Question Questions About GTX 1070 Repair

[BrickStation]

I have a few questions about repairing my used PNY XLR8 GTX 1070 OC

I purchased it off Ebay for about $100 and two out of three fans were not working, fans 1 and 3, they don't move unless pushed or poked and have a mechanical scraping sound. Occasionally, they do move on their own but fan 2 is usually the only one working. Seller didn't say it was broken and they shipped it that way because there isn't any benefit in replacing fans on an old card, it's just one of the many risks of buying anything used.

Now I decided to take a look at the fans to see if cleaning would help. However, all I did was break fan 1 into pieces and found out that they are non-serviceable. The fan blade assembly doesn't seem to be like the fans shown on a typical card when I search for cleaning tutorials online, the Gigabyte RTX 7000 referenced in a video showed that the fan blades just pop right out. This is how my fans look, or at least how they came apart:

I think the magnetic ring inside the fans is pressed in, if not then there isn't any way to pop it off. The small central shaft on the magnet goes into the bearing and locks into the center of the blade, which also seemed to be pressed in.

The question is what should I do to repair the card?

1. Should I order $30 replacement fans from Ebay or Amazon and hope they work? There are no reviews for them, and someone on YouTube said that replacement fans from China are wired the wrong way and can kill your GPU, but I don't know how true that is. I could also reach out to PNY to see if they have OEM replacement fans, but I'm doubtful they would stock such an obscure fan for an 8-year-old card.

2. Should I use an aftermarket cooler? I would like to keep using this card for awhile until I can get something better for $100-$150 and after replacing it I'd like to use it in other systems. Are there any aftermarket GPU coolers that fit a GTX 1070/1080 and are still available? Something like the Arctic Accelero Xtreme IV is exactly what I need but it is not available anymore and I can't find any good used listings.

3. Should I buy a broken GTX 1070 and salvage a cooler with working fans? Parts only sales for 1070 and 1080 are $50 or less. I think the only risks involved would be that the fans kill my GPU, or don't work at all, or if the broken 1070 does actually work.

4. Should I get my 1070 repaired by a professional service? I doubt this is cost-effective, but could be done if they don't tell me to just go buy a new card.

5. Should I just ignore the problem? This is what I've been doing and kept using my card, it's been working so far even with temps at 82C. I think it will continue to work for me while I wait to update later, just have to change the original thermal pads from 2016 first.


I also considered doing a simple cooler of two or three 92mm fans installed in the PCIe slot next to my GPU. I have a pre-built PC without a simple way to power and control fans so I didn't know if it's a viable solution, the only connections that I think would work are 4-pin DIMM fans, Sata power, and maybe internal USB. Let me know your thoughts and thanks for your replies.

 

[geofelt]

If the seller did not say the fans were not all working or otherwise misrepresented the condition of the card, I would return it. You will have to reassemble the fans as best you can.

Ebay protects sellers who used paypal.

Ignoring the problem seems to be a decent option.
80c. is a normal operating temperature under load.
You may be able to rig up a case fan to deliver more cooling airflow.

 

[thestryker]

Personally if you have room beneath the video card getting something like this would be the way I'd go. Especially if you already have 120mm fans you could install. Unless you can be sure if the wiring I wouldn't try to get replacement fans for a card that old.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Out do like Linus did in a video a while back, remove the shroud and zip tie a couple of 120 mm fans straight onto the card the plug them into the header on the card or into a fan header on the board. It should be floating around YouTube somewhere.

 

[BrickStation]

All great suggestions. I think I will ponder over the PCIe fan assembly idea as that would be the most helpful in my situation, I'll just have to figure out what wiring I need to control them.

Returning the card to the seller could end up being more trouble than it's worth. Like buying a used vehicle, purchasing used hardware is an inherent risk and it's not always the seller's responsibility to replace components, especially if the item still functions and isn't a complete lemon.

I have also seen that LTT video when I was searching for cooling options, I would like to plug a whole fan assembly straight into the 1070's fan connector but I want to verifiy the electrical ratings before doing that. Sticker in the fan reads out 12V DC and 0.35 amps, don't know if the card would power them.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

If not you can use a fan header splitter and plug into a fan header on your board and set them via the bios to a certain speed that you can live with that’s not too noisy.

That said if it’s within 30 days and the card was described as working you can likely do a claim via eBay and tell them item not as described.

 

[punkncat]

If the poor view I get from looking at your pic is the case, it appears these are four wire harnesses. Clip the end from the bad fans and it should be pretty straight forward on the power and ground (probably black and red) and then you can play with the wiring for the speed control to suss that out before you actually solder or otherwise perm attach the replacement fans you find.

In my own situation I had a 970 blower card that the fan was bad on. Found and purchased a new fan and it was also bad. I ended up using a fan from an older AMD CPU that was appropriately sized and screwed it directly to the cooling fin stack. I used the old connector from the blower to splice to the fan so the card was controlling speed and in the end in spite of it looking janky it actually performed well better than it ever had thermally.

I ended up using some "B-wire" connectors commonly known as beanies, some electrical tape, and a small bit of the nylon harness loom to neaten things up.

 

[BrickStation]

If not you can use a fan header splitter and plug into a fan header on your board and set them via the bios to a certain speed that you can live with that’s not too noisy.

That said if it’s within 30 days and the card was described as working you can likely do a claim via eBay and tell them item not as described.

I think the DIMM fan connector does just this, my pre-build is a server-base workstation and DIMM coolers are optional equipment that may or may not be controlled by software or BIOS. I have two four-pin connectors that probably power a single 92mm fan each.

Also, it has also been over 30 days to return my card, I purchased it in 2023. June of 2023 sounds right.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Ah so you are stuck then. I guess you could use old school molex connections. Though you might look, I think you can pick up a 2060 foot under 150 used these days.

 

[BrickStation]

Ah so you are stuck then. I guess you could use old school molex connections. Though you might look, I think you can pick up a 2060 foot under 150 used these days.

I suppose I could, I just can't use any connections that are for a PSU. It's a 900W titanium unit but it's a proprietary design that only has a PCB edge connector, no wires and a custom motherboard to use it. Could run something off the spare 8-pin power that is for a second graphics card.

Also, I browsed for a used 2060 and they are currently about $180, but they are only a minimal upgrade to the 1070. I'm looking for something like a 2070 or better and an equivalent AMD for a more significant change. Although, I am not I'm looking to purchase a card right now.

 

[BrickStation]

If the poor view I get from looking at your pic is the case, it appears these are four wire harnesses. Clip the end from the bad fans and it should be pretty straight forward on the power and ground (probably black and red) and then you can play with the wiring for the speed control to suss that out before you actually solder or otherwise perm attach the replacement fans you find.

In my own situation I had a 970 blower card that the fan was bad on. Found and purchased a new fan and it was also bad. I ended up using a fan from an older AMD CPU that was appropriately sized and screwed it directly to the cooling fin stack. I used the old connector from the blower to splice to the fan so the card was controlling speed and in the end in spite of it looking janky it actually performed well better than it ever had thermally.

I ended up using some "B-wire" connectors commonly known as beanies, some electrical tape, and a small bit of the nylon harness loom to neaten things up.

I might look into that. These fans are 4-pin as you mentioned because they have LED bulbs, all three fans then connect together and the loom plugs into the card. There is a link to replacement fans if more context is needed.

Although, I'm not sure what you mean about a poor view, the photo was just for people to understand that the fan looks different from other fans and how it came apart.