Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Let's talk about BGA Chip suppliers

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Let's talk about BGA Chip suppliers

    Anyone who repairs computers at component level has had to order chips from China at some point. Large BGA chips like graphics chips, chipsets and now CPUs are in increasing demand, due to their fairly high rate of failure due to thermal stress. The "Ultrabook" format made soldered-in CPUs the norm rather than the exception, so even after the big nvidia issue of 2006-2008, a BGA rework station remains an investment that pays off.

    The only truly long-term solution (and sometimes, the only one, when the damn thing shorts out) is replacing the BGA chip with a new one as opposed to reflowing or reballing. However, chips are also quite expensive, and as there is profit to be made, there are a lot of pulled/reballed/remarked, "refurbished" chips being passed as new ones by unscrupulous sellers on Ebay and Aliexpress.

    I am sure a lot of you who do BGA rework have been scammed with dud BGA chips, and not knowing whether to blame the board, the tools or yourself when you replace the BGA and the laptop still doesn't work. Some people have given up BGA work entirely due to getting scammed with fake and non-functional chips. So a trusted supplier is very important to have.

    There's been availability and pricing discussion here and there in the forum, i wish to bring my contribution to this and share my experience. I have seen here members arguing that a chip at the price of xx USD cannot possibly be good because another vendor sells it for yy USD, and surely the more expensive chip has to be good and the cheaper one a scam.

    I've managed to get a direct contact at supplier SEE-IC (Strong Exuberant Electronics HK Co., Ltd) I have bought from them before on ebay, and have been satisfied with their quality every time, but it has been a while since i last ordered, and their pricing is a bit on the high side, with some items bordering on ridiculous. However, one boring day, I pushed the right buttons on the right website (it is not a secret, i can share the contact with you no problem if you're interested, i'm sure they are eager to do more business), and was greeted by the friendliest and most helpful sales rep I have ever had to deal with.

    She told me she can guarantee me prices lower than their ebay account or website, and also has been honest and open about some chips being only available as "bulk disassemble" parts (apparently pulled from old stock, never-used mainboards then reballed with lead-free balls), but very good quality that some other sellers will try to pass as new.

    Sales pitch aside, i had dealt with them before, so 2 days later i had put together an order, some new, some refurbed, to check the quality of both options.

    One week later, the package arrives, shipped by DHL ($25 for shipping). Actually, it made it here in 3 days, the remainder was spent sitting in the customs office here in Bucharest. DHL just delivered it to me today. Not bad and definitely the norm one would expect for paid postage - no free shipping here, but it didn't take 2 months to arrive, either!

    Prices weren't as low as you get from cheapest vendors on Aliexpress, but definitely lower than either their ebay account or their website (especially for the bulk parts). The nice sales rep also asked me to inquire about whatever chip i might want, as they do not have all their stock listed on ebay or their website. I will give some example pricing:

    Intel N2940 SR1YV 2015+NEW $28.70
    Intel N2940 SR1YV Bulk disassemble parts $18.90
    ATI 216-0683008 2009+NEW $10,80
    AMD 216-0752001 Bulk disassemble parts $18.90

    I've been thru a lot of reballed and remarked chips with a quality of various levels of crap, and my boss still insists on being a cheapskate about it. This order was for my own personal use and some experiments i intend to run shortly.

    At first glance i was able to identify the "bulk disassemble" chips only from comparison with the new ones - they look damn near perfect, and could easily pass as new. Impressive. They will also tell you honestly if they only have stock of a chip as bulk, or if that particular chip they will sell you comes from a lot that has been polished and remarked (for whatever reason). This is info you will never get from any other vendor that i've come across.

    All the chips that I've ordered look good, i have not yet spotted anything suspicious. Now, if they work as good as they look, i will probably stick to this vendor a long time from now.

