Holy crap, it worked! Dead video card resurrected!

I'll take mine medium-rare...thanks.

Have been trying to find out what temperature is used to reflow, but have come up with no exact figure, I think it must be a little over 400 F.

Here's some solder info,

* SnAgCu solders are used by two thirds of Japanese manufacturers for reflow and wave soldering, and by about ¾ companies for hand soldering.
o SnAg3.0Cu0.5, tin with 3% silver and 0.5% copper, has a melting point of 217 to 220 °C and is predominantly used in Japan. It is the JEITA recommended alloy for wave and reflow soldering, with alternatives SnCu for wave and SnAg and SnZnBi for reflow soldering.
o SnAg3.5Cu0.7 is another commonly used alloy, with melting point of 217-218 °C.
o SnAg3.5Cu0.9, with melting point of 217 °C, is determined by NIST to be truly eutectic.
o SnAg3.8Cu0.7, with melting point 217-218 °C, is preferred by the European IDEALS consortium for reflow soldering.
o SnAg3.8Cu0.7Sb0.25 is preferred by the European IDEALS consortium for wave soldering.
o SnAg3.9Cu0.6, with melting point 217-223 °C, is recommended by the US NEMI consortium for reflow soldering.
* SnCu0.7, with melting point of 227 °C, is a cheap alternative for wave soldering, recommended by the US NEMI consortium.
* SnZn9, with melting point of 199 °C, is a cheaper alloy but is prone to corrosion and oxidation.
* SnZn8Bi3, with melting point of 191-198 °C, is also prone to corrosion and oxidation due to its zinc content.
* SnSb5, tin with 5% of antimony, is the US plumbing industry standard. Its melting point is 232-240 °C. It displays good resistance to thermal fatigue and good shear strength.
* SnAg2.5Cu0.8Sb0.5 melts at 217-225 °C and is patented by AIM alliance.
* SnIn8.0Ag3.5Bi0.5 melts at 197 to 208 °C and is patented by Matsushita/Panasonic.
* SnBi57Ag1 melts at 137-139 °C and is patented by Motorola.
* SnBi58 melts at 138 °C.
* SnIn52 melts at 118 °C and is suitable for the cases where low-temperature soldering is needed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solder

Take your pick, but I'd say its the top one @ 217 - 220 C or 417.2 - 428 F

a bit toasty...

Think I'll try the OP's temp at 385 F first with my X850XT and an ancient original Radeon

Here's a neat link about how Motherboards are made - http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.c...id=1722&page=1

One baked 8800 coming right up! This is a pretty crazy story, thanks for posting. ...and grats on the new working card!

Might have a 3rd 7600GT to try this on...

It only artifacts in games, not at the desktop... so a bit different then the other ones... but worth a shot?

well it looks like i mustve pitched the x800gto, couldnt find it, but the 2900pro just came out of the oven.. we'll see in a few.

update: It's running okay at this point, i'll leave it running a game or do a 3dmark stress test on it and make sure it doesn't bluescreen or something weird.

We need some pictures to go with it, or atleast a nice full write up with pictures.

I could have taken pics, but I was lazy -_-

OP's diagram is good enough to get started tho...

Originally Posted by __hollywood|meow

your story is hilarious and awesome. congratulations, seems like some solder did indeed get separated from a critical joint.. what a crazy fix~!

yeah that's it. Its not so much the average (read: diffuse) temperatures (what we're all used to seeing in rivatuner and everest etc) as it is the concentration of heat that causes problems. Believe it or not there are spots on the silicon which will reach well in excess of 100C, and they'll actually warp such that its not making contact with its PCB packaging. Reheating it through different methods is often enough to undo such a warp.

Anyways, cool fix! Glad it worked!

Originally Posted by kioras

We need some pictures to go with it, or atleast a nice full write up with pictures.

what pics ya need? You take off your plastic cooler, heat oven up to ~400 with a cookie sheet, slap card on cookie sheet for 8-10 mins and then re-install thermal paste and cooler.

I just saved an HD 4850 1gb from RMA, Thanks!

I first have to say to the pretend experts with the temps and heat gun crap. Seriously get off your high horse and keep your mouth shut (or fingers from typing) unless you actually know wtf you're talking about. False advice is a major problem on forums, you're not an expert on probably anything and learn to be humble when you don't know wtf you are talking about.

Kudos to the OP for letting us know about his method, I will be trying this in the future if I ever come across this problem.

Originally Posted by hstuehmeyer2000

I just saved an HD 4850 1gb from RMA, Thanks!

Not sure what would be better, doing this and probably voiding the warrantee, or dealing with most of ATI's partners crappy RMA proceedure.

Originally Posted by kioras

Not sure what would be better, doing this and probably voiding the warrantee, or dealing with most of ATI's partners crappy RMA proceedure.

Here is my situation,
I bought it used off of ebay. On top of that it is an HIS which has another company handle their warranty in NA. I have the original owners invoice but I have a feeling that my chances of getting an rma are slim. So I tried this and it worked!

I've got a 7900GS that I need to try this on. If it works, I can give it to my little sister who is still using an ATI x300.

Also, I just stuck a bad stick of RAM in the oven, lets see what happens!

We should keep a running tally of how many this has worked on, what the problem was before etc.

So far I haven't seen anyone claiming it didn't work?

Originally Posted by butterfliesrpretty

I first have to say to the pretend experts with the temps and heat gun crap. Seriously get off your high horse and keep your mouth shut (or fingers from typing) unless you actually know wtf you're talking about. False advice is a major problem on forums, you're not an expert on probably anything and learn to be humble when you don't know wtf you are talking about.

Kudos to the OP for letting us know about his method, I will be trying this in the future if I ever come across this problem.

Your not talking to me with this post are you?

Originally Posted by Blazestorm

We should keep a running tally of how many this has worked on, what the problem was before etc.

So far I haven't seen anyone claiming it didn't work?

OK.

Card 1: EVGA 8800GTX : Computer wouldnt boot with the card. Baked for 10 minutes 385 and it has been working perfectly since.


Card 2: PNY 8800GTS :Computer booted but card artifacted like crazy. Baked 10 minutes 385 and it has been working perfectly since.


Card 3: XFX 7800GT :Computer booted but card artifacted like mad. Baked 12 minutes (ooooops forgot it) and when i lifted the card off of the cookie sheet about five capacitors stayed on the sheet along with the fan header.


So 385 does melt the solder. Be sure not to leave the card baking for longer than 10 minutes.

Originally Posted by lsclincoln

Card 3: XFX 7800GT :Computer booted but card artifacted like mad. Baked 12 minutes (ooooops forgot it) and when i lifted the card off of the cookie sheet about five capacitors stayed on the sheet along with the fan header.

You know you are suppost to suspend the card above the cookie sheet right?

Card: 7900GT
Problem: Artifacting in 3D games
Outcome: Put in oven at 385º for 10 minutes, pulled it out and it works better but not awesome. It seems to have only partially fixed the problem.