Ripped a ram chip clean out

[3line]

&^@*(@ ramsinks.

Well, this is my old 9800Pro that came with ramsinks. I was twisting them off today so that I could install one of those new artic cooling silencers (the new models). 7 out of 8 ramsinks popped out easily enough, but the last one--goddamn. The thing was completely encased in thermal adhesive, spilling over to 3 of the 4 edges of the chip. Needless to say, it went like this: twist-riiiiip.

So now I have a 9800 missing one ram chip, but at least it's a relatively clean pull without damage to the PCB. Will this thing still run, just with slightly less memory, or am I just screwd?

[WillysNut]

I would guess you may be out of luck...but it never hurts to try. In the future, when you see that much adhesive, you may want to try to *carefully* cut through some of the adhesive with an exacto knife prior to attempting to remove the sink...but be careful not to cut into the ram chip. Sorry for your bad luck!

[punkgamingmaste]

just soldier the ram chip back on.

[hibner]

Oh, we gotta have some pics!

[Tyreal]

Agreed. Pics man!

[consumer9000]

just soldier the ram chip back on.

ROFLMAO - Easier said than done.

Sorry to hear about that man...in the future, you might consider heating up the card with some 3D apps, or freezing it to help soften/crystallize the thermal compound. :bang head

[3line]

Sorry to hear about that man...in the future, you might consider heating up the card with some 3D apps, or freezing it to help soften/crystallize the thermal compound. :bang head
I did try to freeze it. The thing is that this thing was COATED with thermal adhesive, dripping over the sides.

Unfortunately I don't have a digital camera, but there isn't much to see, folks. The chip just got pulled out more or less cleanly.

[WillysNut]

just soldier the ram chip back on.

You do realize we are talking about BGA Ram?! The solder balls are on the bottom of the chip package...not quite sure how you would solder these back on..

[Electron Chaser]

Oh wow!!! That really sucks, sorry to hear about your luck. At least this gives you a good reason to go buy a new card.

[3line]

Oh wow!!! That really sucks, sorry to hear about your luck. At least this gives you a good reason to go buy a new card.

Well, I already got a new card. See that X800 in my sig? :D

But it looks like I won't be able to put this old one to use no mo' :(

[3line]

Haha, it booted

With horrendous graphical errors, but it booted. LOL

[johan851]

You do realize we are talking about BGA Ram?! The solder balls are on the bottom of the chip package...not quite sure how you would solder these back on..
Simple. Heat the entire card to the melting point of your solder, then gently place the chip back on...

[A1Killer]

i think that would make the card burn wouldn't it?

[WarriorII]

I think there is someone around here who just might be able to help you.

Viper John?

I think that's his name here.

He's 'spose to the an ATI guru at fixin cards.

if he could fix it, then ya could sell it & make back a few $$

[johan851]

i think that would make the card burn wouldn't it?
Of course it would. :)

Sarcasm doesn't translate so well on a forum.

[A1Killer]

yeah tru tru whe i read it i was like dang he wants this guy to cook his card to well done now thats an odd way of fixing something lol

[sean478]

&^@*(@ ramsinks.

Well, this is my old 9800Pro that came with ramsinks. I was twisting them off today so that I could install one of those new artic cooling silencers (the new models). 7 out of 8 ramsinks popped out easily enough, but the last one--goddamn. The thing was completely encased in thermal adhesive, spilling over to 3 of the 4 edges of the chip. Needless to say, it went like this: twist-riiiiip.

So now I have a 9800 missing one ram chip, but at least it's a relatively clean pull without damage to the PCB. Will this thing still run, just with slightly less memory, or am I just screwd?
u may be able to flash to a 128mb 9800se with 128bit mem and have it work :)

make shure that there isnt any shorts from where it riped off though

[SolidxSnake]

Of course it would. :)

Sarcasm doesn't translate so well on a forum.


actually, it wouldn't burn the card. How do you think they get the ram on in the first place? The boards can withstand a LOT of heat.

[johan851]

u may be able to flash to a 128mb 9800se with 128bit mem and have it work

make shure that there isnt any shorts from where it riped off though
Not a chance. First, he needs it to boot properly to flash...and that's not going to happen. Flashing to a 128-bit BIOS doesn't change the fact that the remaining pipelines are 256-bit pipelines. On top of it all, an entire memory chip is missing...that messes up the card's architecture. The card won't be able to address any memory read/writes properly. It's just not going to work w/o a memory chip.

[sean478]

Not a chance. First, he needs it to boot properly to flashwrong....


