Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
Good solder? You realize there is no good solder anymore, we're all lead free from the RoHS Directive. The gpu's don't die, all the components are still there and in working order it's just losing continuity with the board. Lead free solder gets soft at low temps and that causes issues. Just think the bga (ball grid array) contains at least 700-1200 points and all of those points have some purpose. Now if you had one of those connections go bad the gpu will work for the most part until it references some memory address that uses that specific component. Then you either get graphic artifacts, a bsod or the system locks up.
Like i said it's all caused from lead free solder and high temps. I've seen so many computers die from heat (latest ones being any of the amd vision chipsets). The worst part is that dust and dirt acts as an insulator and wreaks havoc on the capacitors and other heat sensitive components in a computer. Now i'm not saying all computers die from the gpu running too hot, but most of them do die from heat.
The end all solution to these gpu problems is to reball the chip. Reballing is exactly what you think it is, it's replacing the bga with new solder (either lead free or not). The board has to be held firm at various points so it doesn't warp when it gets hot. Then the chip is removed, all the old solder is cleaned off the chip and the board and a stencil is applied over the chip. Then the new solderballs are rolled onto the stencil and get heated so they stick to the chip. Then the chip gets lined up and heated so it will make a good connection with the board. It's all pretty technical on how to do it and what temps are best. Temperatures range from 200C - 250C.
A lot of people reball with lead solder because it's not as brittle and doesn't cool as a cold solder joint. You can do your research and argue all you want, facts are that lead free solder is garbage and we're only forced to use it because of the RoHS Directive. AMD and Intel moved on and started designing cgpu's or superchips for their new chipset designs. These superchips have both the cpu and gpu in one easily replaceable chip. It makes more sense placing a socket on the board instead of replacing the solder beneath the chip. The socket itself acts as an insulator and the solder doesn't get nearly as hot as a direct bga connection. I've seen some pretty toasty intel core 2's that died from heat but the socket is always still intact.
The xbox 360's and ps3's have the same issue and they both redesigned around heat and power consumption. The xbox 360 slim has a xcgpu superchip instead of a cpu and a gpu and it runs much cooler. It's power supply is only 135w which is 68w less than the orignal xbox 360 launched in 2005. Less power means less heat.
Just look around and you'll see it's all lead free solder and heat that kills all of your newer electronics. I still have a handful of old electronics that still work mainly because they use lead solder. It's sad but true.
Asus G51VX Overheating Fixed
Discussion in 'ASUS Gaming Notebook Forum' started by Nick, Jul 31, 2010.
