My 6950 is TOAST! :( (Updated with XFX response)

[thilanliyan]

I actually killed a card for the first time...was trying to install my own VRM heatsink to go with the watercooling and accidentally chipped one of the VRMs...DAMN!! If didn't believe in karma I'd be trying to return it to the store...damn my morals lol

Oh well, ($300) lesson learned.

EDIT:
How it happened:
I have the VRM heatsink from a 4870 and I was going to use that to cool it. I installed it using a couple of zipties but realized that it was not making proper contact. So I was trying to remove the zip ties and accidentally put too much pressure onto the side with the 2 smaller VRMs and chipped a corner of one of them. The comp boots fine, and the fan spins up but I get no video.

Whatever you do, be ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that any heatsinks you put around the VRM area are only touching the components you meant to. There are a lot of tiny components around that area that can probably short out. Also, when cooling the VRM area, try to use individual (or paired) heatsinks as the 2 small VRMs are at a slightly different height I believe to the other 6. If you do have one long heatsink like I do then use the thermal "pad" that covers all the VRMs from the stock heatsink under YOUR heatsink, which is what I did and works very well.

EDIT2:
Apparently the component I chipped is a Volterra VT243WF memory VRM.

EDIT3:
Here's the heatsink installed on the 2nd card (tall red-coloured heatsink):

That white stuff in the tubes are just air bubbles.

EDIT4:
Called XFX and they said they couldn't do anything if there is physical damage...not even repair it for a fee.

 

[Zstream]

Sucks

 

[notty22]

We feel your pain. Feel like taking a pic, so we can understand how it happened ?

 

[badb0y]

DAMN! I am about to embark on a similar journey and this is not reassuring lol. How did you chip it off? Did the sink have thermal adhesive? Did you miss and hit the VRM with the metal part of the sink? Details! I must learn from your mistake!

 

[BD231]

Return that sucker bro it's a one in a million chance people are doing something stupid enough to ruin their expensive hardware anyway.

Sounds nothing like my attempt to make ram sinks out of all copper pennies and thermal tape for my 9700Pro .... boy was that a mess

 

[Quiksilver]

Return that sucker bro it's a one in a million chance people are doing something stupid enough to ruin their expensive hardware anyway.

Sounds nothing like my attempt to make ram sinks out of all copper pennies and thermal tape for my 9700Pro .... boy was that a mess

Return fraud is not cool.

Good on Thilan for keeping the card for his own mess up.

 

[sandorski]

Ouch

 

[VirtualLarry]

Is there a chance it might still run, chipped or not? Or have you tested it?

 

[yottabit]

Why not just replace the VRM? I'm not aware of exactly how small they are but they shouldn't be too hard to replace. You can find the coding off it and post it on some electronics forum and people will tell you where to buy it.

I did this with my x850 xt PE graphics card back in the day ($450 graphics card). Somehow I had fried the Q20 transistor so everytime I turned it on it would say "Please connect auxilliary power" The transistor was a TINY surface mount. Professor at school soldered on my new $0.37 transistor and I was good to go. Of course it's probably harder to find a VRM... you could always buy a broken video card like yours off ebay and harvest one from there.

People all too often assume something is completely ruined when all it needs is a small repair

 

[Castiel]

Give me your receipt and card and i'll return it for you.

 

[dac7nco]

Why not just replace the VRM? I'm not aware of exactly how small they are but they shouldn't be too hard to replace. You can find the coding off it and post it on some electronics forum and people will tell you where to buy it.

I did this with my x850 xt PE graphics card back in the day ($450 graphics card). Somehow I had fried the Q20 transistor so everytime I turned it on it would say "Please connect auxilliary power" The transistor was a TINY surface mount. Professor at school soldered on my new $0.37 transistor and I was good to go. Of course it's probably harder to find a VRM... you could always buy a broken video card like yours off ebay and harvest one from there.

People all too often assume something is completely ruined when all it needs is a small repair

What yottabit said.

