Faulty GPU - Repair or buy new ?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
N

newbs

Honorable
Dec 17, 2013
50
0
10,640
Greetings
Last thread got removed, decided to make new one. My gpu has recently started making problems. mainly aritfacts ( 2 big green vertical lines ) and black screens. Curently i can only boot into windows with no drivers installed, when i try to install drivers i get black screens after the windows logo which prevents the pc from booting into windows.
Now i don't know what to do. I have researched around the net and found that artefacts are most commonly caused by cracked solder that forms a connection between the chip and the board. If that's the case with my gpu and since i dont have warranty anymore, i am presented with the following options :
1) Reflow , the cheapest method -
2) Reball , a more expensive method -
3) Buy a new gpu, the most expenisive method -
How exactly do i know if the solder is the culprit and not the chip itself? I can't afford to waste money on something that might or might not work. On the other hand wasting money on a new gpu would be stupid , if this card can be repaired.I was planing to keep this card till the end of 2016 or early 2017. That's why i have opened this thread. I need advice. What would you guys do in my shoes? Reflow/Reball and hope for the best or buy a new gpu? Let's say i got with the Reflow/Reball method and it's successful, should the gpu break again can i Reflow/Reball again and again..... or will be trully broken after the first time?
Sorry for asking so many questions :)
Thanks
Here are my specs : WINDOWS 7 ultimate sp1 x64
MSI HD 7870 twin frozr
AMD FX 8350 stock clock
ASUS M5A97
KINGOSTON HYPER X 8gb , 2 x4gb 1600mhz
SEASONIC M12 II EVO BRONZE 620W


 
Solution
jossrik
Email MSI Customer Service. When I've had to use MSI CS for repair they've always been the best way to get stuff done. (Had a server board go bad on me a *very* long time ago) They will be able to give you a better idea than I could of what can be done and can't. As to the black screens and needing to run without a driver, yes, bad VRAM can cause that. Went through two Gigabyte 290Xs that had to be warranty repaired (one of them twice) for bad VRAM, I had the same symptoms. The odd thing is I have a 6850 Gigabyte that is rock solid and has been since day one years ago. The 290Xs I had were from when they first got released though and I suspect they had manufacturing defects. Got about a year out of them before I listed them with...
Sort by date Sort by votes
jossrik

jossrik

Distinguished
Sep 26, 2002
1,549
1
20,915
Artifacts are most often caused by faulty VRAM. Cracked leads *could* be the problem, but you really have no way to check. If the video card is no longer under warranty, check with the manufacturer and ask what they would charge for the repair. Often times they can fix or replace a card that's faulty. If it is under warranty, send it back and get them to fix it, it will cost you shipping. Reball/reflow. Reball, you can do multiple times, they replace the solder in a reball, or rather, they're supposed to. Reflow, they just heat the card up to temp and let the solder soften back into form, each time you do it the solder gets more and more brittle depending on what quality solder was used. Usually with video cards, they're meant to run hot, and so they use a decent quality solder, that's partly why I was saying that it's probably the VRAM. It's like thermal paste, they usually use something that while it may not be *THE* best, it is pretty decent and in most cases there's no need to replace it/ it's usually not the problem.

I'd say hit up a black friday sale and see what you can get.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
N

newbs

Honorable
Dec 17, 2013
50
0
10,640
No warranty anymore. I did some, moar, reading and it turns out faulty VRAM is more commonly the cause of artifacts, at least more commonly than cracked solder. What about the black screens i get and the fact that i cant install any drivers?
The only problem with your suggestion, about sending it to MSI, is there is no MSI in my country ( Bosnia ) so i am left with local repair shops. What do you think, how much does it usually cost for such a repair if i send it to MSI, wherever the next MSI HQ is. I could add to your estimate shiping costs to wherever and i would have some rough numbers on my hands. Then i could probably decide if its worth repairing or getting a new one.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
jossrik

jossrik

Distinguished
Sep 26, 2002
1,549
1
20,915
Email MSI Customer Service. When I've had to use MSI CS for repair they've always been the best way to get stuff done. (Had a server board go bad on me a *very* long time ago) They will be able to give you a better idea than I could of what can be done and can't. As to the black screens and needing to run without a driver, yes, bad VRAM can cause that. Went through two Gigabyte 290Xs that had to be warranty repaired (one of them twice) for bad VRAM, I had the same symptoms. The odd thing is I have a 6850 Gigabyte that is rock solid and has been since day one years ago. The 290Xs I had were from when they first got released though and I suspect they had manufacturing defects. Got about a year out of them before I listed them with eBay and got a 970.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
N

newbs

Honorable
Dec 17, 2013
50
0
10,640
Thanks for the help jossrik. I have emailed the CS of MSI. I can only wait now and hope for the best. In the meantime i can look for a new gpu, just in case the gpu can't be repaired or its too expensive. I was looking to get either a gtx 960 or a r9 380. I have seen many benchmarks, and the r9 380 is a bit better, thats why i am leaning towards it.
Here are the two particular models i was looking at :
http://www.msi.com/product/vga/GTX-960-GAMING-100ME.html#hero-overview and this
http://www.sapphiretech.com/productdetial.asp?pid=F91F672E-3966-44C5-8A20-387F8AFA2F8B&lang=eng
Are these specific models good?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

newbs

Honorable
Dec 17, 2013
50
0
10,640
MSI mailed me back. They told me that since i don't have warranty anymore they can't help me because repairs are done in china. That makes the repair option almost imposible. No idea where else i could look for help with the repair.
Any advice for chosing a new card? I posted links to the gpu's in question in the post above.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
jossrik

jossrik

Distinguished
Sep 26, 2002
1,549
1
20,915
Those both look to be pretty good cards. Either way you probably won't see much of a difference between the two and your old one. Check out this for a better idea where you're coming in at.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

Also, you might want to look through the recommendations at the different price points, I think that's for the US, so the prices may not be all that accurate, but it will give you a better idea where in the pack you stand.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
N

newbs

Honorable
Dec 17, 2013
50
0
10,640
Yeah the difference between the r9 380 and gtx 960 is small, but the difference between these two and a hd 7870 is not small, something like 15%-17% in performance. It's enough for me since i game at 1366x768 xD. No reason to go super high in the gpu hierarchy chart. The only thing i don't know is if i should go for the 4gb or 2gb versions. At my resolution i doubt 4gb is necessary.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom