Is my HD 6870 dead?

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neon4

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Nov 23, 2013
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Hello, please help, I have a problem with my second graphics card, it's Sapphire HD 6870 1GB.
I have it (well used to have) in crossfire mode with GIGABYTE HD 6870 1GB, both were running at 915 Mhz core speed and 1050 Mhz memory (that means I had to overclock the Sapphire one from 900 to 915 to make it the same as the Gigabyte one, but I guess 15Mhz is not a big deal anyway)
Everything seemed to be fine, max temps on Sapphire were about 90-95 and 75-80 on Gigabyte (better cooling). I know the Sapphire temps are still a bit high, but I blame the stock cooler for that and I've had these temps since I got the card, which is like 3 years ago or something.
So I was going to play Stalker The Lost Alpha yesterday and when I hit ,,new game'' the PC froze up and the fan on the Sapphire card was at max, which generated a lot of noise.
Now the system doesn't recognize crossfire anymore and when I want to use the card in single mode it says ,,no signal'' on screen.
To sum it up:
- fan always at max
- card is not recognized in system (= no software can even read its temps etc)
- doesn't work in single mode
- tried various PCI-E slots, no display in any of them
- when I touch the card after I shut down the system it's suspiciously hot

Does it mean I can say bye bye to my second card or is there any chance of saving it? (It's long after RMA anyway)

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any response!
 
Solution
alyoshka
Sounds like a fried card..... running the card at 90-95 degrees was not a very good idea. Instead you ought to have downclocked the Gigabyte one by 15MHz, which would have made the 'better cooler' work even better. The life span was reduced tremendously by the heated run of the card.... 3 years is a long time anyways....
After the OC you should have kept the temps in check and if required you could have bought a better after market cooler for the card.... and added atleast 2 more years to it.... sadly.... that is not the case but this is for future reference.
What you can do with the card is, since it's out of warranty and no RMA either, you can dismantle the whole thing , clean it with IP , change the thermal paste, give the fans a...
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xCarrotz

xCarrotz

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Nov 12, 2013
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from what you've said then yes it is unfortunately goodbye to the graphics card but you can always get a better one now that It has gone.
it does sound like the chip has been fried which would explain the card being hot to touch.
 
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alyoshka

alyoshka

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Oct 2, 2009
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Sounds like a fried card..... running the card at 90-95 degrees was not a very good idea. Instead you ought to have downclocked the Gigabyte one by 15MHz, which would have made the 'better cooler' work even better. The life span was reduced tremendously by the heated run of the card.... 3 years is a long time anyways....
After the OC you should have kept the temps in check and if required you could have bought a better after market cooler for the card.... and added atleast 2 more years to it.... sadly.... that is not the case but this is for future reference.
What you can do with the card is, since it's out of warranty and no RMA either, you can dismantle the whole thing , clean it with IP , change the thermal paste, give the fans a good clean and the heat sink assembly too, and, while you're doing all that you can inspect the card for any loose contacts or burnout marks....
Pics posted here are always welcome.
 
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jaslion

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Dec 17, 2012
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I think its dead. There is a trick called the oven trick to make dead gpu's function again but that is only to resolder the soldering points. If the chip is dead then well its dead. Also 95°c is HIGH on a 6870. I thought that those cards where only allowed to run at 85°c before they shut themselfs down (correct me if i'm wrong).
 
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neon4

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Nov 23, 2013
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Thanks for the fast replies!
The max temps on the card has always been around 85, 90 if not clean, even when the card was brand new. By max temps I mean the temps after constant stress for a few hours, not idle temps. But you might have a point with the overcloking I have done.
For reference I enclose pics of the card, sorry for the bad quality.
20140609_114559_zps685f3963.jpg

20140609_114653_zps4e77a837.jpg

20140609_114642_zps2421596d.jpg

20140609_114616_zpse22c357a.jpg
 
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neon4

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Nov 23, 2013
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Ok, is it fried? Is there a special way of telling whether it's fried or not, because I couldn't find anything that looked burned.
What I found though is that one of those small pieces that are silver on sides and black in the middle (don't know how they're called) was broken on one side. It's on the bottom of the backside of the last picture from your last response. It's really tiny and could be moved back with a little force using a screwdriver. No idea how that happened.
 
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alyoshka

alyoshka

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Oct 2, 2009
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You can try to put that little black transistor back in it's place and try the oven trick but I wouldn't advise that for you, best would be just take the card to a friend who can solder stuff and ask him to just join that loose black part. (EXTREMELY CAREFULLY)
 
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neon4

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Nov 23, 2013
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I know about the oven trick, though I have never tried it before, never needed to. But I'll definately give it a go this time, have nothing to lose.
One last question, the joints contain lead right? Would the oven trick release some lead fumes into the oven, can the oven be used after that for normal baking without any health issues?
 
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