OH NO! my GTO! help please.

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T

Tinkerman

Member
Jun 15, 2005
37
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:disgust:
Well I was in the middle of removing the heatsink (to add a koosah waterblock) on my 7900 GTO and I think I broke a transistor, or something.
Am I screwed? Will it still work? Will the egg RMA it?
Please tell me someone out there has done something similar so I don't feel so bad.
Heres some pics: (I don't know how to make them show up so you'll have to cut and paste)
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j237/qaarg/100_3943.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j237/qaarg/100_3944nooo.jpg
aww man I am so bummed right now...
 
4

40sTheme

Golden Member
Sep 24, 2006
1,607
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Hmm that's probably a resistor, and you can try to see if it will work, but I'm not sure. Might as well give it a go and Newegg will not RMA; they only RMA DOA/just stopped working, not physical damage AFAIK.
 
J

JAG87

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2006
3,921
3
76
thats a resistor.

the card might very well work without it. but if it doesn't its easy to fix. try to read the value of the resistor on top of it, then head down to an electronic parts store and buy a resistor of the same value together with a very fine pointed soldering tool (if you dont already have one).

you wont be able to find an SMD resistor, nor will you be able to solder one, so you will have to live with an ugly regular resistor on your card.
 
T

Tinkerman

Member
Jun 15, 2005
37
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Thanks Jag, I checked, no number, in fact there is no number on any of the 16 pairs lined up at the bottom there...do you think I just killed one of my pixel pipelines?
 
4

40sTheme

Golden Member
Sep 24, 2006
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Originally posted by: JAG87
thats a resistor.

the card might very well work without it. but if it doesn't its easy to fix. try to read the value of the resistor on top of it, then head down to an electronic parts store and buy a resistor of the same value together with a very fine pointed soldering tool (if you dont already have one).

you wont be able to find an SMD resistor, nor will you be able to solder one, so you will have to live with an ugly regular resistor on your card.
Click to expand...

Haha, if you do get one be prepared for the ugly brownness of normal resistors!
NO you did not kill a pipeline! Resistors manage current electricity, not your actual instructions on the GPU.
 
T

Tinkerman

Member
Jun 15, 2005
37
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Originally posted by: 40sTheme
Haha, if you do get one be prepared for the ugly brownness of normal resistors!
NO you did not kill a pipeline! Resistors manage current electricity, not your actual instructions on the GPU.
Click to expand...
I don't care what it looks like as long as it works like it is supposed to.

 
T

Tinkerman

Member
Jun 15, 2005
37
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So it is impossible to solder back on then? (the little one?)
What would happen if I just briged the connection?
 
T

Twinpeaksr

Senior member
Aug 9, 2000
386
0
76
That is a capacitor, ceramic in a 0805 or 0603 package. Looks like it is a feedthrough probably for filtering. You may be able to solder it back on, but there is no guarantee that it will work, ceramic caps are not known to be robust. They tend to crack and have issues. The problems with caps is that they are usually not labeled, making it difficult to determine the value.

You may be SOL, but if you know someone that does Surface mount work, they may be able to place a new one in. probably in the 0.1uF to 0.001uF range.

You could also plug it in and see if it works, if it is not a feedtrough, you may be able to run with out it.
 
P

Paperdoc

Platinum Member
Aug 17, 2006
2,461
356
126
Do NOT just bridge it! You cannot predict what the impact will be on a circuit with no design knowledge.

Take a real close look at the little resistor. You should be able to see some clean metal contact points at each end, maybe where it was soldered on originally. Use a plain ohmmeter to measure its resistance. Of course, this assumes (not always a good idea) that the resistor itself is still good and its value is unchanged. Get a small resistor of that value from the parts shop and solder it into place. By "of that value", I mean something within 10% or better of the measured value. Resistors are stocked in fixed values, and most have a tolerance of ± 10% for common uses.

OOOPS! Just saw the post from Twinpeaksr saying it is a capacitor, not resistor. If that's the case, your resistance measurement will tell you it has infinitely high resistance. Then as he / she says, you are guessing about replacement value, but try the advice on what value to try out.

LOOONG shot: any chance the unit itself is OK and just pulled off? Could you actually re-solder that original unit back into place?
 
