Repair attempt for GPU solder – need assistance.
Repair attempt for GPU solder – need assistance.
Hey there, welcome back. It’s been a tough day so please understand. I’m currently working on some PC upgrades and switched my GPU to water cooling. Unfortunately, things took a turn when I accidentally knocked off a cap while removing the air cooler. I managed to grab the tools and followed some YouTube guides, but it didn’t go quite as smoothly as they showed. The first solder seemed to stick, making it hard to get a clean, smooth finish. I’ve tried different temperatures, but I’m a bit worried about going higher than 800°F. I’m pretty sure those joints are still bonded, but they don’t look like the smooth, solid connection you’d expect. What do you think will happen?
I believe you're correct. I should report back soon about this.
It seems to operate adequately for now. Ronothan mentioned that many repair folks rely on preheaters while soldering these GPU mainboards. As long as the cap stays steady and no loose solder balls remain, the connection appears solid.
I rested it and returned this morning to try again. I heated the area to around 100°C using a heat gun and then softened the joints again. It didn’t fully smooth everything out, but the connection to the board’s pad looks much improved, so I’m moving forward with reassembly now. Appreciate the support!
Final update (probably): Graphics card functioned smoothly without any issues. The main hardware upgrade is finished. CPU: i7 13700k (new) Motherboard: ASRock Z790 LiveMixer (new) RAM: Trident Z5 RGB DDR5 6000 (new) SSD: 2x SN850X 2TB, 1x SN750 1TB (old) GPU: Gigabyte 3070 Ti Gaming OC (old) PSU: Evga 850W Supernova (old) Cooling: Unknown, a lot of junk from various sources. It was the perfect setup, but no major cables needed. The photo was captured right after power-on so doors and front cover were off, and RGB wasn't configured. Overall, I'm really satisfied everything works fine.