Flashing to a 128-bit BIOS doesn't change the fact that the remaining pipelines are 256-bit pipelines
wth are u talkin about how the hell are pipelines and mem bit size related?

an entire memory chip is missing...that messes up the card's architecture. u realy have no clue what ur talkin about do u?

e card won't be able to address any memory read/writes properly. It's just not going to work w/o a memory chip. thats y im sugesting not using it

let me explain...


the card has a bad mem chip and there are 4 chanels for mem 64mb each what he could do is flash the card to a 9800 se (4 pipes he would have to softmod to get use of all 8 of those back) and since that bios is desighed for a 9800 with only 128 bit mem and 128 mb of ram it will not use 2 of the channels (hopefully it will use 2 of the remaining 3 good channels depending on whitch channel he broke) si on the end he will end up with a 9800 se with 8 pipes 128mb of mem and a 128 bit mem bus :)

this all asuming that he has a 256 bit 256 mb 9800 pro :)

[johan851]

actually, it wouldn't burn the card. How do you think they get the ram on in the first place? The boards can withstand a LOT of heat.
Well...they solder it at a bunch of points, not all at once. At any rate, if all the solder became liquid every soldered component on the board would just kinda slide around... :)

[{PMS}fishy]

just soldier the ram chip back on.

You ever try to solder a BGA chip back on?

Lets just say its not going to happen.

[Aphex_Tom_9]

how about just placing it back on and holding it down tightly, just to see if it works?

[JigPu]

Somebody here was messing with doing some BGA soldering IIRC, and managed to get it to work. I don't know where the thread is, but after a lot of research, I think his attempt was sucessful (and the method he used was to "bake" his card in the oven). Heavy components like capacitors fell out, but capacitors are a LOT easier to solder than BGA :D

JigPu

[Electron Chaser]

Somebody here was messing with doing some BGA soldering IIRC, and managed to get it to work. I don't know where the thread is, but after a lot of research, I think his attempt was sucessful (and the method he used was to "bake" his card in the oven). Heavy components like capacitors fell out, but capacitors are a LOT easier to solder than BGA :D

JigPu

LOL can you imagine your wife walking in on this.

" I never thought I would see you in the kitchen, What is that smell? What are you baking?"

"RAM Chips."

" I've never had those, why are they Baked? I thought you fried chips."

"Only if I screw up"

" Huh :eh?: "

[Aphex_Tom_9]

LOL can you imagine your wife walking in on this.

" I never thought I would see you in the kitchen, What is that smell? What are you baking?"

"RAM Chips."

" I've never had those, why are they Baked? I thought you fried chips."

"Only if I screw up"

" Huh :eh?: "
hahahaha

[johan851]

wrong....
Right. The card won't initialize with a missing memory chip, and the system won't boot.

Edit for spelling (I have trouble understanding it otherwise...)
[You] [really] have no clue what [you're] [talking] about[,] do [you]?
Ok...so the card doesn't really need that extra chip? You can just remove them whenever you want to? If that's true, why is he even worried about the card missing a chip? Lost a RAM chip? Lost two? Oh, it's cool, just plug it back in! Wheee...

The card needs to address all of its memory, and now it's missing a bank. IT WON'T EVEN TURN ON.

If the card doesn't work, how can he flash its BIOS? The idea doesn't even make sense.

[Aphex_Tom_9]

uhh...the card should boot with a missing chip, just with a seriously borked display...

[cwhits]

just send it to viper john because if he cant fix it theres a 99 percent chance u cant fix it.

[3line]

The card needs to address all of its memory, and now it's missing a bank. IT WON'T EVEN TURN ON.

If the card doesn't work, how can he flash its BIOS? The idea doesn't even make sense.

I have posted that I managed to boot with it, just with a severely ****ed up display.

Unfortunately, this is a 128mb model. Someone would have to write me a 64meg bios for the flash fix to work.

[pip]

Simple. Heat the entire card to the melting point of your solder, then gently place the chip back on...


Sarcasm or no, I seem to remember someone doing this to a videocard of theirs some time ago.

[sean478]

I have posted that I managed to boot with it, just with a severely ****ed up display.

Unfortunately, this is a 128mb model. Someone would have to write me a 64meg bios for the flash fix to work.can u post a pic of ur card it may help to see if a flash fix is still possible

Ok...so the card doesn't really need that extra chip? You can just remove them whenever you want to? If that's true, why is he even worried about the card missing a chip? Lost a RAM chip? Lost two? Oh, it's cool, just plug it back in! Wheee...only furthering the fact that u cant read i explained that the se bios only uses 2 chanels and some pros use 4 there for if he has a 4 chanel pro and he flashes to a 2 chanel se he has a 50/50 chance that the bios will only use the chanels that are still operational but he will have to live with only half the memory of the origional card

so at this point to get his card working he is going to need a custom se bios moded to only use 64mb and depending on if he has a 128 bit mem bus or a 256bit mem bus he will need a 64 bitor 128 bit bios respectivly

[3line]

can u post a pic of ur card it may help to see if a flash fix is still possible
I don't have a digital camera, but I'll see what I can scrounge up in the next few days.