T

Tinkerman

Member
Jun 15, 2005
37
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I'm sitting here with a mangifying glass checking it out, the ceramic is still ok, and there is a glob of solder on one side so I can tell which way it goes, I manuvered it back into place and it fits like a puzzle, so I'm gonna grab my soldering iron with a needle tip, and see if I can get it back on there in a bit when I've stopped shaking so much.
Lesson here: Never drink a rockstar energy drink and work on your rig.
 
T

Tinkerman

Member
Jun 15, 2005
37
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Alrighty I have said my prayers, and fired up the iron. i'm gonna give the tiny ah heck a go. wish me luck. I'll see if I can get some pics afterwords...
 
N

Navid

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2004
5,053
0
0
That is definitely a capacitor.
The black one at the top right corner of your first picture is a resistor.
 
SparkyJJO

SparkyJJO

Lifer
May 16, 2002
13,357
7
81
As long as the component itself isn't damaged you should be able to solder it back on. Good luck!
 
T

Tinkerman

Member
Jun 15, 2005
37
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0
ok guys, that was the hardest thing I have done in a year...I sure hope it works...how well do these things stand up to heat, it got stuck to the tip of the iron a couple of times...I ended up having to clamp it down with some tweezer holder things, and drop little teeny tiny pieces of solder into place and ever so carefully melt them with the tip...heres the pic...keeep in mind this thing is less than the size of the head of a pin...
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j237/qaarg/100_3949.jpg
Whaddya guys/girls think? is there hope?
 
SparkyJJO

SparkyJJO

Lifer
May 16, 2002
13,357
7
81
looks like you may have scorched it a little but hard to tell from the pic. Give it a shot, put it in and see if it works.
 
T

Tinkerman

Member
Jun 15, 2005
37
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0
well we will have to wait awhile for the verdict, the rig is all in pieces (upgrading to watercooling :) )
And that board is the the only one I have with a PCIe x16 slot.
 
bruceb

bruceb

Diamond Member
Aug 20, 2004
8,874
111
106
Could of been much neater .. I use a 1/16" wide chisel tip when I do SMT work.
And a Big Lighted Magnifyer Lamp ... best way is to use a Solder Sucker (antistatic type)
or a piece of Solder Wick to clean up the foils ... then lay a tiny drop of solder on one foil
and with a Tweezers set the part down into the solder. Once that end is down just put
a small drop of solder on the other end ... hardest part is knowing just what the part
was supposed to be ... since it was 2 leads it could be: Resistor / Capacitor / Diode
If it was like a Tantalum Cap or Diode one end should have a mark or a band

Black or Blue SMT is usually a Resistor

Silver, Grey, White, Orange or Brown are usually a Capacitor

http://www.geocities.com/vk3em/smtguide/smtpics.htm
 
Z

Zolty

Diamond Member
Feb 7, 2005
3,603
0
0
Doesn't look horrible, so long as you didn't break the component it might work.
 
T

Tinkerman

Member
Jun 15, 2005
37
0
0
Originally posted by: bruceb
Could of been much neater .. I use a 1/16" wide chisel tip when I do SMT work.
And a Big Lighted Magnifyer Lamp ... best way is to use a Solder Sucker (antistatic type)
or a piece of Solder Wick to clean up the foils ... then lay a tiny drop of solder on one foil
and with a Tweezers set the part down into the solder. Once that end is down just put
a small drop of solder on the other end ... hardest part is knowing just what the part
was supposed to be ... since it was 2 leads it could be: Resistor / Capacitor / Diode
If it was like a Tantalum Cap or Diode one end should have a mark or a band

Black or Blue SMT is usually a Resistor

Silver, Grey, White, Orange or Brown are usually a Capacitor

http://www.geocities.com/vk3em/smtguide/smtpics.htm
Click to expand...


Yup it looks like #1 in the first pic. A-Case Tantalum.
well I got all the blocks and the loop installed and running, after another hour or two I'll wire it up, and we will see. (I'm thinking positive thoughts.)
 
B

Bill Kunert

Senior member
Oct 9, 1999
793
0
0
I'd get some alcohol or acetone and a tooth brush and clean up the resin from the flux left on the board.
 
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