Sure way to tell when chipset (or any other BGA chip for that matter) is burnt on a m

[Koda]

Is there a sure way to tell when a chipset or any other BGA chip is fried or it just needs a BGA reflow/rework. I have resurrected a few desktop by reflowing the southbridge and northbridge but reflowing won't work most of the time in my case. Laptop motherboards are a different story, I have resurrected many HP DV series laptops by reflowing (I'd say about 90% success rate). Is there a way to tell when a motherboard has a fried BGA chip?

[brethin]

Re: Sure way to tell when chipset (or any other BGA chip for that matter) is burnt on

If it looks discolored then that is a good sign it could be fried and not just need reflowing/reballing. Other than that the only sure way is to test each pin.

[Koda]

Re: Sure way to tell when chipset (or any other BGA chip for that matter) is burnt on

How does one go about testing each pin?

[brethin]

Re: Sure way to tell when chipset (or any other BGA chip for that matter) is burnt on

Get the spec sheet for the BGA you are testing and start checking each pin for the proper signal.

[NxB]

Re: Sure way to tell when chipset (or any other BGA chip for that matter) is burnt on

Scope... some boards have pads near the chip. See if voltage is going into it.

[Uranium-235]

Re: Sure way to tell when chipset (or any other BGA chip for that matter) is burnt on

There is a true and tried way to tell, but only a few people really know. Hers the trick...look really close (might have to get a magnifying glass) and if it says 'nvidia' on it and its not on a video card, that means its not worth the bother

[Koda]

Re: Sure way to tell when chipset (or any other BGA chip for that matter) is burnt on

There is a true and tried way to tell, but only a few people really know. Hers the trick...look really close (might have to get a magnifying glass) and if it says 'nvidia' on it and its not on a video card, that means its not worth the bother

You are probably right. Most of boards I've seen with bad chipsets are nvidia their GPU's aren't strangers to sudden death too.

[Agent24]

Re: Sure way to tell when chipset (or any other BGA chip for that matter) is burnt on

surely you can get new nvidia chipsets on ebay, why you'd want to, I don't know, but I guess it would be possible to replace it if you had the tools.

[Koda]

Re: Sure way to tell when chipset (or any other BGA chip for that matter) is burnt on

nah I wouldn't buy new chips and replace them, I just want to be able to tell if the chipset is bad so I don't spend time messing with the board