scratched back of gpu, need help please

[bottomdood]

guys please help, as the title says i think i scratched the back of my gpu when i tried to unscre the screws, it looks if i scratched some traces, is this really bad? any help would be appreciated, thanks

 

[ElectrO_90]

MERGED QUESTION
Question from bottomdood : "scratched back of gpu, please help"

guys as the title says, i think i scratched the back of my gpu, the traces look scratched, is this serious? can i do anything to save it? any help would be appreciated, thanks!

See this thread: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/298357-30-scratched-back
Also, take a look here: https://www.asus.com/support/article/568/#Goto01

you got a photo?

 

[bottomdood]

MERGED QUESTION
Question from bottomdood : "scratched back of gpu, please help"

guys as the title says, i think i scratched the back of my gpu, the traces look scratched, is this serious? can i do anything to save it? any help would be appreciated, thanks!

See this thread: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/298357-30-scratched-back
Also, take a look here: https://www.asus.com/support/article/568/#Goto01

you got a photo?

https://imgur.com/a/DrZEkHo
i think i pasted the link on the post but i dont know why i didnt upload, ill just post the link here, the photo may not show it clearly but i think the copper traces underneath are still alright, just the surface is scratched ( i hope and guess) thanks a lot for helping though

 

[bottomdood]

See this thread: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/298357-30-scratched-back
Also, take a look here: https://www.asus.com/support/article/568/#Goto01

im not sure if the pen is precise enough to fix the traces as it is really small, thanks for the reply though

 

[ElectrO_90]

First of, are you capable of using a soldering iron or know someone who is?
Do you have a Multi-Meter?
So what needs to happen is, the scratched track, needs to be tested (bridged) between the broken part of the track
Someone with a multimeter can test the track to make sure if it works or not, by making a small mark on the existing track before and after and checking the continuity. If it is there, there is no fault.
The "round circles" are where you would link the bridge cable.
If it is not, the person who is good with soldering iron should know what to do to make a bridge.

Small mile, attached to both sides of the broken track, add some tape under it and enshroud it. Something like a copper wire from multi stranded core cable.

I cannot tell if 2 tracks are damaged, but bridging is the solution.

 

[photonboy]

It appears like you destroyed part of one trace at least.

You need a good soldering iron and you need to have a lot of practice as this is a very fine process.

I'm not sure how easy it would be to test since there is a non-conductive coating over everything... so the only way is to find exposed copper which you likely won't see unless you damaged the trace and see an end peeking out (at which point no need to test)

 

[photonboy]

You can Google for videos about "trace repair" too, but again it's a pretty easy thing to mess up without a lot of experience.

You can also take the chance that that trace isn't critical but chances are it is. Likely it wouldn't kill the card but chances are you'd either get a boot failure or corrupted data but no way to know without the schematic.

 

[bottomdood]

Hey guys thanks for all your help, i really couldn't afford to lose my new 1080ti as i have saved and worked my ass of for it, so i decided to reassemble it and plug it into my rig to give it a try, and my computer successfully booted! if my computer can boot up successfully, should i just leave it that way and keep on using my gpu, as i think this means the traces are not scratched off and i just scratched off the protective layer of it? or maybe as photonboy has said it is not a critical one, so is it dangerous if i keep on using the gpu as how it is right now? or should i just get it repaired as i know a friend of mine who can fix circuit boards. Thanks for the advice! (anyways ill try and run some stress tests on my gpu and see if it is actually fine) thanks a lot for your help

 

[ElectrO_90]

Get it tested as I said, who knows what that controls.... you risk damaging it permanently otherwise.

 

[bottomdood]

Get it tested as I said, who knows what that controls.... you risk damaging it permanently otherwise.

do you mean by testing it with the multi-meter or just stress testing it?

 

[bottomdood]

also i would like to know is it safe to use it if after testing only the protective layer is scratched off but the conductive layer is still intact?

