GPU Reflow questions..

I'm getting an FX P-171S with a known GPU issue (too good of a deal to not take a chance on it)... I've been reading up on the reflow methods, and that is a load of info, mostly seeing it on Xbox/PS3 and HP's, but I'm assuming the same instructions apply to the FX P-171S (which I also assume is very close to the 6831, which I used to own and have dissembled several times). So, here are my questions:

Should I use the heat gun or oven method? I had planed to use the heat gun unless given good reason not to.

Are the temps and timings about the same for the PS3 and the FX P-171S? I know different types of solder have different melting temps.

Is the stack of quarters a good idea or bad?

Does the FX P-171S use a thermal pad like the 6831 or direct contact with paste? If a pad, is it good or bad to put a copper shim (what size??) with paste instead after the reflow (to try to keep it cooler and happening again)?

Thanks, and I hope you don't find this thread too annoying, as I said, I've been trying to do my homework on it, but there is way too much to sift through for the time I have available.

 

Well.. I did some more reading and I ordered some ICD7 to replace the thermal compound/pad on the GPU and all other heatsinked chips.

 

Heat gun would probably be best as other components on the board may melt in the oven. Try to make a nozzle to direct the air flow around the BGA. You also might want to get some liquid no-clean flux to inject under the BGA to help reflow the solder. It is most likely Pb-free which means you will need the solder to be over 220C for 60-90 seconds but not over 250C.

 

Maybe you should try to replace the BGA with a heatgun

Hum did that actually sound feasible to anyone? After rereading it... I REALLY want to try it now.

 

People have done it... Wow I never really thought that was possible.

Instead of reflowing your GPU which is not permanent, you can buy solder balls, flux, and a stencil which will allow you to permanently fix or upgrade your GPU.

With a heatgun. Who knew? (not entirely rhetorical question)

 

Well, I have the ICD7, no-clean flux, and a heat gun on the way. Guess I'll practice on a few junk boards with BGA chips first.

 

Do you have a link to a tutorial or detailed instructions on the heatgun reball?

 

Yes, I found a little video. But its not specifically for heatguns, not really anything special.

Basically the process is the same as reballing a GPU using a 1k$ infrared machine, up until the point where, well, you use the 1k$ machine.
So the video is nothing very special.
Still, I'll upload it in an archive soon.

You do really need a stencil and solder balls however. The stencil is what places all of the balls perfectly in place on the BGA, it has to be made for your particular type of chip, which luckily for you is g92 and not g94 which is more rare. Then you get the BGA hot and the solder balls stick to the BGA perfectly.

A guy on the forum where I found out about this said, and I quote:

But that is really NOT good advice for us with 500 or so balls involved.

I believe what he's talking about is doing it without a stencil and possibly with normal solder instead of balls. The guy posted about this because he didn't have the correct type of stencil for his BGA.

If you're going to do this you REALLY need a stencil.

 

THis video is more inspirational in the music than in the content, lol.
I think hes sort of doing too many things manually, maybe those balls are a little closer than on most.
How to... Reball ? - BGA Reballing Exercise for 50mm Chip of a Computer Motherboard - YouTube
And this is really way too long.

There are LOTs of cool videos about this. Using a heatgun does not change the rest of the process.
Laptop Nvidia Video Chip Repair - YouTube

But this one I think is really the most informative. If you're going to follow a process, this would be the video to watch:
Reballing_WMV.wmv - YouTube
The coolest and most important part is at 2:30. Even tho the quality is bad you can really see whats going on.

Its still just the preparation before the actual soldering is done, nothing more. The one thing they don't show that is important is cleaning and removing excess solder from the circuit board.

There are really no videos that show doing this with a heatgun.

A lot of people use all kinds of flux and solder glue. I think you can use any flux pretty much as long as the balls get soldered to the BGA pretty well.

 

I dont know what the FX P-171S looks like, but maybe the P-7811FX motherboard will fit:
Gateway P-7811FX Motherboard 4006287R MB.W050B.007 OEM! | eBay

I'm bet an offer of $150 would be accepted.

 

Well, I think this one would fit too, and it has the gtx 260m onboard:
packard Bell ipower GX-N10 motherboard G92-751-B1 products, buy packard Bell ipower GX-N10 motherboard G92-751-B1 products from alibaba.com


FOB price 140-180$

Wow, I wonder what happened to this board:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PACKARD-BEL...ultDomain_0&hash=item19c8d314bf#ht_2232wt_953
Thats a really good price for a broken board... cheaper than buying the gtx 260m BGA.

 

Well, I got the P-171s and everything else showed up on the same day. I used the very handy tear down guide sticky in this forum and had the reflow done in about 2 hours including cooling off. It works perfectly now and I put ICD7 on everything that was heat sinked. Temps look great.. I suppose the ICD7 needs to cure a bit, so I'll keep watching the temps and hopefully the GPU will run cool enough for this to hold for a while. If not I'll consider a reball then.