(YT video) Worst case scenario when replacing thermal pads documented

[dainluke]

Really interesting video to watch tbh. I hope not to scare anyone, but it's definitely worth watching. Memory chip soldier joints seem to be a really finicky thing on PCBs. In this case it was even more than just that.

 

[Confucius]

Really interesting video to watch tbh. I hope not to scare anyone, but it's definitely worth watching. Memory chip soldier joints seem to be a really finicky thing on PCBs. In this case it was even more than just that.

Wow. That’s some really impressive skills and tools that this guy has.

I wonder if there’s anyone in SA that can do such a detailed analysis and a temp a repair

 

[dainluke]

Wow. That’s some really impressive skills and tools that this guy has.

I wonder if there’s anyone in SA that can do such a detailed analysis and a temp a repair

So many engineers floating around that surely someone could. It would be an absolute dream. I think there were a few tech repairsmen but they seem to have stopped (I think).

 

[Confucius]

engineers floating around

I’m here floating too 😂 but that’s beyond the skills of most engineers. Most engineers don’t even work on PCBs anymore. Replacing memory chips are 1 thing but to that Processor removal and then reinsertion was seriously impressive for me.

I see some requests and recommendations for hardware repair services but nothing that has screamed awesome service. At the end of the day, it would take some serious time and effort to go down to component level like that and it’s not often feasible. I have a dead 3060 after surge damage where some serious smoke was released and with the current gpu prices, it may no longer be feasible to try a repair.

 

[Voldoverse1]

i wish i could get someone to redo the BGA on my Radeon VII, purely from a collectable standpoint even its feasible for me.

Radeon VII is know for the balling under the BGA to go funky after some temperature cycles

 

[∀Z‾soʇɐuɐɥ┴]

This just reminds me of the time I installed a waterblock on a 1070ti and put the thermal pads on the chokes rather than the vrm's causing it to die a spectacular death while playing warcraft 3.

 

[Switch]

So many engineers floating around that surely someone could. It would be an absolute dream. I think there were a few tech repairsmen but they seem to have stopped (I think).

It's not worth it for the repairers, at that sort of skill/knowledge level and equipment required you would be charging in the thousands at the least per job, but people want to only pay a few hundred at the most (especially if the card being repaired is like a gt 710). This is basically similar to high end mechanical watch horologists doing watch repairs and servicing.

 

[dainluke]

It's not worth it for the repairers, at that sort of skill/knowledge level and equipment required you would be charging in the thousands at the least per job, but people want to only pay a few hundred at the most (especially if the card being repaired is like a gt 710). This is basically similar to high end mechanical watch horologists doing watch repairs and servicing.

I mean that does for sure make sense, but damn, even if I had to pay R1000-2000 to fix a literally dead card (like if my 1080 Ti died for instance), it would have to be done.

 

[Switch]

I mean that does for sure make sense, but damn, even if I had to pay R1000-2000 to fix a literally dead card (like if my 1080 Ti for instance), it would have to be done.

At that sort of skill/training level, I would peg the starting cost at least at R4k and that's only labour, before applying parts and equipment overheads. Which can be justified for a 3090ti-black-titan-edition-card-of-the-year-limited-only card, but anything less than a 3070 people will complain about the costs. The actual job on hand and knowledge involved is the same whether its repairing a 3090 or a 3050.

So yea I get that it's worth repairing the high end cards for the owners, but in the overall picture it isn't worth it for the repairers.

 

[dainluke]

At that sort of skill/training level, I would peg the starting cost at least at R4k and that's only labour, before applying parts and equipment overheads. Which can be justified for a 3090ti-black-titan-edition-card-of-the-year-limited-only card, but anything less than a 3070 people will complain about the costs. The actual job on hand and knowledge involved is the same whether its repairing a 3090 or a 3050.

So yea I get that it's worth repairing the high end cards for the owners, but in the overall picture it isn't worth it for the repairers.

I'm curious as to what KrisFix and Tech Cemetry charge.

 

[ThatGuyJD]

Also those machines cost a pretty penny and then you're hoping it's not damaged silicon, which means a reball doesn't work and you'd need a new die and then it's not worth the repair at all.

 

[Confucius]

On high end stuff, it may make sense to try to attempt but the easier way for manufacturers is to just find a loop hole or someone else to blame, as in this video. In general, it’s easier to say beyond economic repair and be done with it.