 

[Daedalus685]

What yottabit said.

Aye, I have an old 4870 on my desk and all of the VRMs are simply soldered onto a surface pad. Couldn't be easier to replace (OK, there are some components that "could" be easier to replace.. but its not like it is connected 3 layers into the board). You know which part it is, and it is likely someone like digikey will have the VRM in stock.

The thing is, you can't possibly void the warranty any more than you already have . so its likely worth the trouble (plus it would be fun) to try and fix it yourself.

 

[3DVagabond]

A good repair shop should be able to fix it for you. Probably for whatever their minimum bench fee/labor plus cost of the part. Maybe they'd install the water block as well.

 

[thilanliyan]

Yeah I may try to repair it...I figured finding that part would be really difficult though.

Is there a chance it might still run, chipped or not? Or have you tested it?

I get no video signal but the comp boots and the fan spins up.

 

[Idontcare]

Return that sucker bro it's a one in a million chance people are doing something stupid enough to ruin their expensive hardware anyway.

Sounds nothing like my attempt to make ram sinks out of all copper pennies and thermal tape for my 9700Pro .... boy was that a mess

Give me your receipt and card and i'll return it for you.

Warranty fraud is not acceptable. No more of this kind of talk please.

Moderator Idontcare

 

[Idontcare]

Yeah I may try to repair it...I figured finding that part would be really difficult though.



I get no video signal but the comp boots and the fan spins up.

Another idea thilan is to contact the vendor and see if they do out-of-warranty repair work for a fee.

I had a DELL laptop that was in-warranty but my kids did a number on the LCD screen, so I called their warranty dept and told them it was broke through abuse (so obviously not under warranty) but that I still wanted it repaired. They set me up to get it fixed at an agreed-upon fee.

The cool thing about it was that they warranteed the work and the laptop once they were done, so there was no concerns over the quality of the repairs from my perspective.

(and good thing too because they actually installed the wrong screen the first time around, I called them back when I got the laptop and they realized the error right away and fedex'ed me a replacement while they fixed the laptop again)

The worst it will cost you is an email or a phone call to find out if they offer such a service.

 

[thilanliyan]

^Yeah I was thinking of that as well. I will probably give XFX a call tomorrow.

I just picked up another 6950. I'm wondering whether I should wait to install it...I'm just staring at the box now lol.

 

[tweakboy]

Im in tears, What a story. sorry man, dont worry ull get better one now. or maybe go nvidia way , it was all meant to be........

 

[thilanliyan]

So i installed the VRM heatsink on the 2nd card and all is well...just had to be super careful. I've decided not to unlock the shaders...after looking at benchmarks, I can probably get similar results through OCing so I'll just do that instead, and my warranty is intact that way as well.

And in case anybody thinks I returned the defective card, here's a pic with the 2 boxes...I really did buy a 2nd one:

 

[OCGuy]

So i installed the VRM heatsink on the 2nd card and all is well...just had to be super careful. And in case anybody thinks I returned the defective card, here's a pic with the 2 boxes...I really did buy a 2nd one:

Thank you for not participating in fraud, which raises prices for all of us.

 

[dust]

How much would you sell the broken one for?

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

So i installed the VRM heatsink on the 2nd card and all is well...just had to be super careful. I've decided not to unlock the shaders...after looking at benchmarks, I can probably get similar results through OCing so I'll just do that instead, and my warranty is intact that way as well.

And in case anybody thinks I returned the defective card, here's a pic with the 2 boxes...I really did buy a 2nd one:

Tell us some of your real world FPS results when you get set up - I'm looking to get a new card soon as GTX 560 hits and shakes up prices or not.

 

[Xpage]

Can we see some pics of the card with the VRM heatsinks and such

 

[Jules]

id just call them and tell them about what happen and see if they could hook you up or not. Its worth a shot.

 

[techie81]

Can we see some pics of the card with the VRM heatsinks and such

This please, I would like to see also.