I purchased a used 980 Ti from eBay and it has an unpleasant odor. What should I do to clean it?
I purchased a used 980 Ti from eBay and it has an unpleasant odor. What should I do to clean it?
The advertisement claims it has never been used, but it appears that might not be accurate. It features the ACX 2.0 cooler and clean heatsink fins, along with pristine PCIe contacts. The issue is a strong odor resembling hair conditioner or cologne/perfume used to mask tobacco smells—possibly both combined. The main concern is eliminating any lingering smells. For cleaning the fans and shroud, you can use baking soda, distilled water, and acetone.
Consider exploring a nearby service that offers ultrasonic cleaning. In addition, you can disassemble the card and clean the heatsink using a soft brush and soap. Be careful to maintain the integrity of the thermal pads. You will also require premium thermal paste and isopropyl alcohol for reassembly.
Use isopropyl alcohol to clean it. Repaste it too if you're disassembling it. Clean with soap, but you need to fully dry it, like 101%. But I think it is best, like Lutfij said, to find a service where they have an ultrasonic cleaner and to do the other things he said👍. You could even get PTM7950 instead of thermal paste but repaste the card with Arctic MX-6 paste.
It's just any regular soap. I have thermal pads, paste, and alcohol swabs for reassembly.
I'm not sure if a graphics card contains the same type of capacitors as a motherboard, but the smell you mention is like a capacitor dropping down on a motherboard. If you intend to open up the card, check for any capacitors that appear swollen, as this indicates they may have failed.
Yeah. That seems good, but be careful, dont destroy any of the PCI-E lanes, do not scrub to hard give it nice light scrubs, and for the NVIDIA chip itself, clean the silicon (is it called that?) with isopropyl alcohol, then reapply paste. Thermal pads are simple to put just be careful to put the right dimensions.
Pick up the electrical cleaner from Walmart; it should be safe even if the card isn’t in the machine. Cleaning the fan by removing it can also assist. Once done, store a large airtight container in a bag or on top of baking soda (keep it away from contact), and let it rest for 48 hours.