Memory Chip Swap Mod SUPERcharges an RTX 2080 Ti

[btarunr]

Overclocking the memory clock of a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti to 2000 MHz (16 Gbps) isn't difficult, but most custom-design RTX 2080 Ti cards cap out at that, and so the enthusiasts over at TecLab took matters into their own hands by pulling off a daring memory chip replacement mod, by installing 16 Gbps-rated memory chips onto a Galax RTX 2080 Ti HOF graphics card. In a 16-minute video presentation, they detail the process of soldering a component as delicate and sensitive as GDDR6 memory chips, and 45 times over. The team had to sacrifice not one, but two Galax GeForce RTX 2080 Super graphics cards, which feature 16 Gbps-rated memory chips to support the SKU's 15.5 Gbps memory clock. A total of 33 manual solder operations had to be performed (removing the 15 stock chips from the RTX 2080 Ti, removing 11 chips from the two RTX 2080 Super cards, and soldering them onto the RTX 2080 Ti).

The group detailed the process of removing the memory chips under hot air, giving the extracted chips fresh ball-grids, and placing the chips onto the RTX 2080 Ti PCB. No BIOS modding was required, as the RTX 2080 Ti card's video BIOS was able to auto-detect the chips and run them at 14 Gbps. From here on, manual overclocking easily runs the card at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps) memory, with overclocking headroom to spare. The memory clock could now be dialed all the way up to 2150 MHz (17.2 Gbps), something that's close to impossible with 14 Gbps chips. TecLab is calling their creation the world's first RTX 2080 Ti Super, which could very well be true. Last we heard, the RTX 2080 Ti Super could get more CUDA cores, and not just faster memory. Nevertheless, this mod blew our minds, and provides valuable pointers on how to solder dense BGA components without a multi million-dollar placer. We tip our hats to TecLab.



Watch the TechLab video presentation here.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[londiste]

Awesome mod! Glad to see this kind of hardware mods are still a thing.

 

[Frick]

No article, just video?
Sounds quite cool. I would definitely get behind people doing this at home.

 

[erixx]

Ti Super! Amazing craftmanship!

 

[silentbogo]

Interesting mod. One of our local service centers used to post similar cool projects on youtube, like modding a GTX1060 3G into 6G, experimenting with GPU swaps etc, but there wasn't much content lately... I've only messed with some cheap cards, like GT730s and RX570s in my spare time, cause I'm not a rich bastard that can afford 2080Ti mutilation.

removing 15 chips from the two RTX 2080 Super cards, and soldering them onto the RTX 2080 Ti

It's 11 chips

Nevertheless, this mod blew our minds, and provides valuable pointers on how to solder dense BGA components without a multi million-dollar placer.

Gotta browse forums every once in awhile ))))

 

[PanicLake]

Ok, but I need performance results comparison...

 

[silentbogo]

Ok, but I need performance results comparison...

Stock 2080Ti gets around 8600-9K (depending on factory OC), while similarly overclocked 2080ti (~2100GPU/1800vRAM) can get up to 10.6K in 1080p Extreme. So, around 10% performance boost overall.

 

[eidairaman1]

Yup and most wont go through the expense to have this done...

 

[ppn]

should have waited for 20 gbps chips and buy them separately. braking 3 cards to make 1 broken for a small increase.

 

[Deleted member 50521]

2080Ti is memory bandwidth starved hmm.

I wonder how well the biggest Turing die will perform if it has fastest 4096bit HBM2 at over 1TB/s bandwidth?

 

[Totally]

Interesting mod. One of our local service centers used to post similar cool projects on youtube, like modding a GTX1060 3G into 6G, experimenting with GPU swaps etc, but there wasn't much content lately... I've only messed with some cheap cards, like GT730s and RX570s in my spare time, cause I'm not a rich bastard that can afford 2080Ti mutilation.


It's 11 chips


Gotta browse forums every once in awhile ))))

I know, I do this all the time and it's pretty easy but equally easy to f it up. I haven't seen the vid but from what I read sounds like amateur hour.

 

[Aquinus]

I wonder how well the biggest Turing die will perform if it has fastest 4096bit HBM2 at over 1TB/s bandwidth?

It certainly likes to clock on my Vega 64 as well. It'll take a 20% overclock without skipping a beat. With 4 stacks, that'd be just about 1.2TB/s.

 

[LemmingOverlord]

I would propose the guys at TecLab did similar changes to the RTX 2060 (without swapping anything out, but adding 2GB to the empty channel), thereby proving the 4th memory channel is actually live, and the massive difference those 2GB of GDDR make when it comes to performance.

 

[OGoc]

Awesome mod! Glad to see this kind of hardware mods are still a thing.

Right on! I hope this starts a trend that resembles the good ol days... when risk was a thing.

 

[basco]

quote:
No BIOS modding was required, as the RTX 2080 Ti card's video BIOS was able to auto-detect the chips and run them at 14 Gbps.

looks to me nvidia was holding back perf for dollars when ya think that bios is from aug 2018

 

[silentbogo]

I haven't seen the vid but from what I read sounds like amateur hour.

Silly, but not the worst I've seen )))
I'm wondering how many times they've attempted to take off the stencil before figuring out that you can heat up solder balls beforehand

 

[nickbaldwin86]

Rumor has it the 2080Ti Super will be out soon... so

It is cool to see hardware modders pushing a limit

 

[ZekeSulastin]

looks to me nvidia was holding back perf for dollars when ya think that bios is from aug 2018

But that's the stock memory clock for the 2080 Ti. The BIOS just detected the new GDDR6 chips and ran them at the same rating they would have ran the original chips at.

... I too am interested in seeing the results of a 2060 mod, though!

 

[FreedomEclipse]

should have waited for 20 gbps chips and buy them separately. braking 3 cards to make 1 broken for a small increase.

Sometimes its not as simple as walking into your local supermarket and pulling some milk and eggs from off the shelf....

Some manufacturers wont sell to you unless youre a big company. They arent interested in a small hobbyist who might want a handful of chips to run an experiment - There is nothing in it for them. There wont be any big contracts to sign or any big bucks to be made from that venture.

At the same time there are companies like apple that exist that will pay big money to have manufacturers modify their components in such a way that only they themselves can use it as well as blocking availability to 3rd parties so that repair shops are left buying up faulty doner hardware they can strip down where and when they need to replace parts in a clients faulty device.

If Nvidia thinks they are really onto something groundbreaking. Im sure they would pay manufacturers to prevent sales to AMD and/or making the parts available on the public domain.

infact. some of the small components you can buy from markets in china like memory ICs and capacitors etc etc - a lot of that stuff is stripped off damaged or other hardware so that others can re-use them.

 

[londiste]

16Gbps GDDR6 was not a thing or was expensive/low-volume when RTX2080Ti was released back in September 2018.

 

[Ruru]

Love to see that modding like this still exist these days.

 

[Deleted member 177333]

Great mod - and kudos to those guys. Would be neat if they could buy the memory chips required and start a little side business to upgrade people's base 2080 Ti cards for a fee, lol.

 

[r9]

should have waited for 20 gbps chips and buy them separately. braking 3 cards to make 1 broken for a small increase.

Small price to pay for the fastest graphics card in the world one of one.

 

[Deleted member 177333]

quote:
No BIOS modding was required, as the RTX 2080 Ti card's video BIOS was able to auto-detect the chips and run them at 14 Gbps.

looks to me nvidia was holding back perf for dollars when ya think that bios is from aug 2018

Ya, I never found Turing impressive at all for the cost.

 

[Berfs1]

God damn, i like this