[SOLVED] Help with atempt of repairing graphics card

Apr 26, 2021
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So, i bought an zotac gtx 970 dual fan that the fans turn on and off multiple times, i've decided to give it a go because it was pretty cheap and im also trying to learn eletronics.
So far, there are no short in the mosfets neither in the PCI neither in the 12v conectors, and i have no idea what the problem is, there is two small resistors missing but i highly doubt thats the problem too be honest.
Any suggestions guys?
 
Solution
Since there are no obvious shorts, you need to find out what is missing or failing to stay up and why. If the GPU is cycling on-off, an oscilloscope would be handy to keep an eye on multiple signals at once along with their timing relationship. The process would usually start with verifying all of the power rails to find any that may be missing or out of spec, then work your way back to find why it is so. If all power is present and appears to be fine, then you have some more subtle and difficult to troubleshoot issue such as lack of comms with the firmware chip or corrupt firmware.

Troubleshooting non-obvious issues without schematics will be time-consuming.

iPeekYou

Distinguished
Jul 7, 2014
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So, i bought an zotac gtx 970 dual fan that the fans turn on and off multiple times, i've decided to give it a go because it was pretty cheap and im also trying to learn eletronics.
So far, there are no short in the mosfets neither in the PCI neither in the 12v conectors, and i have no idea what the problem is, there is two small resistors missing but i highly doubt thats the problem too be honest.
Any suggestions guys?
Monitor the temps with GPU-Z or HwInfo. If the fans turn on/off at a certain temp, you know that it's normal. Some GPUs do have 0 RPM fan mode until a certain temp threshold. To be fair, not sure if Zotac does that. My old 660 doesn't and my current 1080 doesn't either.

Either the fan header is funky, or the fans themselves. Maybe try connecting a PWM fan to the header with some cheap adapter (bought mine for $3). Just google PWM to VGA header adapter or something similar.
 

InvalidError

Titan
Moderator
Since there are no obvious shorts, you need to find out what is missing or failing to stay up and why. If the GPU is cycling on-off, an oscilloscope would be handy to keep an eye on multiple signals at once along with their timing relationship. The process would usually start with verifying all of the power rails to find any that may be missing or out of spec, then work your way back to find why it is so. If all power is present and appears to be fine, then you have some more subtle and difficult to troubleshoot issue such as lack of comms with the firmware chip or corrupt firmware.

Troubleshooting non-obvious issues without schematics will be time-consuming.
 
Solution