How to repair R300 Core (radeon 9500/9700)

[spittledip]

Hi,

I was hoping someone here had some experience repairing things such as this. The GPU is in good working order it seems. However, without this cap functionality is limited (obviously). So, I have sent in a ticket to ATI hoping they could provide me with info about what the part is exactly so I can purchase it.. however I am not too sure they will assist me in this matter. Also, as it is so small and an SMD, I am not sure how I would get it in there guessing that normal soldering won't work.. not sure though, I am willing to try anything. I have included a link to a pic that shows the exact cap that is missing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

In case you are wondering, I think I might have knocked it off while i was scraping off the crappy thermal compound off the GPU in order to put in a new hsf as it seemed to be experiencing some heat-related artifacting.

thanks

 

[IlllI]

is it really possible to replace those things?

 

[spittledip]

I think it might be.. no hurt in trying

 

[xtknight]

Well if it's still under warranty, you could void that by attempting a fix. But, no, sorry, if I knew the answer to your question I would certainly let you know.

 

[spittledip]

The warranty is voided as soon as you take off the hsf.. plus it is second-hand

 

[Killrose]

tough to replace. If you get one, first glue it in position, then try and solder it. You could possibly use some conductive paint to make the connection, it might not be a resistance value sensitive circuit, and if it is not possible to get one of tiny guys, I would try it.

 

[Gamingphreek]

I am way out of my league here, but I highly doubt you can buy those.

There are a few things I can think of that you can try, but I would seriously consult the HT forum or someone who really knows what they are talking about before you try mine.
You would have to solder it back on. Being a micro-chip with interconnects all over the PCB, I doubt you would be able to.
It appears to connect 2 Bridges on the processor. You MAY be able to do the same thing with a conductive pen or a standard pencil.

I'll look at the Processor layout because it honestly seems like it could be a Bridge of some sort, but I can't guarantee anything.

-Kevin

 

[spittledip]

Thanks for the help. I know that it is causing the disabling of AGP texture acceleration (dxdiag), if that is any help. I will post this in the HT forum as you suggest.

edit: I just read in the HT forum that one cannot post troubleshooting threads there I put a thread in the tech support forum

edit 2: i found some caps here but I have no clue which it is

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: spittledip
Thanks for the help. I know that it is causing the disabling of AGP texture acceleration (dxdiag), if that is any help. I will post this in the HT forum as you suggest.

edit: I just read in the HT forum that one cannot post troubleshooting threads there I put a thread in the tech support forum

This isn't a tech support thread. You have a genuine question about soldering a conductive bridge to a micro-chip.

Post it there trust me, it will be fine.

Also a bridge on the chip itself should not affect AGP Texture Acceleration. THat is a driver issue there. Those bridges determine voltages, Texture Pipes etc...

-Kevin

 

[spittledip]

OK, I posted in highly technical... So are you completely sure that wouldn't affect AGP texture acceleration? That was the only clue I had that something was wrong.

 

[Killrose]

take an ohm meter reading across the two points to see if any reading exsists, then take a #2 pencil and draw it back and forth several times along side the two points and take a measurement. Using a pencil with a few strokes will usually yield some sort of connection with a level of resistance, whereas using conductive paint will have no resistance.

The only way I would guess that would affect AGP fuctionality would be if the curcuit that resitor is on has direct control of the 3d portion of the core somehow. Guessing at best.

 

[spittledip]

unfort I don't have a multimeter.. well I have one, but without the probes. From what everyone is saying, though, I am guessing the problem has nothing to do with the missing cap.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: spittledip
unfort I don't have a multimeter.. well I have one, but without the probes. From what everyone is saying, though, I am guessing the problem has nothing to do with the missing cap.

Yeah, that cap isn't going to determine AGP Acceleration. If anything it is some voltage regulation cap.

If you have nothing better to do, try tracing the two bridges with a pencil or a conductive ink pen and see if anything different happens.

-Kevin

 

[spittledip]

I tried that and nothing happened. All of the voltage reg caps look ok. I will give it a closer look.