ShadowXP
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2006
- Messages
- 125 (0.02/day)
- Location
- Larvik, Norway
System Name | AbominationBox |
---|---|
Processor | AMD Phenom II X6 1055T |
Motherboard | ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO |
Cooling | Noctua NH-C12P SE14 |
Memory | 8Gb Corsair DDR3 |
Video Card(s) | XFX Radeon HD6870 1Gb |
Storage | 2x320Gb Samsung SpinPoint |
Display(s) | 2x24" ACER P243w |
Case | Thermaltake Matrix VX |
Audio Device(s) | Creative Soundblaster X-Fi ExtremeAudio |
Power Supply | OCZ StealthXStream 600W |
Software | Windows 7 Ultimate, 64Bit |
So here I sit, with an XFX HD6870 that I swapped out the cooling on. Went from the stock cooler (noisy and not all that great), to an Arctic Cooling Accelero Extreme with the VR001 heatsink-set (quiet and very good). All fine and dandy...until I plugged it into the computer.
There seems to be some sort of short on the card, because the comp won't even turn itself on when both power-cables are installed. And as you might know, running the card on one rail = no post, no image etc. Having tried most things, and already having written the card up as a loss due to my own stupidity, I decided to try something today, mainly to see if I could get the card running again in some form or function. First thing I checked was taking off the heatsink/fan assembly to see if I could find any sort of damage to the card hidden by it. Nothing found. Strangely enough, though, is that the testbox would fire up when the GPU heatsink/fan-assembly was NOT on the card. Still no image, but it looked like the rig did go through it's POST-sequence.
The heatsinks for the RAM and VRM's are all glued on with thermal adhesive, but I noticed that the short and little spark came from the area where the VRM's are mounted (yep, there was a little spark ). Thus I figured that it was a good idea to remove the heatsinks to see if they caused the short between components. Not really an issue, since applying a little bit of pressure to the sinks made them pop right off. Here I made three discoveries:
1: The thermal glue, which I thought was a solid, hard mass, is actually more akin to the silicon sealant used by plumbers (I know, not the same at all )
2: Between the VRM's, there's signs of damage on two small components
3: on the underside of the heatsinks, there's marks that looks like small scorchmarks in the aluminium.
Now then! To questions:
- Just how important is the cooling of the VRM's?
- Could it be that the components that looks damaged has been the cause of the short? And if so, can they be replaced? See attached screenshot for a (poor) image of the component.
There seems to be some sort of short on the card, because the comp won't even turn itself on when both power-cables are installed. And as you might know, running the card on one rail = no post, no image etc. Having tried most things, and already having written the card up as a loss due to my own stupidity, I decided to try something today, mainly to see if I could get the card running again in some form or function. First thing I checked was taking off the heatsink/fan assembly to see if I could find any sort of damage to the card hidden by it. Nothing found. Strangely enough, though, is that the testbox would fire up when the GPU heatsink/fan-assembly was NOT on the card. Still no image, but it looked like the rig did go through it's POST-sequence.
The heatsinks for the RAM and VRM's are all glued on with thermal adhesive, but I noticed that the short and little spark came from the area where the VRM's are mounted (yep, there was a little spark ). Thus I figured that it was a good idea to remove the heatsinks to see if they caused the short between components. Not really an issue, since applying a little bit of pressure to the sinks made them pop right off. Here I made three discoveries:
1: The thermal glue, which I thought was a solid, hard mass, is actually more akin to the silicon sealant used by plumbers (I know, not the same at all )
2: Between the VRM's, there's signs of damage on two small components
3: on the underside of the heatsinks, there's marks that looks like small scorchmarks in the aluminium.
Now then! To questions:
- Just how important is the cooling of the VRM's?
- Could it be that the components that looks damaged has been the cause of the short? And if so, can they be replaced? See attached screenshot for a (poor) image of the component.