HD7950 Died

[Dwilton]

I had a Saphire Radeon 7950 in my machine that was working fine without any hiccups. Then yesterday I power on my machine after shutting down the night before and the card will not show video.

First i tested with a different card and the machine completed post and attempted to boot into the OS.

Next I put the HD7950 back in and tested with the PEG power plugs on the card. With power to the card I can tell that the BIOS is getting somewhere in the POST because although it does not display I can press the power and it immediately powers off.

If i remove the PEG power plugs from the back of the card the BIOS will lock in POST and requires a long hold of the power to power back off.

I then booted with and nVidia card in slot 1 and the Radeon 7950 in slot 2. With this configuration, although the OS does not see the card, ATI flash can see the card and even pull the BIOS from the card.

Although this is not a complete PSU test I have a Radeon 4870 that is using the PEG power plugs from the PSU just fine at the moment.

Additionally the card does not get hot throughout any of these tests, and i tried all steps on both BIOS1 and BIOS 2.

So at this point I am not sure how to continue. The symptoms are very similar to another Radeon 7950 I had in the past that had failed and I posted on here. I got alot of help with that one although nothing i tried got that one running.

I know it is an older card at this point, I just don't really have the capital to invest in another card at the moment so I am really hoping to salvage this one.

I appreciate and advice that could be given!

 

[Devon68]

Did it show up in Device manager when you managed to boot up with the nvidia card in slot 1 and the Radeon 7950 in slot 2 ?

 

[m&m's]

Try the card in another PC
-> Doesn't work either = RMA
-> Can't RMA = Bake it
-> Still doesn't work = Use your 4870 while you save for another card.

 

[Dwilton]

Thanks both for a quick response!

Did it show up in Device manager when you managed to boot up with the nvidia card in slot 1 and the Radeon 7950 in slot 2 ?

No it did not show up in device manager, but ATIWinFlash did see the card.

Try the card in another PC
-> Doesn't work either = RMA
-> Can't RMA = Bake it
-> Still doesn't work = Use your 4870 while you save for another card.

Do you have a link with Detailed instructions on how to bake the card? I am sure it is outside of warranty period.

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

dont bake it yet.

you only posted 2 hours ago and the masterbaker hasnt come on shift yet @Toothless

 

[dorsetknob]

@Toothless is in the house

 

[m&m's]

Do you have a link with Detailed instructions on how to bake the card? I am sure it is outside of warranty period.

Did you try it in another PC?

 

[RealNeil]

Do you have another ~known good~ PSU to try out in your system?

 

[silentbogo]

Baking is not an option yet.

The reason why your video card is not warming up after startup is that you don't get power to the GPU. It may happen for various reasons, and loose GPU is only one of them.

If you want to diagnose and repair it yourself, you should start with checking the voltage on each of its phases, and inspecting PCB for shorts and damaged components; and only if everything seems alright you should attempt a GPU reflow/reball.
Replacing small SMD components is easy even for a beginner, but the GPU is a whole another story....

Simple reflow is not a complete fix - just a quick diagnostics trick to see if a card responds. Adequate reflow can be done in the temperature-controlled toaster oven, but at least you should buy some residue-less soldering flux and spread it around the GPU: once it melts and flows under the GPU IC, it will help to remove oxidation on existing surfaces and prevent solder balls from sticking together or falling off completely. Wash the card with Isopropyl afterwards.
If you bake it dry, you may damage it even further.

If you don't have a toaster oven with temperature control and secondary bottom heater, or even a cheap hot air rework station - don't do it. And sure as hell don't stick it in your kitchen oven - anything higher than 300°C for more than 60 seconds is very bad for GPU and all other components, so is uneven heat distribution

Perfect scenario - find a repair shop and see if they can diagnose and fix it for you.
Imperfect scenario - use the card as your first learning experience in advanced computer repair, and later use it as a fancy cup stand or wall decor.

 

[Bansaku]

I have nothing new to add for suggestions, but your scenario is one of familiarity. EVERY Sapphire card I have owned all died the exact same way yours did (potentially). In fact, I have never had ANY GFX cards die on me, except for Sapphire, hence why I will never buy one again. Bite me once, I'll take it like a man, bite me 5 more times and you're dead to me!

