VOGONS


First post, by Jofo

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Hello all!

I got hands on a rather sorry-looking Banshee by Creative, the poor girl has several parts knocked off and I have no idea what values they should be

banshee.png

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What is missing:
Near VGA port:
L1 = ?

Above the GPU:
C40 = ?
RP7 = 33 OHM 4-stage resistor array in 1206 package
C47 = ?
C48 = ?
R47 (seems only re-seating might be needed)

Near one of the memory chips:
C113 = 0.1uF 0603 package

The card is also scratched on several places on the back, but traces seem fine. So far I was able to identify that RP7 should be a 33OHM resistor network in 1206 package based on the card's pictures online and measurements, and after digging in the memory chip datasheet I've found that the capacitor value for C113 could be 0.1 uF as it's positioned between Vddq and Vssq

capacitance.png

However, I have no idea what are the values of the other components. Especially the L1 near the VGA port.

Any help greatly appreciated. Thank you

Reply 1 of 3, by andrea

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For L1 just put a zero ohm link in its place. The ferrites inline with the signal are pretty much only there for EMI compliance.
In fact a quick and effective fix for cards with muddy VGA out (I've done it myself on a couple of ViRGEs) is to jumper the ferrites and remove any caps between the video signal and ground.

As for the other caps I feel like you can't go wrong with 100nf.

Do you happen to have some scrap cards you can salvage for parts? then use the closest parts you have. For the resistor networks, for example, 22 or 47 ohm will work just the same.

Reply 2 of 3, by Jofo

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So, made some progress!

That L1 was replaced with a wire, I have refitted the loose resistor and soldered back the capacitor at C113. The biggest challenge was the resistor array, which I decided to replace with 4 individual resistors that I salvaged from some junk cards. The caps - I just took some from other cards, near memory, a blind shot. Also, my friend borrowed me a JBC micro soldering station with insanely small tips, making the work easier.

The card boots, however the image is a mess 😒

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I am thinking of reflowing the card since when I put pressure on the heatsink the pattern changed, THIS video shows a good guidance as to how to do it. However, I cannot take the heatsink off. Tried heating it with heat gun (with around 130 deg temperature), tried freezing it with upside-down compressed air spray, but the heatsink won't move an inch. Any ideas how to take it off without damaging the chip?

Reply 3 of 3, by smola

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Forgot reflow, go for reball, this card is worth additional effort. But first check all ladder resistor packs 4x33ohms, especially the blue ones - in other card I had to replace 25 pieces due their resistances floated from hundreds ohms to several kilos. Their values should be in range 22-56 ohms, but best if nominal. Measure each of any of four and if resistance is wrong, then just replace from donor board, they often exist in motherboards. Check again for broken small smd parts and replace if necessary. Also replace all 5 inductors Lxx near vga socket from donor to be same, do not left wired one, there are rgb and h/v sync signals. Check also with nail all legs of sgrams, it's possible that one or more have bad contact/floats. To remove heatsink just use hotair and remove it by horizontal twist, never lever it vertically coz you may damage pads under gpu. Good luck.

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