    I will be back with pictures shortly and results of the chips I have bought, in the following weeks.
    Originally posted by PeteS in CA
    Remember that by the time consequences of a short-sighted decision are experienced, the idiot who made the bad decision may have already been promoted or moved on to a better job at another company.
    A working TV? How boring!

    #2
    Re: Let's talk about BGA Chip suppliers

    ive ordered too from different suppliers and chip most of the time worked just fine, but there is some exception, even in other work me and other dude done with bga rework and make us think just like u.

    for example, i had 2 ati 5470 desktop not working after 2 years. reballed and soldered back but no picture (dead bga? )

    ive ordered from see-ic too, but ship and bga are a bit expensive. all chip were working.

    ordered from golden chipset too, but some chip, reballed as usual resulted in a shorted bga, but cant say if it was my fault or bad bga.

    both sellers tell me if bga is new, or refurbished.

    after some working i think worst part of rework is when reball bga. maybe i used too much heat to remove old balls and melt new balls and bga died... (just suppose)

    onde dude also ordered a refurbished chip from aliexpress, and chip died after 1 month after rework, so bga was bad.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Let's talk about BGA Chip suppliers

      Do you recommend desoldering a bga CPU, PCH, or GPU from a trusted own mainboard with power problem and soldering it on another mainboard when we know the bga chip is good?
      This will be cheaper than buying a BGA chip when we own lots of faulty boards in the shop that have good bga chips.
      Last edited by caspian; 05-18-2018, 10:32 AM.

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Let's talk about BGA Chip suppliers

        Originally posted by caspian View Post
        Do you recommend desoldering a bga CPU, PCH, or GPU from a trusted own mainboard with power problem and soldering it on another mainboard when we know the bga chip is good?
        Yes, i highly recommend that route. I know someone who doesn't order chips at all, he just buys dead boards in bulk and uses them for parts. I have a few ideas on making rework easier and safer for the chips, which i will detail shortly.
        Originally posted by PeteS in CA
        Remember that by the time consequences of a short-sighted decision are experienced, the idiot who made the bad decision may have already been promoted or moved on to a better job at another company.
        A working TV? How boring!

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Let's talk about BGA Chip suppliers

          Good information! I have bought from SEE-IC before, via eBay, and found them to be decent.
          "Tantalum for the brave, Solid Aluminium for the wise, Wet Electrolytic for the adventurous"
          -David VanHorn

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Let's talk about BGA Chip suppliers

            ^^ You can get better prices if you contact them directly. For any order of more than 3-4 chips, it is totally worth spending the $25 for DHL shipping IMHO as your package will arrive very fast. Sometimes it may be worth it even for small orders, as on eBay they (and every other vendor worth their salt, for that matter) have a significant markup on chips that are in high demand at that moment - they gotta make a profit from the people that only need 1pc and want free shipping.

            In this case, there will also be customs procedures to worry about, but SEE's rep has been extremely helpful in this regard, providing all needed documents for me to pass onto customs thru the DHL rep. The communication of SEE's rep was way better than DHL's, which basically just emailed me the forms i needed to complete and let me lecture them to figure out what i need to do, with no other information except salutations. When i bought the HT-R392 rework station from China, it was shipped by TNT, and TNT were a lot more helpful than DHL was now. Everything was okay in the end, but DHL in Romania certainly are far away from being top notch.

            Will take some nice pics of the chips i have received.
            Last edited by Th3_uN1Qu3; 05-18-2018, 11:36 PM.
            Originally posted by PeteS in CA
            Remember that by the time consequences of a short-sighted decision are experienced, the idiot who made the bad decision may have already been promoted or moved on to a better job at another company.
            A working TV? How boring!

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Let's talk about BGA Chip suppliers

              GoldenChipset/HKLRF (same people) is a scammer. You may get some "good" chips if you order parts that don't fail often, but you are lucky and it's not the norm. Just another random eBay seller that for whatever reason managed to get good feedback and sold lot of parts.

