VOGONS


First post, by zuldan

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I received this Geforce 256 (Creative CT6970) today and noticed some missing surface mount capacitors next to two memory chips on the back of the card. It looks like someone has just bridged the connections with some solder, really nasty job.

Does anyone know what the specs of these capacitors may be? I'd like to remove the solder and reinstall new capacitors.

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Unfortunately, the card is not working at the moment. Motherboard doesn't want to post. There is a component (voltage regulator?) that reaches 105c in about 8 seconds from powering on.

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The fan is also missing from the heatsink. I'm guessing there aren't any modern fans that would be compatible?

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Reply 1 of 7, by Shadzilla

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I have a working one of these CT6970 cards. Happy to take some photos of those damaged areas if that might help?

Regarding the fan, yes you can buy them still in fact I needed one for mine too as the original was quite worn out. I could only find them available with the heatsink but just unscrew the fan and fit to the one glued to the card. Available from Mouser - https://mou.sr/4bIvdj5

Reply 3 of 7, by MikeSG

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The voltage regulator gets hot because the person who soldered together the capacitor footprint created a short between power & ground.

The card will most likely work if you remove the solder.

The capacitors are most likely 0.1uf. If there are stability issues afterwards. You can try replacing the voltage regulator or use larger capacitors, such as 1uf.

Reply 4 of 7, by zuldan

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Shadzilla wrote on 2024-07-16, 07:41:

I have a working one of these CT6970 cards. Happy to take some photos of those damaged areas if that might help?

Regarding the fan, yes you can buy them still in fact I needed one for mine too as the original was quite worn out. I could only find them available with the heatsink but just unscrew the fan and fit to the one glued to the card. Available from Mouser - https://mou.sr/4bIvdj5

Thank you for the offer of pictures and the link to the fan. Awesome! Is the power connector with this fan compatible with the card or do I need to modify it?

Reply 5 of 7, by zuldan

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iraito wrote on 2024-07-16, 08:44:

I had a issues too GeForce 256 DDR and black screen see if what i did helps.

Appreciate the link. I think flashing would have been my next option once the voltage regulator heat issue was resolved and the card still didn’t work.

Reply 6 of 7, by zuldan

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MikeSG wrote on 2024-07-16, 09:18:

The voltage regulator gets hot because the person who soldered together the capacitor footprint created a short between power & ground.

The card will most likely work if you remove the solder.

The capacitors are most likely 0.1uf. If there are stability issues afterwards. You can try replacing the voltage regulator or use larger capacitors, such as 1uf.

I bloody love this community! The card is back up running. Thank you so much.

I’d like to restore the capacitors even if the card is stable. What do you think of these options?

6.3v 0.1uF
https://au.mouser.com/ProductDetail/KEMET/C06 … ZzPpldOsA%3D%3D

6.3v 1uF
https://au.mouser.com/ProductDetail/KEMET/C12 … n9F968RYg%3D%3D

Any guess what the voltage regulator it may be?

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Reply 7 of 7, by Shadzilla

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zuldan wrote on 2024-07-16, 10:53:
Shadzilla wrote on 2024-07-16, 07:41:

I have a working one of these CT6970 cards. Happy to take some photos of those damaged areas if that might help?

Regarding the fan, yes you can buy them still in fact I needed one for mine too as the original was quite worn out. I could only find them available with the heatsink but just unscrew the fan and fit to the one glued to the card. Available from Mouser - https://mou.sr/4bIvdj5

Thank you for the offer of pictures and the link to the fan. Awesome! Is the power connector with this fan compatible with the card or do I need to modify it?

No worries. The fan sadly comes without a connector, which was ok in my situation since I could re-use the old one. I think it's a standard-ish size though.

Attached some pictures, maybe useful, maybe not. The component at C36 is a different colour to the ones at C40, C79 and C80 (incase that's relevant).