My 6970 is toast. Pass the butter please :-)

bwanaaa said:

That's really why the coolant is usually colored. You put a paper towel in there (just under the block and the rad) and if there's a leak, it shows up right away. Especially with new builds, it takes time to make sure your loop is good. Also, the liquid degasses and you have to add more coolant as its volume shrinks a little.

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When I'm watercooling a system, I use a stand-alone 12v Power Supply and run the pump for a couple days before completing the build, and I too place a piece of paper towel under the block to see if any leaks occur.

I also differ from most in that I cut a piece of chamois leather and place it on the back of the GPU in case a slow leak develops over time. It's easy to see, doesn't appreciably impact airflow or riase temps, and absorbs water very well.

I applied 2 layers of conductive ink to fill in the missing trace. i then removed the ink that was inbetween traces to prevent any shorts. i put the board back in the computer and i get the same result. system hang during windows logo on start up.

also...

when i first built this system i bled the loop and checked for leaks for a day. i just left it going on a backup psu. there were no leaks anywhere. it appears to me that the hose connected to the faulty fitting twisted and rotated the fitting slightly to cause the leak.

this is like the "final destination" death of a 6970!

so my self repair has failed. no response from sapphire yet. i guess i should start looking for a person here on the forums who can repair this?

It's odd because the 3rd trance which is damaged is common with the first two, as i said it's +12V, so the first two should power the card even without the 3rd. I hope the card is 100% funcional.

Was the card seated properly? It looks like there could have been a short due to pin crossing there?


Also, I am sorry for your loss. Heavy investment to lose out on are graphics cards.

dunkler said:

It's odd because the 3rd trance which is damaged is common with the first two, as i said it's +12V, so the first two should power the card even without the 3rd. I hope the card is 100% funcional.

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yeah, I don't think that third trace is the issue - the card probably has other issues

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!

I finally heard back from Sapphire and they agreed to help me out. I had to work with Microcenter (where i originally bought the "open box-as is" card for a heavy discount.)

Long story short, I sent them the broken card, and they sent me a refurbed 6970 for only shipping costs. Worked out to be about $15 there and $10 back. Pretty sweet huh?

The new card is actually the Rev.2 pcb, so my full cover waterblock doesn't line up 100%. luckily swiftech makes a replacement rev.2 part. All I need to do is swap out a tiny part of the waterblock, and I am golden.

Lessons Learned

Use colored coolant.

Leak test for several hours before powering on the rest of the machine

always buy a ****ing warranty with expensive computer parts. being SOL is not fun. I believe I am fortunate this time.

Perform daily visuals checks for leaks. Which isnt a problem for us overclockers since our case doors spend most of the time off!

I hope this thread was of some use to someone. And thank you all for your help.