• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

damaged DIMM.

S

SticKx911

2[H]4U
2FA
Joined
Mar 14, 2004
Messages
3,063
While trying to take passive heat sinks off some ram to upgrade to water (got a good deal on ram/water kit) one stick clung on to the stock sink a little too tightly and it tore the black chip that has the model numbers and stuff engraved in it. it took a small chunk out, what are the odds that this dimm will still work? :/

I don't want to attach the new cooler if there's no chance it'll work.
 
I am assuming that "small chunk" is needed to work correctly.. but only way to know for sure is stick the DIMM in a motherboard by itself and run some memory tests like Memtest86 and Windows Memory Diagnostic that can be found free on the web. Hopefully they will tell you how if your DIMM is good or not. If not, luckily memory is super cheap.. just buy the same DIMM again! Good luck!
 
Pics? (with good focus and good lighting)

If you bought the DIMM in the past 90 days with a credit card, there's a chance its accidental damage protection will cover you. American Express and Visa seem to be good about handling such claims (and claims under their extended warranty protection), but Mastercard isn't. I don't know about Discover card.

The DIMM is probably OK if only the chip package top broke and the solder buttons under the chip were left intact. But if any solder buttons separated, it may be possible to remelt the solder with a heat gun, but you have to be very careful and keep the temperature low enough and surround the chip with aluminum foil to protect the parts around it from heat. There are YouTube videos demonstrating the proper technique, but there are also a lot of videos that show the wrong way to do it.

I hope you didn't try removing the heatsinks by prying between them and the circuit board. If you must pry, weaken the glue on the heatsinks by applying heat with a hair dryer or by using 3M automotive weatherstrip remover (some other solvents can be too harsh and damage the epoxy chip packages or circuit board), and pry only between the heatsink and chips with a thin razor blade, not between the heatsink and circuit board, and try to prevent the heatsink from lifting chips adjacent to the one you're prying against. IOW either pry all 8 chips at once, or pry one chip just a little before moving to the next one, and repeat until the heatsink is off.
 
Thanks for the tips. I do not believe it weakened the solder. as piece that stuck to the sink was just black so solder should be in tact. I'll give it a go in a bit. (the only camera I have on hand is my ipod so pics are kind of out of the question at the moment.) I'll update when I get a chance to test.
 
You should be good as long as there were extra black chips on it, it was prolly just a spare that did nothing....
 
you sure?




5xDFl.jpg
 
sounds like you ripped off one of the integrated circuts on the memory module.. each DIMM is made up of XX density ram chip (IC) which compose the entirety of a single DIMM.. if you ripped one off.. then you are left with an dead stick :(

sorry man.. next time put the stick in the freezer for a couple of hours to soften the adhesive.. either that or use heat.. like a hair drier.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top