VGA Silencer by Arctic Cooling help needed...please reply!!

I bought an Arctic Cooler (rev 3) for my 9800 pro.I installed the HS exactly the way I thought I was supposed to.Before installing it,the card worked perfectly with the stock HS.Anyway, after the AC install,I booted up and ony half of my screen was actually a good picture,while the other half was full of black and white vertical stripes and a bunch of solid blocks.One thing I noticed was that one of the RAM chips on the card seemed to have ahairline crack in it.The RAM chip ws still in one piece,but I wa wondering if that crack could have anything to do with the distorted screen after booting.I put the stock HS bac on and that didnt clear the problem up at all.I have also heard soem people had problems with this Arctic Cooler---but cant recall what the issues were.I have a new 9800 pro,and was going to try to instal the AC again...are there any precations or special steps I should take?Does anyone know of a really good onine tutorial on how to install this(with alot of pictures)? The instructions they sent seemd pretty easy to follow....but I just want to play it safe and have a second refence to review.

I know I listed a few questions...if you dont have an answer for all...at least answer the ones you can,please.The two most important things I need to find out is why I got the distorted screen after my first install,and if thee is anything I should do as a precaution for installing it on another 9800 pro.The tutorial would be helpful,too.

Thanks guy---you rock

You just have to be careful when handling your video card. Follow the directions that came with the cooler and don't tighten the screws too tight. Also as a precaution inspect the card in detail before you install the AC. That way you can make sure there is no damage before you install the new cooler.

With that damage, it seems like you might have ruined your card. Inspect it very closely, and check to see if there are any traces that you cut. A friend of mine had a ATI card, and accidently cut one of the traces, so his video only showed up with vertical while lines. The cut trace can be fixed, I have been told, by using some conductive silver paint (though I dont believe the actual color matters, as long as its conductive).

HeatM1ser2k4 said:

II noticed was that one of the RAM chips on the card seemed to have ahairline crack in it.The RAM chip ws still in one piece,but I wa wondering if that crack could have anything to do with the distorted screen after booting.

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Yea if the RAM chip is damaged the card is ****ed for good Looks like you'll be buying a 6800 / x800 now

I was afriad that the hairline fracture in the RAm was the problem...I was just hoping it wasnt.I'll buy another card.I have heard some problems with the 6800---is that also the case with the 6800 Ultra?

Or if you are good at soldering try to find a ram chip (same one that came with the card) online somewhere and resolder it on, then flash it. Might work.

That would take highly specialized IC equpiment. Soldering an IC with that many pins isn't as simple as being "good at soldering."

Sure it is, I do it everyday with a soldering iron: use a knife tip and plenty of flux. I don't know, maybe I am better than very good at soldering, I am an electonics inspector/tester. We make state-of-the-art electronics for the government.

Your card is screwed, sorry to say that. Be more careful when you remove/apply a heatsink. Just a single scratch at the wrong place could ruin a card. Also make sure nothing is shortening anything out.

About the lines across the screen, that's definitly the cracked RAM chip. You usually get that kind of artifacting when there's something wrong with your RAM.

My advice is to try to sell the card at a lower price to someone who is willing to fix it, or you could try fixing it yourself with the methods mentioned above. Soldering a RAM chip would be pretty diffucult for the Average Joe, unless you ARE an electronics inspector/tester
And don't forget you're going to have to go through all the hassle of actually FINDING a ram chip that is EXACTLY THE SAME.

And what problem are you talking about with the 6800s??? There is no problem, cards work perfectly and overclock like a beast... most of them. It just depends on how much you're willing to spend. Most cards get awesome overclocks with just air cooling.
In some cases you could also open the extra 4 pipelines on the 6800 NU.

Ha_hA_HA! said:

Sure it is, I do it everyday with a soldering iron: use a knife tip and plenty of flux. I don't know, maybe I am better than very good at soldering, I am an electonics inspector/tester. We make state-of-the-art electronics for the government.

Click to expand...

Soldering an 8 pin IC would take more skill than I've got but I know someone experienced could....but the thing with the BGA memory IC is that its got 144 pins covering the full surface. Each has to be heated individually, and simultaneously, and then joined onto the card's surface, all the while keeping each pin seperate from another. It's flat out physically impossible, no matter how much soldering skill you have.

No way you can solder pins like these with an ordinary soldering iron (happens to be GC33 samsung that I pulled off of my old 9800)

Well, no, for a ball grid array you will need a type of hot air gun that blows air under the chip, melting the solder. In my previous posts I was refering to a standard dip or quad pack. While much more difficult, replacing a BGA by hand is possible, but yes you can not do it with a soldering iron.

Some 6800's do have a known problem when running on NF3 boards. My old 6800GT would freeze up at least two or three times when playing D3D games, even with fastwrites off running at stock using blit fix. That's why I switched to ATI and the X800 XT PE.

But getting back on the subject, your card is screwed. You might get $10 or $15 bucks out of it on ebay if your lucky. Newegg has 6600GT for about $200 if your looking to upgrade to newer tech but would like to stay in the 9800 price range.

You can't do it by hand either way. Find me someone who can control a heatgun that powerful, and a solder bath that he is using by hand and I will be impressed.

i would send it back to ati

Please to go off on me about sending back things that you broke, i know about that
But
Im pretty sure ATI has a policy of if you do physical damge to the card and rma it than they will repair it for a fee