BLockOUT wrote on 2022-03-26, 02:48:
Is there a tool for agp cards that i can use to test the memory and the tool to tell me which of the leys say 8 memory chips is the faulty one? or all of the chips need to be replaced and there is no way to know?
No. Because of memory organization/controller configuration/interleaving depending on the gpu model its impossible to determine unless its manufacturer own tool (like Nvidia mats/mods). Fault might also lie in memory controller (common in modern nvidia), plus in case of old cards it can be connection between ram and gpu (broken track, cracked solder joint).
BLockOUT wrote on 2022-03-26, 02:48:for example the voodoo3 card sure i can do the job easly because its not BGA memory, but the radeon9800pro and the 6800ultra they have BGA memory which makes things more difficult.
Have you ever soldered smd? First suggestion is get a bunch of obsolete/garbage electronics and practice desoldering and soldering stuff back until you get good enough nobody can tell something was moved or you repeatedly get back to working state. So after a ~month of hard work learning you might be ready to actually repair something without destroying it 😀 Other option is to sell broken stuff documenting the defect in detail, and buying what you actually wanted in the first place.
"Ill give it a try, its already broken so nothing lost either way" is nonsense considering prices of voodoo3, its still worth $ to someone with appropriate skills.
TrashPanda wrote on 2022-03-27, 08:49:BGA memory is a pain in the butt to replace, even reflowing it is difficult unless you have a pre-heater to get the PCB up to temp, have had to consider this recently when trying to repair a Ti4600 with bad BGA memory. Had to .. pre-heat the PCB in the oven before reflowing the BGA chips with a hot air station, sadly it didn't improve the artefact's so its likely I will have to replace all the memory on the card.
reflowing rarely helps in case of oxidized cracked joints. You need flux, nudging and luck for the broken joint to grab back. Reballing is the way to go _if_ connection was the issue (pressing fixes it/visible liquid damage present).
TrashPanda wrote on 2022-03-27, 08:49:There really is no way of pinpointing which chip has gone bad with BGA so its a all or nothing type of situation
Divide and conquer, replace half the ram and retest. More soldering but you eventually end up with only the broken parts replaced. Other option is replacing one at a time, slower but less stress on the parts.
TrashPanda wrote on 2022-03-27, 08:49:with your Voodoo3 you at least have access to the pins on the chips so with a multimeter you could possibly locate which specific chip has died.
How would you propose that? Its not like all ram dies with supply/output buffers blown.
Donovan V. wrote on 2022-03-26, 02:56:
That said, the last time I had light arctifacting on a GPU the capacitors had gone bad. Not to say that RAM on a GPU doesnt die but maybe you might want to check capacitors first, both the ceramic SMD's and any electrolytics your card may have.
Yes, "Thou shalt check voltages"! Bad electrolytics mean high ripple, bad smds bad decoupling. Sometimes can be diagnosed by lowering memory/GPU clocks all the way down.
