HD6950 just went on fire!

gabpipo · Sep 21, 2016

Hey guys, ive just signed to the forums, but im a daily reader for years! I have this old school desktop for 6 years now, so the HD6950 is that old.
Got from work this evening and started the computer, then i heard some strange noises, sparks and a burnt smell. Tried to restart and no video. Plugged in onboard VGA and worked.
I got off the card and dismounted the cooler and this is what i got:

Is there any hope for it??
Oh, forgot to mention: i unlocked it to the HD6970 a long time ago and never overclocked

t_ski · Sep 21, 2016

Doubt it. Looks like there are too many components that got fried. Plus there's no telling what else is damaged even if you could repair what you can see. Traces can be burnt, SM caps could be blown, etc.

Time for an upgrade for you

slozomby · Sep 21, 2016

arg. the board is toast. you're not supposed to let the magic smoke out.

i'd consider replacing the power supply too.

gabpipo · Sep 21, 2016

Thanks for the quick response!
Thats what i thought!
Its not a main PC, so im thinking about upgrading just the VGA, maybe a GTX 960. But im afraid the cpu is gona bottleneck the performancea lot!

Dont have enough money for a full upgrade right now, so i might just get the 960 now and new cpu+mb+ram later this year!

Kanan · Sep 21, 2016

Nice toast you got there.

I think the cpu will be okay with a 960, just overclock it (cpu) if you can.

gabpipo · Sep 21, 2016

slozomby said:
arg. the board is toast. you're not supposed to let the magic smoke out.

i'd consider replacing the power supply too.

Power Supply is a XFX 650W pro, so its a good PSU!

gabpipo · Sep 21, 2016

Kanan said:
Nice toast you got there.

I think the cpu will be okay with a 960, just overclock it (cpu) if you can.

Yeah i will try that! I think i can get it up to 3.5 with the 212X

Kanan · Sep 21, 2016

gabpipo said:
Yeah i will try that! I think i can get it up to 3.5 with the 212X

That will be enough until you get a new system. Buy 960 with 4gb btw. not the 2gb version.

95Viper · Sep 21, 2016

I'd check the slot it was in real good and the parts around it... looks like that may have pulled some current through when it went.
And, you might wanna test the slot, with a cheap card, before you plug in a another GPU.

thesmokingman · Sep 21, 2016

Memory vrm popped. That vrm also happens to be the generally neglected cooling wise. Judging by the sticky memory pads, it's a ref card? You got a decent amount of life out of it considering... gpu has gone to gpu heaven.

AsRock · Sep 21, 2016

t_ski said:
Doubt it. Looks like there are too many components that got fried. Plus there's no telling what else is damaged even if you could repair what you can see. Traces can be burnt, SM caps could be blown, etc.

Time for an upgrade for you

That a bios chip to, that probably took a hit too, i bet making it a 6970 put some extra strain on it too.

erocker · Sep 21, 2016

thesmokingman said:
Memory vrm popped. That vrm also happens to be the generally neglected cooling wise. Judging by the sticky memory pads, it's a ref card? You got a decent amount of life out of it considering... gpu has gone to gpu heaven.

Yep! That little thermal pad on those can dry out, fall out and it can be overlooked when re-seating the cooler.

gabpipo · Sep 21, 2016

thesmokingman said:
Memory vrm popped. That vrm also happens to be the generally neglected cooling wise. Judging by the sticky memory pads, it's a ref card? You got a decent amount of life out of it considering... gpu has gone to gpu heaven.

Yes its a ref card.
Thanks for the quick responses guys! gonna get the gtx 960 and later upgrade the rest of the system!

Processor	AMD Phenom II X2 550 @ X4
Motherboard	ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO
Cooling	Cooler Master Hyper 212X
Memory	Kingston 8GB (2x4gb) DD3 1600
Video Card(s)	HIS Radeon HD6950 2GB
Storage	2x 500GB Caviar Blus in Raid 0
Case	HAF 912
Power Supply	XFX 650W Pro
Mouse	Sensei

System Name	My i7 Beast
Processor	Intel Core i7 6800K
Motherboard	Asus X99-A II
Cooling	Nickel-plated EK Supremacy EVO, D5 with XSPC Bayres & BIX Quad Radiator
Memory	4 x 8GB EVGA SuperSC DDR4-3200
Video Card(s)	EVGA 1080 SuperClocked
Storage	Samsung 950 Pro 256GB m.2 SSD + 480GB Sandisk storage SSD
Display(s)	Three Asus 24" VW246H LCD's
Case	Silverstone TJ07
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Corsair AX1200
Keyboard	Corsair K95
Software	Windows 10 x64 Pro