              For now, the only seller I can recommend is indeed see-ic. As you said they still sell refurbished/factory reject chips and what not, but if you ask for new chips either they sell you one or tell you they don't have them.
              Also that's why you may see ridiculous prices on some chips (failing AMG GPU on Macs for example), the 216-0811000 for $250 or the 216-0810005 for $160. Those chips can't be found *anywhere else* new, and see-ic themselves are very low on stock. I would love to have some feedback on the "bulk" chips for those though.

              The fact that this is the only seller we can trust is very unfortunate. Low stock, no competition, they can sell you fake shit and you won't know it and blame it on you. Basically that's a monopoly. However I'm obviously not blaming them, they are the only one with a bit of pride and not rip you off at every purchase.
              OpenBoardView — https://github.com/OpenBoardView/OpenBoardView

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Let's talk about BGA Chip suppliers

                Some of their ebay prices are indeed inflated due to low stock and high demand. Otoh, like i explained, i have managed to get direct contact with their sales rep and was quoted $35 for 216-0810005.
                Originally posted by PeteS in CA
                Remember that by the time consequences of a short-sighted decision are experienced, the idiot who made the bad decision may have already been promoted or moved on to a better job at another company.
                A working TV? How boring!

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Let's talk about BGA Chip suppliers

                  +1 for SEE-IC . Has anyone ordered parts from E-Best Trade , ive always had good parts from them.
                  All donations to badcaps are welcome, click on this link to donate. Thanks to all supporters

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Let's talk about BGA Chip suppliers

                    Bought a northbridge and a southbridge from E-Best Trade. It didn't solve my problem but I can't blame it on the quality of the chips, they looked ok and the issue was exactly the same as before. Also Intel northbridge and southbridge usually don't go bad so that's not as much as an issue as with other parts if you get refurbished untested chips.

                    However they sell a number of refurbished NVidia chips from 2006-2008 which will obviously be dead. Black underfill, datecode before 0830. You can even see some chips they claim "new datecode 2010+" (or 11, 12 or whatever after 2008) but the underfill is black on the picture. Also this chip looks funny, never saw a fuzzy engraving like that from NVidia https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-Piece-New...0/190715393942 this actually has a white underfill but I have my doubts about it being remarked.

                    Now the real information would be to know if you actually get what they claim they sell. The easiest way is to buy a bunch of >0830 datecode NVidia and check the datecode and if you really get white underfill. If you get post-0830 chips with black underfill you know right away they are big scammers (remarked chips). If you get black underfill on a pre-0830 chip that's normal, and they are just sending you whatever they have, not ever bothering remarking the chips. Also if the green looks bright or dark/brown. Those will easily darken when heated so it helps distinguishing refurbished from new.

                    I wouldn't trust them for AMD GPU but I would be curious to see what they send you for 2016-0809000 or 216-0810005 for example, if they are known fake datecode.
                    OpenBoardView — https://github.com/OpenBoardView/OpenBoardView

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Let's talk about BGA Chip suppliers

                      Very informative post, appreciated.
                      I've heard lots of happy ended BGA repairs with SEE-IC supplied chips.
                      Guess I will start ordering directly from them.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Let's talk about BGA Chip suppliers

                        I'll be soldering the first chips that i got from my direct order in a couple days tops, will come back with pictures and feedback.
                        Originally posted by PeteS in CA
                        Remember that by the time consequences of a short-sighted decision are experienced, the idiot who made the bad decision may have already been promoted or moved on to a better job at another company.
                        A working TV? How boring!

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Let's talk about BGA Chip suppliers

                          can I know the supplier's name?
                          thank you

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Let's talk about BGA Chip suppliers

                            If you read the topic you would have noticed the name of the supplier.

                            The supplier i have ordered from is Strong Exuberant Electronics Hong Kong aka SEE-IC. Their sales rep is named Suny (a cute young Chinese lady btw ) and you may reach her directly thru:
                            E-mail: sales2 at see-ic.com
                            Skype: suny-chips
                            Originally posted by PeteS in CA
                            Remember that by the time consequences of a short-sighted decision are experienced, the idiot who made the bad decision may have already been promoted or moved on to a better job at another company.
                            A working TV? How boring!

