make sure you get all the liquid out from under the BGA packages, which compressed air can help with.

 

[jakesq]

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate it.

That does not look like corrosion to me either, but a dirty PCB CAN cause issues. I would take the whole card apart and clean it using isypropl alcohol and some sort of a brush, I usually use an old toothbrush.

After a quick clean, the card is still unresponsive.

I'll try cleaning it again though as I only cleaned the parts which I could see to have visible dirt. This was about half of the back - do you think I should clean the top (die side) too?

I do not think this is the issue with the card though.

I'm interested to hear what you mean by this, I've tested the card as a secondary in my rig with a functioning primary display card, and the 1060 in question didn't appear in device manager (or in hidden devices either).

Also, I've tested all 4 available display outputs on the card to no avail - any idea what else it might be?

Thanks again for your responses, I look forward to hearing what you make of this.

 

[vov4ik_il]

I'm interested to hear what you mean by this, I've tested the card as a secondary in my rig with a functioning primary display card, and the 1060 in question didn't appear in device manager (or in hidden devices either).

As I mentioned earlier, it is not a bare-hand job. You made it sound like you have some techy background, so get some tools and will try to support your attempt..

Get a powered pci-e riser, 10-15A bench PSU, Multimeter (and/or scope) and check back here...

Here is what will come next.

 

[jakesq]

Thanks for your replies. I've had my head down studying for uni, but can now return to this problem.

I've just given the card a thorough scrub with some isopropanol alcohol, and will try the card in my system again tomorrow.

As I mentioned earlier, it is not a bare-hand job. You made it sound like you have some techy background, so get some tools and will try to support your attempt..

I do have a background in tech, but not with fixing electronics. For instance, I don't know what you mean by 'a bare-hand job', could you please elaborate?

 

[vov4ik_il]

I don't know what you mean by 'a bare-hand job', could you please elaborate?

I mean that diagnosing and fixing electronics involves having, being familiar with, and using some tools. Nothing exceptional. You could check out things linked in post #5 and decide if it makes sense to you and if you are comfortable doing it.