Cracked pcie slot on 4870x2

[KaiPLN]

I got my hands on a X2 and was wondering if there is any way to repair it since it has a bent/cracked pcie connector. I think the previous owner of this card was trying to force it into a agp slot which I find pretty funny but seeing a perfectly good card go to waste is crazy. I'm pretty sure its not possible as several traces are messed up too...looks like some tool wasted lots of money haha

[xtkxhom3r]

show us a pic so we can tell you how to go about repairing it if possible

[KaiPLN]

I'll upload some pics in the morning since I dont have my camera with me...

[CGR]

I would probably just return it to the original owner.

[Mjolnir]

If you got it for free or an extremely low low price, can't hurt to try your best at repairing it! Goodluck! =D

[jamesman32]

Does it look like this?

[KaiPLN]

lol I get to keep the card either way might as well try to repair it and try quad fire haha

[ChinStrap]

Does it look like this?

:clap:

[xtkxhom3r]

OMG WTF?!?! hahahaha wow.... where did you find that? at tomshardware?? LOL

[jokers_greg]

Does it look like this?

HAHAHHAA

[CGR]

He did such a good job at cutting it too :)

[KaiPLN]

LOl I read that post where the guy cut his 7800 :clap: hahha
Anyway heres what the x2 looks like:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/4393887285_8611635a3b_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4001/4394652808_6ccb31d168_b.jpg


U guys think its repairible or its done for???:confused:

[MonkeyMhz]

Seems like your card is addicted to Crack! lol.

That's just so sad, that's such a nice card. :(

Is that lil cracked piece about to fall off or can you kinda bend it back to its spot and maybe if the connectors didn't break it might work if you plug it in. If not, well then it looks like there's not much hope.

I don't really have any ideas on how to fix it. Dam, such a waste.

[ratbuddy]

I bet it'd work in a x8 or x4 open ended slot :beer:

[xtkxhom3r]

naw man it looks like the guy droped it and broke it completely lol that sucks

[CGR]

Well, since you are stuck with it regardless, I guess it wouldnt hurt to try.

Just be REALLY careful when you try to bend that back as it could easily break off.

If you use metal pliers, put some electrical tape over the entire area so you never touch the PCB or connections.

Edit: After looking closer it seems that the connections are severed from the slot points to the PCB. So my guess is that the card wont work.

[KaiPLN]

Is that lil cracked piece about to fall off or can you kinda bend it back to its spot and maybe if the connectors didn't break it might work if you plug it in. If not, well then it looks like there's not much hope.

That piece is cracked not bent but it still holds on pretty tight probably cuz the traces hold it on the opposite side.
I did insert it into my mobo but nothing the fan spins down normally...

[xtkxhom3r]

sorry man but i think your out of luck...

[Bobnova]

Count the pins in an 8X connector and hack off the extras from the card.
Unlike PCI-X (that other card posted), PCIe actually works when you do that. It looks at what it has available and then works with it, so if it only has 8x worth of pins it'll just run at 8x, assuming the slot has at least 8x capacity.
You could actually hack off enough to fit in a 1x slot and it'd work, though slowly.

This does assume that no traces other then the connector traces were broken.

[xtkxhom3r]

Count the pins in an 8X connector and hack off the extras from the card.
Unlike PCI-X (that other card posted), PCIe actually works when you do that. It looks at what it has available and then works with it, so if it only has 8x worth of pins it'll just run at 8x, assuming the slot has at least 8x capacity.
You could actually hack off enough to fit in a 1x slot and it'd work, though slowly.

This does assume that no traces other then the connector traces were broken.

LOL :clap: cut away! :attn: :D

:screwy:

[Bobnova]

Check it out, http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=790660

I was amazed.

[KaiPLN]

LOL at the hack job but since I have 2 extra pcie 8x slots on my k9a2 platinum would the video card work if I insert it into a 8x slot??Might try that later on.

[Bobnova]

Worth a shot.

[CharlieCS]

Ummm bend it back and heat it up a bit perhaps:attn:? but depending on how much you paid for it , you might not want to do that .

[KaiPLN]

Ummm bend it back and heat it up a bit perhaps:attn:? but depending on how much you paid for it , you might not want to do that .

I got it for free lol and that piece is cracked so heating it up won't fix broken traces on that thing.:clap:

[satansangel114]

I had that happen once, just snap it off, super glue it back on strait, and solder the traces back together (you will need to sand the coating off first) then cover the solder joints with epoxy for more strength.

You may be able to use conductive paint as well:P

[KaiPLN]

Well those traces are microscopic how can you solder those and look at where the actual crack is its between the gold contact points and the resistors/transistors whatever that is.

[dippy_skoodlez]

Well those traces are microscopic how can you solder those and look at where the actual crack is its between the gold contact points and the resistors/transistors whatever that is.

I would go with the 16x to 8x conversion.

