how are the caps on the card? and cut traces? missing SMDs?

old school gamer man wrote on 2025-07-29, 19:17:

how are the caps on the card? and cut traces? missing SMDs?

With my limited knowledge I think it's fine.
I don't have an esr meter for the caps.

the coil below the molex... l21 on the pcb it has 1ru n top of the coil looks chipped there is also a black smd on the back of the card below the FC CE stuff writing the on PCB that looks half way knocked off.

Back in the day this message could also pop up on cards that don’t even have a supplemental power connector (such as 6600gt, 7600gt etc).

This usually was attributed to the motherboard BIOS.

Is there a newer BIOS you can try on the motherboard?

old school gamer man wrote on 2025-07-29, 19:36:

the coil below the molex... l21 on the pcb it has 1ru n top of the coil looks chipped there is also a black smd on the back of the card below the FC CE stuff writing the on PCB that looks half way knocked off.

Now that you say it, that does look a bit off.
I saw the chipped top of the coil but thought that would be fine, didnt see the smd. They are connected to each other, no?

I'll reflow/add some solder, maybe that helps.

How are the solder joints for the molex connector?

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2025-07-29, 20:29:

How are the solder joints for the molex connector?

All very solid, double checked them.
They have good continuity.

paradigital wrote on 2025-07-29, 19:44:

Back in the day this message could also pop up on cards that don’t even have a supplemental power connector (such as 6600gt, 7600gt etc).

This usually was attributed to the motherboard BIOS.

Is there a newer BIOS you can try on the motherboard?

Thanks for the tip but I'm on the latest bios 1006.

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2025-07-29, 20:29:

How are the solder joints for the molex connector?

I rechecked this, even though I did already and it had continuity, reflowed the solder again and now it works!
So apparently this was the problem.

Thanks everyone.

Wonderful news!! I'm glad to hear you got the card fixed. Now it's time to enjoy it

you still need to fix the other problems... that lose smd is not something i would leave alone.

old school gamer man wrote on 2025-07-30, 16:37:

you still need to fix the other problems... that lose smd is not something i would leave alone.

Yeah, also checked your findings.
The coil is still fine, only the plastic part is broken off it seems.
The smd looks like it was just put on the board at a little bit of an angle, was still solid but I reflowed it into place with some heat. 😀

timmun wrote on 2025-07-30, 17:04:

Yeah, also checked your findings.
The coil is still fine, only the plastic part is broken off it seems.
The smd looks like it was just put on the board at a little bit of an angle, was still solid but I reflowed it into place with some heat. 😀

that's good to hear on the SMD but I would be worried about the coil. I seen them unwind before when the top is chipped. if you come by a spare I would swap it. regardless its good to hear its fixed. the 5900 are fun and stable card. before I moved to x79 for my retro gaming pc I had a a few 5950U's and 5900 and all of them were wonderfully stable and reliable.

old school gamer man wrote on 2025-07-30, 18:19:

timmun wrote on 2025-07-30, 17:04:

Yeah, also checked your findings.
The coil is still fine, only the plastic part is broken off it seems.
The smd looks like it was just put on the board at a little bit of an angle, was still solid but I reflowed it into place with some heat. 😀

that's good to hear on the SMD but I would be worried about the coil. I seen them unwind before when the top is chipped. if you come by a spare I would swap it. regardless its good to hear its fixed. the 5900 are fun and stable card. before I moved to x79 for my retro gaming pc I had a a few 5950U's and 5900 and all of them were wonderfully stable and reliable.

Ah that's interesting, thanks for sharing!
I have a lot of for-parts-cards so I'll have a look.
is 1R0 some sort of value code or can I drop in any that fits?

It feels very stable indeed, probably overkill for Win98 but everything is smooth.

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2025-07-30, 16:00:

Wonderful news!! I'm glad to hear you got the card fixed. Now it's time to enjoy it

Enjoying it indeed, and added this to keep it cool 😎

timmun wrote on 2025-07-30, 18:52:

Ah that's interesting, thanks for sharing! I have a lot of for-parts-cards so I'll have a look. is 1R0 some sort of value code o […]
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Ah that's interesting, thanks for sharing!
I have a lot of for-parts-cards so I'll have a look.
is 1R0 some sort of value code or can I drop in any that fits?

It feels very stable indeed, probably overkill for Win98 but everything is smooth.

its a 1.0 µH inductor, other than that IDK. I would not just swap in any other inductor/coil willy-nilly A good temp fix would to to super glue the coils, that will help prevent the could of unraveling.

You can always put a dot of hot glue on the inductor but it's probably fine. I have parts worse than that that the coils haven't unwound and they've been like that for over a decade. I've also used hot glue and years later still fine.

chrismeyer6 wrote on 2025-07-30, 19:20:

You can always put a dot of hot glue on the inductor but it's probably fine. I have parts worse than that that the coils haven't unwound and they've been like that for over a decade. I've also used hot glue and years later still fine.

yeah hot glue or supper would be a simple fix