 

[ElectrO_90]

Tested by someone who knows electronics.
The layer is nothing to worry about, once a new bridge is made, won't be a problem because you don't touch it anyway. It sits in computer being happy.

 

[photonboy]

also i would like to know is it safe to use it if after testing only the protective layer is scratched off but the conductive layer is still intact?

If the conductive layer is there then there's no issues. The main reason for the non-conductive coating is to prevent shorting BETWEEN TRACES when being used which could damage the card. For example, maybe you had a dropped SCREW sitting over two traces then current flows between them.

You can't test conductivity if there's no exposed copper. A multi-meter using the appropriate setting would show if there is an open circuit (broken) or conductive wire, but again you have to have BOTH ends of the meter touching copper on either side of the scratch. So... ?

Since it's apparently WORKING enough to boot that's a good sign. Even if the trace is broken it may be non-critical.

*So just run FURMARK and/or Unigine Valley/Heaven to stress the card. If that works you should be fine.

 

[photonboy]

I don't think you would damage the card. Even if the trace was broken, the fact that there's no obvious issue yet suggest to me the following scenarios:

1) trace is not even used in correct setup (for example may have to do with a different video output), or

2) trace is connected to POWER management... in which case maybe there's a power delivery issue under heavier load but based on the power supplies I designed I think this would at worst cause an UNSTABLE power delivery and not actually overload any components and fry them.

Parts tend to fry because of SHORTS (not breaks) thus current going where you don't want it to. They don't tend to fail due to insufficient power, but rather may not be able to properly do their job.

*So in short you can of course take it to someone to test though they'd likely need to scratch the surface to expose the copper which may actually damage it if it wasn't before, and fixing it may cost well over $100.

I'm not saying the chance of failure if you stress test it now is zero. I am saying I think it's low though so take that as you will.

 

[bottomdood]

I don't think you would damage the card. Even if the trace was broken, the fact that there's no obvious issue yet suggest to me the following scenarios:

1) trace is not even used in correct setup (for example may have to do with a different video output), or

2) trace is connected to POWER management... in which case maybe there's a power delivery issue under heavier load but based on the power supplies I designed I think this would at worst cause an UNSTABLE power delivery and not actually overload any components and fry them.

Parts tend to fry because of SHORTS (not breaks) thus current going where you don't want it to. They don't tend to fail due to insufficient power, but rather may not be able to properly do their job.

*So in short you can of course take it to someone to test though they'd likely need to scratch the surface to expose the copper which may actually damage it if it wasn't before, and fixing it may cost well over $100.

I'm not saying the chance of failure if you stress test it now is zero. I am saying I think it's low though so take that as you will.

Thanks a lot for your advice, i sprayed away the debris surrounding the scratch with compressed air and then got a magnifying glass and tested it with a multimeter, i tested the resistance between 2 points (i hope i did the right thing) and it shows that the resistance is infinite so i guess i means the trace is indeed broken and from i observations it is indeed scratched off. So im now thinking should i:
a) just get it repaired as i know a someone who can do it for me for a cheaper price
b) just keep on using the gpu but i might just undervolt it as you have said the trace may be about power management so i guess that would help a bit?
welp i guess i can throw away the thought of overclocking my gpu then
thanks a lot for your input!!

 

[bottomdood]

I don't think you would damage the card. Even if the trace was broken, the fact that there's no obvious issue yet suggest to me the following scenarios:

1) trace is not even used in correct setup (for example may have to do with a different video output), or

2) trace is connected to POWER management... in which case maybe there's a power delivery issue under heavier load but based on the power supplies I designed I think this would at worst cause an UNSTABLE power delivery and not actually overload any components and fry them.

Parts tend to fry because of SHORTS (not breaks) thus current going where you don't want it to. They don't tend to fail due to insufficient power, but rather may not be able to properly do their job.