 

[Toothless]

@Toothless is in the house

The amazingly sexy potato-breathing dragon is in da house.

Baking might not help this case.

 

[Dwilton]

Thanks for all of our help everyone!

Did you try it in another PC?

Do you have another ~known good~ PSU to try out in your system?

A friend loaned me an old motherboard PSU combo to test with, I am going to test tonight or tomorrow.

If you want to diagnose and repair it yourself, you should start with checking the voltage on each of its phases, and inspecting PCB for shorts and damaged components; and only if everything seems alright you should attempt a GPU reflow/reball.
Replacing small SMD components is easy even for a beginner, but the GPU is a whole another story....

Do you have a guide to which points to test with a meter? I am not a Electronics guru, but I do know enough to be dangerous

I have nothing new to add for suggestions, but your scenario is one of familiarity. EVERY Sapphire card I have owned all died the exact same way yours did (potentially). In fact, I have never had ANY GFX cards die on me, except for Sapphire, hence why I will never buy one again. Bite me once, I'll take it like a man, bite me 5 more times and you're dead to me!

Yeah this is my second one, the first was sent in for the same thing and this was a RMA replacement. I think I will stay away from them for a while.

Baking might not help this case.

That was my fear as well.

 

[Dwilton]

Hi Everyone, I finally got around to testing. I had no joy in another motherboard with a different known good cpu.

@silentbogo Do you have a link to any guides on how to test the phases of the card? I inspected the card and did not find any bloated caps, cracks in the traces, and hot spots on the pcb, and no components that looked burnt. The PCB is not warped however with the heatsink off it does want to bend a little bit.

I do have a temp controlled toaster oven, however I am not sure how accurate it is. Should I use a heat gun instead? Also is there a temp guide on the best way to heatup -> down the card.

 

[silentbogo]

I might actually have a dead 7950 somewhere around.
Give me some time, I'll make pictures for you.

 

[SnakeDoctor]

I successfully repair my MSI GTX 560 Two days ago by Baking it in the oven

Gpu was running perfect , had supper came back and started up a game . Minute later pc hung up .
Rebooted pc green lines and big dots where displayed on the screen like the matrix , only took one pic of green dots but other loading pages where full green background

Pc was terribly dirty inside yet gpu not overheating + cpu fan was was blocked tho (temp gpu 70 - cpu 60 max) monitor temps
.
After cleaning gpu contacts/reseating card and removing dust not luck same issue , left for next day re did the thermal paste same issue.
Pulled the old gt 210 out the TV Pc , no issue so differently gpu issue.
Gave the card slight bend here and there no luck .
PC would only boot till windows loading then shutdown

So did a bit of research and did the baking method as last resort .

Baked GPU in Oven for 10min@190c
let it slow cool .
re apply'ed thermal pasted and heatsink.
Success Gpu booted 100%.

Been running for two day no issue , low temps 60c


Before baked Gpu ran vga memory test, errors straight away like 15000 errors in a minute
Ran same Vga Memory test after no errors at all 100%

 

[ThE_MaD_ShOt]

The amazingly sexy potato-breathing dragon is in da house.

Baking might not help this case.

Whaaaaaaaaat Is this world coming to when @Toothless doesn't think baking something will work? You bake everything with a nice glaze topping

 

[m&m's]

I successfully repair my MSI GTX 560 Two days ago by Baking it in the oven

Knew it, I might not be the baking prince but I know when baking is needed.
I've been running a baked GPU for a year now and it still works like new.

 

[SnakeDoctor]

Knew it, I might not be the baking prince but I know when baking is needed.
I've been running a baked GPU for a year now and it still works like new.

Wake 'n Baked so happy it worked, don't have the cash yet for an upgrade
First attempt

 

[Toothless]

Whaaaaaaaaat Is this world coming to when @Toothless doesn't think baking something will work? You bake everything with a nice glaze topping

I only use the finest molten copper for a glaze.

Good luck to OP. I bet it won't be as chill as the heatsink I baked.