Loose heatpipes

[bigboxes]

I'm in the process of putting together a new build. I will be buying a new video card soon. I'm waiting to see what AMD will put out in the next 3-4 months. That being said, I took my old video card, a Gigabyte 4890OC, out of my current rig and was cleaning it off when I dropped it from my lap onto the carpeted floor. Everything looks fine except that the heatsink is wobbly. The mount is securely attached to the PCB, but the actual heatpipes are moving as if they had broken free from the base. Attempted to boot up in both machines and it will post and then lock up. This really sucks.

As much as I wanted to get that new video card I was not in a hurry to replace this one in my current rig. I had planned to replace the card when I migrated my current rig's components to an HTPC, but I still wanted to use this card as a backup. I had a dedicated backup PCI-E video card, but I never used it. When I went to check on it I found that all the caps had burst. The only other PCI-E card I have is a half-height HIS card. Sucks. Guess I'll go to Fry's and pick up a DVI cable and use the on-board in the new build.

TL;DR: Dropped video card, heatpipes break from soldering, heatsink is now wobbly. Can card be repaired? TIA

 

[bigboxes]

Here's some obligatory pics!

 

[Rvenger]

You can try to resolder the heatpipes back to the heatsink. Also, check to make sure you didn't damage the GPU die.

I would think some plumbing solder would do the trick in this case. Never tried it so I am not sure how the nickel plating would react to it.

 

[Smoblikat]

Id either re-solder it, or go on ebay and get a new heat sink for it. I think Zalman makes some for the 4890, but I havent owned one of those in years.

 

[bigboxes]

Any advice on soldering it? Do I just heat up the solder that's already there or do I use some new solder? What kind of solder? What kind of soldering tool is appropriate for this task? I have portable soldering iron, an industrial quality soldering gun from Weller and a butane torch.

 

[KingFatty]

How much money would you assign to your labor/effort to try to resolder? Myself, I'd consider it a fun DIY experiment to try to figure out for myself how to best solder it. You'll probably screw up the first pipe learning which techniques work, but maybe by the end you'll have it down. Perhaps read up on some soldering techniques that are standard for plumbers soldering copper pipes together. I'm guessing you'll use the torch.

Another quick fix to consider, is figuring out a way to squirt thermal compound into the space, if there is space for it. Then work the pipes back and forth to fully surround. Won't be as good as solder, but I bet the thermal compound is way way better than the existing air gap that it will boot and work (and maybe you just won't be able to overclock).

But all this effort will only be worth it if you gain value from that experience. Otherwise, your personal time spent on fixing it will cost you more than the price of an aftermarket heatsink you can just slap on there, which may work even better than the previous one before it broke.

 

[lavaheadache]

Have you check to see that the card still works?-- ahh, just reread OP. I would try baking the card too with heatsink detached


I would just toss the heatsink in the oven for a few minutes if you don't have any soldering ability.


Another solderless method would be something like Arctic Silver Adhesive



If by chance the base plate of the heatsink sandwiches the heat pipes with a screw like a clamp it could be tightened.

 

[bigboxes]

Update: I was able to make the half-height HIS card work. Turns out it was an HD4350 fanless half-height model. Uninstalled the old drivers, installed the new drivers, rebooted and all is golden. This will work until I get a new video card. I went out and got a 6 ft. dvi cable for $3. I'll use that with a HDMI adapter and use the new rigs on-board video until I get the card of my dreams. That 4890OC will be a project after I get the new build up and running. Thanks for all the advice. I'll update in the future when I come back to it.

 

[yh125d]

If you do every try resoldering, I'd take the fan off the heatsink and put the thing in the oven for awhile to get good and warm throughout. If you put some solder on the room temp sink then it would cool as soon as it hits it. If it's warm, it should penetrate farther in before setting