Questions about the pins on SAPPHIRE NITRO Radeon R9 390

E

element72

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Dec 21, 2012
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Hi HF community!


I noticed some weird looking pins on my card and wanted to know if they should cause me some concern. I took some pics of scratched or burnt pins ( can't tell).

My card: SAPPHIRE NITRO Radeon R9 390

https://preview.************/fZ2Fvk/20170420_112029.jpg
https://preview.************/hk1VT5/20170420_112146.jpg
https://preview.************/ctaDgQ/20170420_112335.jpg
best free image hosting sites
 
looks like something was spilt on it, looks like corrosion not burning. you water cooling? you can see a liquid mark on the first pic. try using a pencil eraser to clean of the corrosion and hopefully it will be fine.

upload_2017-4-20_14-34-49.png
 
pendragon1 said:
looks like something was spilt on it, looks like corrosion not burning. you water cooling? you can see a liquid mark on the first pic. try using a pencil eraser to clean of the corrosion and hopefully it will be fine.
Click to expand...

Ya , I spilled balsamic a few months ago. It mostly got onto the PCB of my gfx card. I cleaned that PCB twice, but the 2nd time was months after i notice the little residue left over. What kind of problem would corrosion cause? What would I see while gaming or casually using my PC?

And thanks for pointing that out.
 
balsamic eh?! that's a first for me :)
hard to tell. if its just external and it still works fine now it should be good. If it followed and corroded the internal traces those could fail and the card will start to act goofy, maybe loose pcie speed or stop working.
 
pendragon1 said:
balsamic eh?! that's a first for me :)
hard to tell. if its just external and it still works fine now it should be good. If it followed and corroded the internal traces those could fail and the card will start to act goofy, maybe loose pcie speed or stop working.
Click to expand...

Hmm well I bought this used last year. And Before the spill I had very rare issues with the card. The card would very-rarely reset once a month while casually using my PC. When the card resets under light load the monitors flickered once and Aero for windows 7 got disabled. I think you know what I'm talking about, hopefully. I am now getting into the habit of analyzing the dump files from BSOD. Although, BSOD is still a very very rare occurence.
 
Take a pencil eraser to the discolored contacts and rub them gently until they are shiny and clean. Wipe gently with alcohol to remove any residue and reinstall the card. Should be good to go unless the balsamic got down into the socket. Some contact cleaner spray might help there.

AND KEEP YOUR DAMNED BALSAMIC AWAY FROM YOUR PC! :LOL:
 
RedWagnum said:
Take a pencil eraser to the discolored contacts and rub them gently until they are shiny and clean. Wipe gently with alcohol to remove any residue and reinstall the card. Should be good to go unless the balsamic got down into the socket. Some contact cleaner spray might help there.

AND KEEP YOUR DAMNED BALSAMIC AWAY FROM YOUR PC! :LOL:
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LOL, i know. It was an accident man. I eat by my computer all the time. I think I need to put the case directly under the desk or let it sit on top. Nothing will change my mind about eating near my PC. Also, I never heard of contact cleaner spray. Can you please recommend me some. Also, please let me know if there is anything i should know about using that spray; I would be very much appreciate it. I don't think it got into the socket, but something tells me I should have contact cleaner spray just in case.
 
pendragon1 said:
you can get it at any electronics shop for a few bucks. its just a cleaning spray that dries quick and doesn't leave residue. something like this:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA5D52NN9834

power off the system, discharge psu, spray in slot and insert/remove card a few times.
Click to expand...
What he said ^^^ and wait a good half hour after doing the insert/remove process before powering the system on to allow the spray to completely evaporate. Thanks pendragon1 !
 
no prob
ooops forgot the drying part. yeah definitely let it dry for 30 min.

ps whats the code for the up arrow?
 
lol oh that combo I never use. I was thinking it was an alt+ thing. now I feel silly...
 
Please use ESD safe material to clean anything off :)
Rubbing those traces with anything that could generate static will bring way more trouble.

You can use a 99.99% Isopropyl alcohol with a brush while been grounded to brush it.
Leave it as is to dry (You can use a can of compressed air to spray in an angle not full throttle onto it) (beware as this can induce debris especially if the can is angled.

you may also have residue in your PCIe slot, this would be harder to remove... I would recommend inserting/removing a few times and cleaning the card each time with the above method.
 
a rubber eraser isn't going to cause any static problems. just touch your case to ground yourself and don't move till you done. no more static probs. in 25 years ive killed one cpu(k6-2 450) while working on carpet in the dry alberta winter because I didn't ground first or leave the case/psu plugged in. the case touch method has worked 100% since then.
 
pendragon1 said:
a rubber eraser isn't going to cause any static problems. just touch your case to ground yourself and don't move till you done. no more static probs. in 25 years ive killed one cpu(k6-2 450) while working on carpet in the dry alberta winter because I didn't ground first or leave the case/psu plugged in. the case touch method has worked 100% since then.
Click to expand...

Yes & no. ESD damage can mean an electronic will die in 2 years instead of 10. It's not because you can't see damage that there isn't.
Touching the case will discharge you yes, but any friction will cause you to get charged again.

Electronics are way more sensitive to ESD than human which means that if you can feel ESD event, you're x times past where to did some damage to your electronics.

I'm merely trying to give advices, please read on the subject before saying what I say is irrelevant :)
 
Maxime Mitchell said:
Yes & no. ESD damage can mean an electronic will die in 2 years instead of 10. It's not because you can't see damage that there isn't.
Touching the case will discharge you yes, but any friction will cause you to get charged again.

