Bring a dead video card back to life!

[jackDEFECTORbauer]

A good few months ago I sold my old 8800GTX to a housemate. It has since developed a fault - red lines on the screen, unable to boot into windows etc.

Didn't think this would be much of a problem - it's a BFG card and they provide lifetime warranty on their cards. So chased them for an RMA etc and sent the card off to the US. They have since returned the card without fixing it. Turns out they are no longer honouring any lifetime warranty's. Some bust up with nvidia means they can no longer get fresh stock or something. Bottom line it appears they've gone bust. My mate wasn't too happy with that after paying to ship it to the US only for them to send it straight back. Arseholes!

I did a quick google and discovered you can revive a dead card by baking it in the oven! This won't fix all dead cards, but if the card has micro-fractures in the solder, you stand a good chance of getting it working. I didn't think the 8800's had the solder issue or maybe its just wear and tear.

With nothing to lose we cooked the card (minus all removal items, HSF etc) at 200 degress for 7 minutes and 30 seconds! After letting the card cool down we whacked it back into his PC and hey presto, its fully functional again!

There's no guarantee on how long this will last of course but for now its looking good!

[Exibit]

LOL Jack

[Gavac220]

The old tricks are the best ones. Congrats mate, but bad news on the BFG front.

[bambam]

unlucky on BFG -they announced bankruptcy on 16th Aug

I'm amazed the cook-it-in-the-oven trick actually works - that's always sounded like a fairy tale to me but I guess you had nothing to lose. If it was 1st April I still wouldn't believe it.

What temperature was the oven at? How long for? Was the oven up to temperature when you put the card in?

Bambam

[jackDEFECTORbauer]

unlucky on BFG -they announced bankruptcy on 16th Aug

The card was delivered on the 16th, I spotted that article the same day. Took a good few weeks of chasing them for the RMA so I suspect they knew it was all going tits up. Dissapointing and very bad customer relations - I don't know what my mate paid to send it off but probably wasn't cheap. They should have told us up front they weren't going to honour the warranty.

We pre-heated the oven to 200 degrees. Some suggest baking the card for 10 minutes but we went for 7 and half mintues to be safe.

Found the idea here - http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1421792

[LK3da]

good to know, i have a 8800gts, maybe i can use this in future...

[Mseries3]

Jack... I LOVE YOU!

7900GS.... Would not log on to windows, Blue Lines across the screen, Card BIOS was random letters, So i popped it in the oven on Gas Mark 7 for 7 Minutes.. Let it cool down... Popped it in... Working again

[Thundercat]

Was it a fan assisted oven? Reason I ask I would be worried the air flow would move the solder around.

[jackDEFECTORbauer]

Yeah it was a fan assisted oven, but the fan was off. Not sure how risky it would be - but if the card is dead and no warranty you won't have much to lose by cooking it.

[MudShark]

I thought the trick was to wrap it in tin foil before you popped it in the oven - the fan would not get to blow the solder about.

[CrAp]

i can imagine what for a weird sight it must been.

[ionwg]

Plant it in ya garden , water often, wait six months and see what happens. In the meantime pop onto the cheapest online vendor and but an ati 5870

[Stan]

Thanks for this tip, I used it myself this weekend on a BFG 8800 GTX.
I took off cooler and just put the card in, 200C 8 mins, fan on, middle shelf, no foil.

All the random lines have gone away and its working perfectly.