Broken GeForce FX5950 Ultra - chip transplant \ VOGONS

Broken GeForce FX5950 Ultra - chip transplant

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First post, by Jofo

Posted on 2024-05-17, 12:29

Jofo Offline

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Joined: 2024-05-16, 17:27

Hello all,
I have a broken GeForce FX 5950 Ultra by Leadtek and recently I brought it to a local repair center where I was told that the card has most probably a broken GPU. The card normally boots into Windows, no artifacts, but when running 3DMark - all hell breaks loose on the screen.

Fortunately, I have a Quadro FX1300 lying around that also has NV38 GPU (although NV38GL) that I would be willing to sacrifice to fix the Ultra.

My questions are

Is there any "memtest" for these old cards? I would like to rule out a broken memory chip first.
If the chip is broken as I described, can such memtest produce a reliable result?
Would the chip from Quadro FX1300 work in the Ultra? I can try if it can run on the Ultra clockspeed first, but would the chip from the Quadro work in GeForce?

Thanks

Reply 1 of 7, by ux-3

Posted on 2024-05-17, 12:32

ux-3 Offline

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From what you say, I would first consider the soldering.

It might be an option to "bake" the card, if you know what I mean.

Retro PC warning: The things you own end up owning you.

Reply 2 of 7, by Jofo

Posted on 2024-05-17, 12:39

Jofo Offline

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Baking is a horrible thing, NEVER EVER do that please, it pretty much ruins capacitors, connectors, excessive heat load on the PCB...

I have a hot-air soldering station but messing with BGA chips is out of my league, I don't know for how long and how much to heat the chip. I once tried to "reflow" a GeForce3 and it ended up with the solder balls melting completely, had to have it reballed.

Reply 3 of 7, by ux-3

Posted on 2024-05-17, 13:46

ux-3 Offline

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Jofo wrote on 2024-05-17, 12:39:

Baking is a horrible thing, NEVER EVER do that please, it pretty much ruins capacitors, connectors, excessive heat load on the PCB...

I have a hot-air soldering station but messing with BGA chips is out of my league, I don't know for how long and how much to heat the chip. I once tried to "reflow" a GeForce3 and it ended up with the solder balls melting completely, had to have it reballed.

It worked better for me than your method worked for you. 😉

Retro PC warning: The things you own end up owning you.

Reply 4 of 7, by paradigital

Posted on 2024-05-17, 15:59

paradigital Offline

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ux-3 wrote on 2024-05-17, 13:46:

Jofo wrote on 2024-05-17, 12:39:

Baking is a horrible thing, NEVER EVER do that please, it pretty much ruins capacitors, connectors, excessive heat load on the PCB...

I have a hot-air soldering station but messing with BGA chips is out of my league, I don't know for how long and how much to heat the chip. I once tried to "reflow" a GeForce3 and it ended up with the solder balls melting completely, had to have it reballed.

It worked better for me than your method worked for you. 😉

Think for a minute about what you are saying, and the act of “baking” the card. If you are heating the card up enough to melt solder then any SMD components on the underside are at risk of detaching. If you aren’t heating the card up enough to melt solder, then it achieves nothing permanent.

Baking electronics is a fool’s errand.

Reply 5 of 7, by Repo Man11

Posted on 2024-05-17, 16:05

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I "Baked" a card I didn't care about, and it did make it work again, but only for a relatively short amount of time; it cured the symptom rather than the underlying problem. And that seems (from what I've read) to be the best case scenario outcome, a temporary fix at best.

"I'd rather be rich than stupid" - Jack Handey

Reply 6 of 7, by ux-3

Posted on 2024-05-17, 16:20

ux-3 Offline

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But if it works again, you know it is a solder issue.
The initial plan may call for the destruction of two cards without knowing the cause. Not sure if that is better.

But do as you please, it is your stuff.

Retro PC warning: The things you own end up owning you.

Reply 7 of 7, by ciornyi

Posted on 2024-05-18, 09:18

ciornyi Offline

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Joined: 2022-01-15, 19:35

It requires good equipment and practice for bga reball . Also preheating station is a must .

DOS: 166mmx/16mb/Y719/S3virge
DOS/95: PII333/128mb/AWE64/TNT2M64
Win98: P3_900/256mb/SB live/3dfx V3
Win Me: Athlon 1700+/512mb/Audigy2/Geforce 3Ti200
Win XP: E8600/4096mb/SB X-fi/HD6850

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