*So in short you can of course take it to someone to test though they'd likely need to scratch the surface to expose the copper which may actually damage it if it wasn't before, and fixing it may cost well over $100.

I'm not saying the chance of failure if you stress test it now is zero. I am saying I think it's low though so take that as you will.

maybe i will just run some stress tests first and see if the card runs stable

 

[photonboy]

I don't think you would damage the card. Even if the trace was broken, the fact that there's no obvious issue yet suggest to me the following scenarios:

1) trace is not even used in correct setup (for example may have to do with a different video output), or

2) trace is connected to POWER management... in which case maybe there's a power delivery issue under heavier load but based on the power supplies I designed I think this would at worst cause an UNSTABLE power delivery and not actually overload any components and fry them.

Parts tend to fry because of SHORTS (not breaks) thus current going where you don't want it to. They don't tend to fail due to insufficient power, but rather may not be able to properly do their job.

*So in short you can of course take it to someone to test though they'd likely need to scratch the surface to expose the copper which may actually damage it if it wasn't before, and fixing it may cost well over $100.

I'm not saying the chance of failure if you stress test it now is zero. I am saying I think it's low though so take that as you will.

Thanks a lot for your advice, i sprayed away the debris surrounding the scratch with compressed air and then got a magnifying glass and tested it with a multimeter, i tested the resistance between 2 points (i hope i did the right thing) and it shows that the resistance is infinite so i guess i means the trace is indeed broken and from i observations it is indeed scratched off. So im now thinking should i:
a) just get it repaired as i know a someone who can do it for me for a cheaper price
b) just keep on using the gpu but i might just undervolt it as you have said the trace may be about power management so i guess that would help a bit?
welp i guess i can throw away the thought of overclocking my gpu then
thanks a lot for your input!!

The trace might have NOTHING to do with power. If you give me the exact model name I can attempt to figure out what that might be... not sure if you can request a schematic.

 

[bottomdood]

i finally had time to stress test my build and after running valley benchmark for some time my gpu held up with highest settings and at 2k, as i am also watercooling it the temps stayed at around 60 degrees nomatter how hard i push it, and there were no problems during the stress tests for no matter how long i run it. But there was a problem, which is the screen will flicker during startup and also flicker when i start some applications, also the screen once went black and flickered for some time when i was just using my pc (though it just happened once) i dont know if this is a problem with my gpu or a problem with other stuff.
Attached are more photos of the scratched back of the gpu: https://imgur.com/a/WHBDwXb
it is a 1080ti founders edition, thanks a lot for all your help!

 

[photonboy]

If you can try a different output (i.e. HDMI if using DP) it may be interesting to see if the flicker happens.

2K means about 2000 so it is often mean to mean 1920x1080... is that the resolution you meant? (not that it matters I guess)

I don't get any flickering from my GTX1080, though it's pretty hard to troubleshoot much at this point (beyond different video outputs).

*actually, if you use DP but have another DP output try that one too.

 

[bottomdood]

If you can try a different output (i.e. HDMI if using DP) it may be interesting to see if the flicker happens.

2K means about 2000 so it is often mean to mean 1920x1080... is that the resolution you meant? (not that it matters I guess)

I don't get any flickering from my GTX1080, though it's pretty hard to troubleshoot much at this point (beyond different video outputs).

*actually, if you use DP but have another DP output try that one too.

sorry I actually meant 1440p and 2.5k lol, my display card is a 1080ti, and the flickering only happens when the system boots to the bios, and when it boots from the bios to the os, I think it may be related to the interface that I am using, which is dp, I'm just worried that it may be related to the scratch on my gpu, as when I tried booting once again today the screen was black and I had to restart my pc again for it to show anything on screen. I'm not really sure what the problem is so I will try using different outputs. The strange thing is that during stress testing my gpu runs buttery smooth so I am not sure if this is related to my gpu or not, thanks a lot!

 

[ElectrO_90]

Get it fixed like I recommended. Piece of piss to fix that board.