System Name	Gaming Desktop
Processor	i7 6700k
Motherboard	asus rog alpha
Cooling	H110i
Memory	Corsair Dominator 16gb DDR4 3200
Video Card(s)	GTX 1080
Storage	EVO 840 500gb, EVO 850 500gb, Perc 710 Raid WD RED 4tbx4
Case	Corsair 500r
Power Supply	Antec 850
Mouse	Logitec G502
Keyboard	a cheap dell

Processor	AMD Phenom II X2 550 @ X4
Motherboard	ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO
Cooling	Cooler Master Hyper 212X
Memory	Kingston 8GB (2x4gb) DD3 1600
Video Card(s)	HIS Radeon HD6950 2GB
Storage	2x 500GB Caviar Blus in Raid 0
Case	HAF 912
Power Supply	XFX 650W Pro
Mouse	Sensei

System Name	eazen corp \| Xentronon 7.2
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 3700X // PBO max.
Motherboard	Asus TUF Gaming X570-Plus
Cooling	Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 w/ AM4 kit // 3x Corsair AF140L case fans (2 in, 1 out)
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z RGB 2x16 GB DDR4 3600 @ 3800, CL16-19-19-39-58-1T, 1.4 V
Video Card(s)	Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 Ti modded to MATRIX // 2000-2100 MHz Core / 1938 MHz G6
Storage	Silicon Power P34A80 1TB NVME/Samsung SSD 830 128GB&850 Evo 500GB&F3 1TB 7200RPM/Seagate 2TB 5900RPM
Display(s)	Samsung 27" Curved FS2 HDR QLED 1440p/144Hz&27" iiyama TN LED 1080p/120Hz / Samsung 40" IPS 1080p TV
Case	Corsair Carbide 600C
Audio Device(s)	HyperX Cloud Orbit S / Creative SB X AE-5 @ Logitech Z906 / Sony HD AVR @PC & TV @ Teufel Theater 80
Power Supply	EVGA 650 GQ
Mouse	Logitech G700 @ Steelseries DeX // Xbox 360 Wireless Controller
Keyboard	Corsair K70 LUX RGB /w Cherry MX Brown switches
VR HMD	Still nope
Software	Win 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	15 095 Time Spy \| P29 079 Firestrike \| P35 628 3DM11 \| X67 508 3DM Vantage Extreme

HD6950 just went on fire!

gabpipo

t_ski

Former Staff

slozomby

gabpipo

Kanan

Tech Enthusiast & Gamer

gabpipo

gabpipo

Kanan

Tech Enthusiast & Gamer

95Viper

Super Moderator

thesmokingman

AsRock

TPU addict

erocker

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gabpipo

Processor	AMD 5900x
Motherboard	Asus x570 Strix-E
Cooling	Hardware Labs
Memory	G.Skill 4000c17 2x16gb
Video Card(s)	RTX 3090
Storage	Sabrent
Display(s)	Samsung G9
Case	Phanteks 719
Audio Device(s)	Fiio K5 Pro
Power Supply	EVGA 1000 P2
Mouse	Logitech G600
Keyboard	Corsair K95

Processor	AMD 3900X \ AMD 7700X
Motherboard	ASRock AM4 X570 Pro 4 \ ASUS X670Xe TUF
Cooling	D15
Memory	Patriot 2x16GB PVS432G320C6K \ G.Skill Flare X5 F5-6000J3238F 2x16GB
Video Card(s)	eVga GTX1060 SSC \ XFX RX 6950XT RX-695XATBD9
Storage	Sammy 860, MX500, Sabrent Rocket 4 Sammy Evo 980 \ 1xSabrent Rocket 4+, Sammy 2x990 Pro
Display(s)	Samsung 1080P \ LG 43UN700
Case	Fractal Design Pop Air 2x140mm fans from Torrent \ Fractal Design Torrent 2 SilverStone FHP141x2
Audio Device(s)	Yamaha RX-V677 \ Yamaha CX-830+Yamaha MX-630 Infinity RS4000\Paradigm P Studio 20, Blue Yeti
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime TX-750 \ Corsair RM1000X Shift
Mouse	Steelseries Sensei wireless \ Steelseries Sensei wireless
Keyboard	Logitech K120 \ Wooting Two HE
Benchmark Scores	Meh benchmarks.

Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS TUF x670e
Cooling	EK AIO 360. Phantek T30 fans.
Memory	32GB G.Skill 6000Mhz
Video Card(s)	Asus RTX 4090
Storage	WD m.2
Display(s)	LG C2 Evo OLED 42"
Case	Lian Li PC 011 Dynamic Evo
Audio Device(s)	Topping E70 DAC, SMSL SP200 Headphone Amp.
Power Supply	FSP Hydro Ti PRO 1000W
Mouse	Razer Basilisk V3 Pro
Keyboard	Tester84
Software	Windows 11