Electronics are way more sensitive to ESD than human which means that if you can feel ESD event, you're x times past where to did some damage to your electronics.

I'm merely trying to give advices, please read on the subject before saying what I say is irrelevant :)
Click to expand...
Can static electricity damage or destroy electronics? Absolutely! I damaged then destroyed a LED once just to see if I could. Is it as dangerous as a lot of folks make it out to be? Probably so. Is it going to happen every time you don't take precautions? No, it's not. The fact of the matter is that static discharge can do anything from destroying a device to no significant harm. Personally I've found that dirty mains power causes more problems than static discharge.

You kind of need to remember where you are posting. In these forums most of us are enthusiasts who know about static discharge, know the risks involved, so what you are saying is not irrelevant at all. Most of us are careful enough to not have a major problem with it. If we unknowingly damage something to where it only lasts for two years instead of ten, oh well. Yank it out and RMA it or replace it. It's the price of being an enthusiast.
 
Maxime Mitchell said:
Yes & no. ESD damage can mean an electronic will die in 2 years instead of 10. It's not because you can't see damage that there isn't.
Touching the case will discharge you yes, but any friction will cause you to get charged again.

Electronics are way more sensitive to ESD than human which means that if you can feel ESD event, you're x times past where to did some damage to your electronics.

I'm merely trying to give advices, please read on the subject before saying what I say is irrelevant :)
Click to expand...
ive probably read the same shit you have. I have enough experience(26 years. you?) to know that worrying so much is pointless unless you are dealing with the absolute most sensitive devices/parts. what I said to do is safe for 99.5% of situations. but yes you are "technically" right, electronics are more sensitive than a human is. now go find where I said it was irrelevant...
oh that's right I didn't.

ps: advice doesn't have an "s" on the end. there's some advice for ya! :)
 
pendragon1 said:
ive probably read the same shit you have. I have enough experience(26 years. you?) to know that worrying so much is pointless unless you are dealing with the absolute most sensitive devices/parts. what I said to do is safe for 99.5% of situations. but yes you are "technically" right, electronics are more sensitive than a human is. now go find where I said it was irrelevant...
oh that's right I didn't.

ps: advice doesn't have an "s" on the end. there's some advice for ya! :)
Click to expand...

Well since English isn't my primary language, thanks for pointing that out...
I may have less experience (almost 7 years) in the domain but I work very closely with instruments used to make the electronics we use and have to go thru a lot of trainings every years and testing every day to ensure no damage is done to instrument while we work in those.

I've seen what ESD can do over time and wouldn't take it lightly although in many cases you may be right. But... Better prevent than buy a new 1080TI no ?

EDIT:: Anyway, let's forget about this :) I agree that I shouldn't be so stuck-up on ESD lol

Cheers,
 
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RedWagnum said:
Can static electricity damage or destroy electronics? Absolutely! I damaged then destroyed a LED once just to see if I could. Is it as dangerous as a lot of folks make it out to be? Probably so. Is it going to happen every time you don't take precautions? No, it's not. The fact of the matter is that static discharge can do anything from destroying a device to no significant harm. Personally I've found that dirty mains power causes more problems than static discharge.

You kind of need to remember where you are posting. In these forums most of us are enthusiasts who know about static discharge, know the risks involved, so what you are saying is not irrelevant at all. Most of us are careful enough to not have a major problem with it. If we unknowingly damage something to where it only lasts for two years instead of ten, oh well. Yank it out and RMA it or replace it. It's the price of being an enthusiast.
Click to expand...

Sure. Keep in mind that technically ESD damage is considered customer abuse and could be subject to RCA down the line.
I don't think any OEM would deny any warranty claim on the first try but if you try to RMA 4 cards in 2 years you may get flagged.

I agree with you, this is [H] forum. Sorry,
 
Maxime Mitchell said:
Well since English isn't my primary language, thanks for pointing that out...
I may have less experience (almost 7 years) in the domain but I work very closely with instruments used to make the electronics we use and have to go thru a lot of trainings every years and testing every day to ensure no damage is done to instrument while we work in those.

I've seen what ESD can do over time and wouldn't take it lightly although in many cases you may be right. But... Better prevent than buy a new 1080TI no ?

Cheers,
Click to expand...
ya see you are used to really sensitive devices/parts, totally different environment. grounding yourself on the case before you take your new 1080ti out of the anti-static bag is more than safe enough. don't work on carpet in the winter with the psu unplugged is the biggest lesson Ive learned. ive built hundreds of systems and refurbished hundreds more and hundreds of laptops this way, no problems.

ps: no offence intended with the "s" thing. if English is your second language its totally forgivable, your english is better than 90% of those around here! :)
 
pendragon1 said:
ya see you are used to really sensitive devices/parts, totally different environment. grounding yourself on the case before you take your new 1080ti out of the anti-static bag is more than safe enough. don't work on carpet in the winter with the psu unplugged is the biggest lesson Ive learned. ive built hundreds of systems and refurbished hundreds more and hundreds of laptops this way, no problems.

ps: no offence intended with the "s" thing. if English is your second language its totally forgivable, your english is better than 90% of those around here! :)
Click to expand...

Thanks,

You're right working in a laboratory repairing RF stuff changed my way of looking at electronics lol, I also would prefer to work in my underpants on a wolf carpet with heaters at 26C during cold winter but this is a no no.
I'm planning to rebuild my computer / electronic room to make a nice desk with ESD mats (with ESD floor, since I don't want to damage the wood floor under... carpet is a no go)

I still think that educating the less used users is a good idea although more experienced ones may find me annoying... give and take I guess.
 
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