Personally I would probably just try using an 8x slow before actually slicing off the end of the card. But I also don't have a dremel handy :clap:

Anyone have PCIe spec papers for pinouts for this guy? ;)

[KaiPLN]

I did try it on a pcie 8x slot and its a no go either so im in a dilemna right now...

[dippy_skoodlez]

I did try it on a pcie 8x slot and its a no go either so im in a dilemna right now...

GET TO DA CHOPPA. :burn:

It's basically dead as it is, the most you're gonna do is kill it. :clap:

[Gomeler]

Don't cut the fingers off the card, use nail polish and cover the fingers. Also make sure none of the fingers past the x8 functionality are touching each other to prevent any shorts. In theory it should work however it is possible there was damage done to critical parts of the PCB besides what you can see there. Worth a shot though, play around with it a bit. It is a $300 card for $0, if you get it working even if it takes a few hours it will be awesome.

[KaiPLN]

Hell, even if I get it working at 8x might as well use it for folding since I already have 4870's in crossfire .
Or I might give it to my brother he needs it more than I do lol.
That 8x would be a huge bottleneck for the card wouldn't it??:bang head:

[Bobnova]

Not that bad. It probably would, but being pcie2 x8 it's the same as x16 pcie1, four gigs of bandwidth.

If it won't work in an 8X slot try it in a 1x slot.
If it still doesn't work, put it on ebay with a really descriptive description, AS IS and with lots of pics.

[dippy_skoodlez]

.
That 8x would be a huge bottleneck for the card wouldn't it??:bang head:

won't know if you don't try ;)

[ratbuddy]

Cut starting after the 38th pin on one side (76th pin total) not counting the small tab with 11 per side (22 total) pins.

edit: It won't be bottlenecked much running at PCIe 2.0 x8 speeds.

[KaiPLN]

I taped off the ramaining pins so counting the 11 pins on the little tab its 49 pins total on one side for 8x but I found out I need to solder something on it too:bang head:
If anybody needs the pinout for pcie you can find it here
http://pinouts.ru/Slots/pci_express_pinout.shtml (If the link doesn't work at first refresh the page)

[MonkeyMhz]

Good luck man, I hope you get it working.

And if it still fails to work, hack out the die/chip's, etch twkr into them and sell them on ebay. lol jk.

[xtkxhom3r]

wow thats some crazy **** i never wouldve thought you could do something like that lol

[KaiPLN]

Good luck man, I hope you get it working.

And if it still fails to work, hack out the die/chip's, etch twkr into them and sell them on ebay. lol jk.

hahaha nice one!:D

[dippy_skoodlez]

Good luck man, I hope you get it working.

And if it still fails to work, hack out the die/chip's, etch twkr into them and sell them on ebay. lol jk.

Heat up the backside to de-solder the GPU itself, and it makes one really nice keychain. :attn:

[xtkxhom3r]

Heat up the backside to de-solder the GPU itself, and it makes one really nice keychain. :attn:

hmmm i think i found some use for my old 3870x2 thats sitting in my closet!! :D

any one want a genuine R670 GPU keychain ??:cool: :D

[KaiPLN]

Holy sh*t i got it to boot but when I taped the extra pins for x16 so it would boot at 8x I would get no signal from the card not even the fan would spin up just three red lights....
I took off the tape stuck it in the x16 slot cracked and all after I soldered back that broken transistor and heres what it looks like....:bang head:
http://gpuz.techpowerup.com/09/07/24/cvq.png

Notice anything strange with the gpuz readout??Look closer at what speed its running at...16X!?!?! WTF is going on??:confused:LOL

[Bobnova]

Well hey, good work :D


Does it function? If part of the x16 is toasted it'll fail right quick once you put a load on it.

[xtkxhom3r]

wow great job man but the only reason its reading 16x is because its in the 16x slot...

[KaiPLN]

Uh oh looks like only one gpu seems to be loaded other is at 0% catalist a.i. is enabled any ideas???

[jason4207]

wow great job man but the only reason its reading 16x is because its in the 16x slot...

I've seen x1, x2, x4, and x8 show up while in a x16 slot. I can't see the pic above, so maybe you know something I don't.



I had that happen once, just snap it off, super glue it back on strait, and solder the traces back together (you will need to sand the coating off first) then cover the solder joints with epoxy for more strength.

You may be able to use conductive paint as well:P

I would try this. I've soldered stuff much smaller than that.

[xtkxhom3r]

try running furmark in full screen mode and 2 instances of gpuz in the background with logging enabled

[KaiPLN]

X2 fails after couple seconds of furmark Ill try it in a 8x slot later when I get home...
btw anyone know where to get good thermal tape for this card wanna change them out frozencpu has it but it looks like poop :D

[xtkxhom3r]

i think sidewinder's has some

[kyussinchains]

nice job!! :beer:

*goes off to search ebay listings for broken cards*