Old 4870 X2 - Is my card done with?

P

Pez

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 9, 2006
Messages
1,839
I got the 4870 X2 shortly after it was released. Since the X2's ran notoriously hot (which mine did), I put one of the Artic Cooling Accelero Xtreme's on it, which worked perfectly fine.

Fast forward more than a year to today - I was playing the Rift beta (at the character creation screen) and my computer froze. When I restarted, my computer failed to post (GPU was cool to the touch, so I know it wasn't overheating). I took the card out, gave it a good cleaning, reseated it and tried again. Still wouldn't post. Fans on the AC unit were on and spinning, but that's it. I removed the card, and put in one of my backup - and old 7800. With that, my system would post.

So, I have two questions:
1. Is the card now finished?
2. Would putting the AC on the card void any warrenty it had? I believe it had a lifetime warrenty, though I'm not certain what brand the card is since I removed it's stock fan with that info. I put that in a box in the basement, but I may have lost it in a flood last year...

Thanks in advance!
 
If you have an XFX, then they allow aftermarket HSF - as long as when you RMA, you reinstall the stock HSF.
 
XFX 4870X2s didn't exist when they were first released, XFX were still an nvidia partner back then.
 
eastmen said:
1) you can search for the oven trick and try that
Click to expand...

I searched, and did like it said. And guess what, it works now! I don't know if it was due to the oven trick, or if it was because I took the card apart and back together. From now on, everything goes in the oven!

Good news is that I don't need to buy a new card for awhile. Thanks for the help! This is exactly why I've been a member on here for awhile - best internet community ever! Now I just need to get a new job so I can donate and get in GenMay (when I was about to do that last year, I got laid off).
 
Pezzy said:
I searched, and did like it said. And guess what, it works now! I don't know if it was due to the oven trick, or if it was because I took the card apart and back together. From now on, everything goes in the oven!

Good news is that I don't need to buy a new card for awhile. Thanks for the help! This is exactly why I've been a member on here for awhile - best internet community ever! Now I just need to get a new job so I can donate and get in GenMay (when I was about to do that last year, I got laid off).
Click to expand...

glad it worked for you !
 
I know you guys are amazed by it because it doesn't make sense but it's not magic at all. Most of the time problems like that are caused by a bad connection in the contacts somewhere on the GPU, so by sticking it in the oven and heating it up enough the solder becomes liquid and usually re-connects the shorted or bridged connection. The original Xbox 360 had a fairly common problem called the Red Ring of Death, which was in part caused by bad solders on the BGA for the graphic IC. People who are in the business of reflowing Xbox 360s quote a success rate of ~95% doing reflows. A quick search on eBay will show you what I mean.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top