Eurocom Tornado F5 now expensive paperweight

Can I oven bake my GPU to fix the solder flow issue pictured below? Or do I need to send it to an ebay reflow expert?

I really can't spend $800 to replace the graphics card right now. If this thing is toast it is going to be a very expensive paperweight for many months.
https://imgur.com/a/vlwwx5k

Spoiler: image

Yes, out of warranty by over a year.

 

@Khenglish have maybe the answer.

 

I'm eager to hear some other opinions. Here is the process I'd probably use with a burner toaster oven. https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/6zfrf1/should_you_bake_your_graphics_card/

I feel a little dumb, I was running everything stock from day one and I should have been underclocking the cpu to slow the inevitable. Shame on me and a costly mistake indeed.

 

The instructions micman linked are pretty good. The author is a bit pessimistic about how often this works. If you line the GPU core with solder flux it will bleed under, and broken solder connections are very likely near the perimeter of the core so you will likely get solder flux where it is needed. You really should use solder flux.

I don't like using 2 ovens. That just increases the chances of burning yourself and warping the card. Cards are very tolerant of temps between 100C and 180C anyway.

While temperature of a toaster oven is less even than a reflow oven, it's more even than heat from a rework station. This is only a problem for complete rework as one end of the core can have its solder melt first, making that end drop down excessively and make the core uneven. Your core already has its solder melted to the proper height so this does not matter.

Make sure you have the card on a flat surface. If you leave it on a metal grate, the uneven pressure from the grate can move components.

Rework without a full core reball typically only works if the card is still somewhat functional. For example it's artifact free at times, and can run games for a bit sometimes. If you have intermittent functionality that means the broken solder connection is still physically pushed into the solder pad. If the connections are not touching, then reflow will not rebond them.

Toaster ovens are junk at regulating their temperature. This is the biggest issue I have had while using a toaster.

As for paying someone to fully reball and resolder the chip, make sure you know the person is competent. Nvidia 10 series boards are very fragile. You only get 1, maybe 2 shots at reflowing it before it is too badly damaged. Older boards are much more forgiving.

 

Also, what is wrong with the card? You'll never physically see broken solder connections that warrant a reflow.

 

For a few weeks I've had games crashing due to gpu error. Last time before it black screened and never came back I was playing a high gpu ram usage game. Temps have been 95-100 and a repaste didn't reduce much. Have been playing with laptop in cool room on a cooling pad the whole time. I never did the bottom case mod, obviously should have. After the screen went black I did a tear down and second repaste, making sure that everything was seated correctly. On power on all I get is a black screen while the power button is lit and fans spin up normally.

 

For a GPU malfunctioning that badly it probably needs a full reball and resoldering of the core.

 

It can be repaired for 250$ . However it will take some time - shipping/repair/test...

 

Time is not an issue. I'd rather have it done once and done right than risk killing an $800 card. But @majster msi where do I find a reputable repair shop?

 

PM me . I will provide you all options. Generaly I am fixing GPU / motherboards only MSI.

 

Pm sent, thanks! Guys isn't this the best community?

 

https://postimg.cc/gallery/my3lfv42/

 

Very encouraging results! Amazing work from majster to get the card operable on boot. As an update to this thread if anyone's interested we are working via pm to do stress testing next before declaring the card 100%, but I'm hopeful and confident. As a good luck charm I've ordered some phobya nanogrease extreme for installing the card and repasting cpu. Also plan on drilling the bottom cover in following the common case mod others have done in this laptop model. Hopefully a few years left in this beast.

 

Mission accomplished .

https://postimg.cc/gallery/1cdyfbc5e/

 

micman is so excited at this development he has begun speaking in third person. Videos an excellent touch. Majster's "frankenstein" cooling might have just beat the temps I was getting from factory. Maybe I need a frankenstein of my own
+repped!

 

Hehe