Vid card busted in a weird way, is it a lost cause?

[Brodieman]

Not really appropriate for tech support, as it's extremely specific, but I've got an old 9800 Pro I got for free from a friend that's unusually broken. I was planning to replace my 9200SE (laughter) with it, but as I was handling it, a small piece snapped off. Yes that's right. The part that snapped off is a large black spool-looking piece that has copper wire wrapped around it and fits next to an identical piece. The seperation from the card is clean, it simply came off, it wasn't torn off. There are obvious connectors on both the piece and the card that once fit together that are still smooth and undamaged.

I realize this is pretty odd, but is the card a complete wash or is this somehow repairable?

 

[LittleNemoNES]

have you tried it?

 

[Brodieman]

Originally posted by: gersson
have you tried it?

No, for one because I'm afraid of frying it, and also because it needs a new heatsink/fan, which is originally why I got it for free. But I don't want to put $20-$25 towards a new cooler to find out I broke the card.

 

[Captante]

If you can clearly see the connection points on both sides of the break you might be able to solder it back on without too much trouble.

 

[40sTheme]

What are those little things with the copper spiral wrapped around them called? It bugs me so much...
^ But like Captante said, see if you can solder it back.

 

[Brodieman]

Quick question, after I solder this, is it okay to pop the card in for a few seconds without a heatsink on to see if it works or will that totally burn it up?

 

[Stumps]

Originally posted by: Brodieman
Quick question, after I solder this, is it okay to pop the card in for a few seconds without a heatsink on to see if it works or will that totally burn it up?

it would burn up, 9800pro's ran pretty hot...I wouldn't reccomend it.