[sean478]

I don't have a digital camera, but I'll see what I can scrounge up in the next few days.


http://images.google.com/images?biw=&q=9800+pro&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images see if u can find one here that looks exactly (exactly) the same :)

[3line]

It's got an R-360 9800XT PCB like this one (it's actually successfully flashed to XT):

http://server6.uploadit.org/files/tahrikmili-sapphire9800pro1.jpg

On the back, the missing chip is on the lower lefthand corner:

http://www.maximumoc.com/img/hardware/sapphire_9800pro/huge_back_300pixels.jpg

There is no visible damage to the PCB

[sean478]

lol those two pics are two diferent cards :) but u say ithas the xt pcb ok that helps :)it means it should be 256 bit :)

[3line]

lol those two pics are two diferent cards :) but u say ithas the xt pcb ok that helps :)it means it should be 256 bit :)
I know. I couldn't find an R360 pcb back shot.

Apparently these people don't like back :D

[sean478]

here is what id try (50/50 chance of working) ill download a 9800 se bios and see if i can edit it for 64 mb and if i can then all u need to do is cross ur fingers while u flash it (u will need a pci vid card to flash it unless u can still see? can u?)


(btw can u edit one of thee pics to show which chip u riped off)

[sean478]

what kind of mem does it have? manufacturer?

[3line]

here is what id try (50/50 chance of working) ill download a 9800 se bios and see if i can edit it for 64 mb and if i can then all u need to do is cross ur fingers while u flash it (u will need a pci vid card to flash it unless u can still see? can u?)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/3line/huge_back_300pixels.jpg

Wow, thanks, man, I don't know what to say. I really appreciate this.

As a matter of fact, I still have my old 4meg viper 330, but last time I checked this fuxxored 9800 still gave semi-legible text, so I think I should be ok.

[3line]

what kind of mem does it have? manufacturer?
Memory is Hynix

Manufacturer is HIS, but if you can't find one from them, sapphire works nicely. As a matter of fact, I used a sapphire bios for the XT flash.

[sean478]

^edit: ok hold on a sec ill see if i can make one for hynx :)

ok dude here is the first bios u could try i edited it for 64mb and 128 bit and 9800xt clocks but it is only gonna have 4 pipes :( u will have to softmod withriva tuner to get those back (if it works)

who makes ur ram and whats the last two numbers on the top of it also do u know it its ddr or ddr2?? this is for samsung 3.3ns ddr (last two = 33) but it may work anyway even if the ram isnt the same:)

ok do u know how to flash?

[3line]

it is ddr2. give me a few mins to test this baby out.

[sean478]

edit: that ddr 2 could cause a prob.. cause these are ddr 1 bioses can u post ur origional bios i may be able to edit timings to like ddr 2 better if it will even be compatable:(

ok try this one :) it looks like the best match i can find :) hynx 3.3 xt clocks 218 bit mem 64 mb (4 pipes... :()

[3line]

Doh!

Yeah, that DDR1 bios made the thing even more ****ed up than before. Now I can't read anything, lol

Here's my original bios

[sean478]

ok this has the same timmings and ram speed settings as ur origional bios lets see if it works

i doubt it i think ill need to find a way to edit ur origional bios to 128bit but i dont know how thats y im just starting of with 128 bit bioses..

[3line]

ok this has the same timmings and ram speed settings as ur origional bios lets see if it works

i doubt it i think ill need to find a way to edit ur origional bios to 128bit but i dont know how thats y im just starting of with 128 bit bioses..
No dice. But nonetheless, I'm thankful for your help :)

It would be cool if one of these days I could get it flashed. It'd be the ghettoest 9800 in existence :D

[sean478]

well im fairly confident it will work if i could just find a way of editing the chanels that the bios uses but that kind of modifacation is beyond me :(

maby viper john could edit the bios for u?

btw what do u think? http://www.overclock.net/showthread.php?p=315714#post315714 :D

[3line]

btw what do u think? http://www.overclock.net/showthread.php?p=315714#post315714 :D
wait a minute. didn't a video card manufacturer (I think sapphire) get boycotted because they were selling 9800 pros with a 128-bit memory interface? Let me see if I can track down that bios.

edit: damnit, it's ddr1

how would I go about contacting viper john?

[sean478]

that may just work do u know if it was on the xt pcb and used ddr2?

[3line]

that may just work do u know if it was on the xt pcb and used ddr2?
Ok, there's a 256 meg version that uses ddr2, but the 128 version uses ddr1. I think that's right.

[mikeguava]

just send it to viper john because if he cant fix it theres a 99 percent chance u cant fix it.
He can do a lot - but I doubt he would manage that...

What are your max overclocks now with less ram? Does it help? :rolleyes:

[threeme2189]

try sticking the chip back in so all of the connectors touch eachother and see if it boots up right. i saw one dude who did that and the card worked. (different card though)

[pip]

try sticking the chip back in so all of the connectors touch eachother and see if it boots up right. i saw one dude who did that and the card worked. (different card though)


But then you also run the risk of frying the chip by running voltage into it wrong. Though I suppose this may be the only viable option.

[Aphex_Tom_9]

try sticking the chip back in so all of the connectors touch eachother and see if it boots up right. i saw one dude who did that and the card worked. (different card though)
yeah, that was my suggestion