It is a dismal day....Murdered my GF3 :(

jtroutma · 11-01-2002, 04:20 PM

Well, I think the subject says it all.

Took my GF3 out last night to revamp the cooling units on the core and the memory. The memory sinks came off with a bit of a struggle but without too many problems. The core was a different matter however.

Placed a Golden Orb on it a few months back and held it in place with two small drops of Thermal Epoxy on two corners and AS3 in the center. Went to pull the core off and it dang thing was welded on! While trying to get a knife between the core and the Orb, the knife slipped and off poped a surface mounted resistor

(found the resistor later in the AS3 that was left over from the core)

Roommate got the orb off (after using brute force with hunting knife

) and managed to resolder the surface mount back on but no go. Machines come back with BIOS beeps indicating no video found.

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo....

Ordered a Radeon 9700 Pro and hope that I dont loose my job in the next few months

Side question: does any one happen to have the scimatics for the GF3 reference design? If I could find out what that surface mount is and its specifications, I could possibly save the card from becoming part of my computer graveyard.....

bigben2k · 11-01-2002, 04:38 PM

If it's a resistor, then the AS3 would skew the SMT resistance value, which would throw off the card (or fry it, in the worst of cases).

Good luck.

jtroutma · 11-01-2002, 05:17 PM

Cleaned off the "suspected" resistor but I think it was damaged when I knocked it off the board.

I think that is the only thing keeping the board from operating, considering that it looks to be a control line from the AGP interface.

Can O' Beans · 11-03-2002, 10:58 PM

Does it have any numbers on it?

Did you check the area around it, perhaps you nicked a trace or another component.

MadDogMe · 11-04-2002, 02:42 AM

If you can identify the value you should be able to replace it and get the Gf3 working again...

I sold a Gf2 to a freind and it packed up after four weeks!

[embarisment or what?] it was fine when I sold it, now it has lines all over the screen, you can just kinda make out windoz behind the mish~mash. any ideas?. it was'nt OC'ed at the time. it just packed up for no apparent reason!...

Can O' Beans · 11-05-2002, 01:17 AM

I'd first make sure it's completely clean of dust/particles, especially around the RAM area.

11-01-2002, 04:20 PM	#1
jtroutma Cooling Savant Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: SLO, CA Posts: 837	It is a dismal day....Murdered my GF3 :( Well, I think the subject says it all. Took my GF3 out last night to revamp the cooling units on the core and the memory. The memory sinks came off with a bit of a struggle but without too many problems. The core was a different matter however. Placed a Golden Orb on it a few months back and held it in place with two small drops of Thermal Epoxy on two corners and AS3 in the center. Went to pull the core off and it dang thing was welded on! While trying to get a knife between the core and the Orb, the knife slipped and off poped a surface mounted resistor (found the resistor later in the AS3 that was left over from the core) Roommate got the orb off (after using brute force with hunting knife ) and managed to resolder the surface mount back on but no go. Machines come back with BIOS beeps indicating no video found. Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.... Ordered a Radeon 9700 Pro and hope that I dont loose my job in the next few months Side question: does any one happen to have the scimatics for the GF3 reference design? If I could find out what that surface mount is and its specifications, I could possibly save the card from becoming part of my computer graveyard..... __________________ Athlon64 X2 4200+ @ 2.5Ghz (250FSB x 10) OCZ VX 1GB 4000 @ 250FSB (6-2-2-2 timmings) DFI LANParty nForce4 Ultra-D SCSI Raid 5 x (3) Cheetah 15K HDDs LSI Express 500 (128MB cache) OCZ PowerStream 520W PSU ATI X850XT PE (Stock) DTEK WhiteWater + DTEK Custom Radiator Eheim 1250

11-01-2002, 04:38 PM	#2
bigben2k Responsible for 2% of all the posts here. Join Date: May 2002 Location: Texas, U.S.A. Posts: 8,302	If it's a resistor, then the AS3 would skew the SMT resistance value, which would throw off the card (or fry it, in the worst of cases). Good luck. __________________ WBTA (Water Block Testing Alliance) Nordic Hardware WC 101

11-01-2002, 05:17 PM	#3
jtroutma Cooling Savant Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: SLO, CA Posts: 837	Cleaned off the "suspected" resistor but I think it was damaged when I knocked it off the board. I think that is the only thing keeping the board from operating, considering that it looks to be a control line from the AGP interface. __________________ Athlon64 X2 4200+ @ 2.5Ghz (250FSB x 10) OCZ VX 1GB 4000 @ 250FSB (6-2-2-2 timmings) DFI LANParty nForce4 Ultra-D SCSI Raid 5 x (3) Cheetah 15K HDDs LSI Express 500 (128MB cache) OCZ PowerStream 520W PSU ATI X850XT PE (Stock) DTEK WhiteWater + DTEK Custom Radiator Eheim 1250

11-03-2002, 10:58 PM	#4
Can O' Beans Cooling Savant Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Pa - USA Posts: 264	Does it have any numbers on it? Did you check the area around it, perhaps you nicked a trace or another component.

11-04-2002, 02:42 AM	#5
MadDogMe Thermophile Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Just shut up ;) ... Posts: 1,068	If you can identify the value you should be able to replace it and get the Gf3 working again... I sold a Gf2 to a freind and it packed up after four weeks! [embarisment or what?] it was fine when I sold it, now it has lines all over the screen, you can just kinda make out windoz behind the mish~mash. any ideas?. it was'nt OC'ed at the time. it just packed up for no apparent reason!...

11-05-2002, 01:17 AM	#6
Can O' Beans Cooling Savant Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Pa - USA Posts: 264	I'd first make sure it's completely clean of dust/particles, especially around the RAM area.

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