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Let's talk about BGA Chip suppliers

                              Originally posted by piernov View Post
                              E-Best Trade.

                              I wouldn't trust them for AMD GPU but I would be curious to see what they send you for 2016-0809000 or 216-0810005 for example, if they are known fake datecode.
                              Bought from E-Best trade years back when i was just starting with BGA rework. Did not solder the chip properly and it was acting up. Blew it up on my second attempt. However, that was entirely my fault. I have had a few refurbished boards come my way where there was an E-Best sticker on the BGA chip. They worked fine.

                              You are the second or third trustable person i see calling GoldenChipset/HKLRF scammers. There is a guy in the UK that highly recommends them though. Me, i've had a $200+ order in my cart on hklrf.com for a couple months now that i've yet to pull the trigger on, but that order is composed of only rework and troubleshooting tools, no chips. They have very good price for tools.
                              Originally posted by PeteS in CA
                              Remember that by the time consequences of a short-sighted decision are experienced, the idiot who made the bad decision may have already been promoted or moved on to a better job at another company.
                              A working TV? How boring!

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Re: Let's talk about BGA Chip suppliers

                                ive made an order from golden chipset 1 weeks ago. and im wondering why that geforce 7600 chip has that violet efect on it. other bga like gefoce 8600 and new ati dont have any of that effect.

                                in adddition golden chipset say it's vip member with dlh and as a live in a remote zone for dhl, gc give me 30$ ship cost, while see-ic make me pay 60 or more...

                                e-best ive made my first order with them.. 2 used chip, but i had no experience on rework and chip soldered gived artefact, but that could be my fault.
                                Attached Files

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Re: Let's talk about BGA Chip suppliers

                                  I paid $25 for DHL shipping from SEE-IC. Guess it varies by country. That geforce 7600 looks alright, i have seen that violet glow on factory-soldered chips too, some are like that. I will upload photos of obviously remarked chip at some point.
                                  Originally posted by PeteS in CA
                                  Remember that by the time consequences of a short-sighted decision are experienced, the idiot who made the bad decision may have already been promoted or moved on to a better job at another company.
                                  A working TV? How boring!

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    Re: Let's talk about BGA Chip suppliers

                                    something strange on that chip new from golden chipset.. soldered and working but how could that mistake be possible
                                    Attached Files

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Re: Let's talk about BGA Chip suppliers

                                      ^^

                                      Here are some photos of the chips i received from SEE-IC. I have replaced again 216-0774009 by 216-0774207 (Mobility HD 5470 -> Mobility HD 6370) on HP G62 mainboard PM_I_HPC_S MV_MB_V3 (Foxconn Star Federer), as there is less demand for 216-0774207 and it is therefore cheaper. It is also higher performing (at least per Windows 7 score assesment which i ran back when i first performed this replacement), so this is an upgrade not just a repair.

                                      These particular ATI chips i have bought from SEE as "Bulk disassemble" parts. I have looked very closely and i cannot see any imperfections. They could have easily passed as new.

                                      And of course, the question... does it work? Sure it did. Still no video at first, but i took a good look at the board and i noticed soldering work on the BIOS chip... someone else had a go at this. Flashed BIOS with a known working dump and the screen lit up, CMOS Reset, all the good stuff. Will test it further tonight.
                                      Attached Files
                                      Last edited by Th3_uN1Qu3; 05-25-2018, 09:12 AM.
                                      Originally posted by PeteS in CA
                                      Remember that by the time consequences of a short-sighted decision are experienced, the idiot who made the bad decision may have already been promoted or moved on to a better job at another company.
                                      A working TV? How boring!

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Re: Let's talk about BGA Chip suppliers

                                        The board worked 100%, drivers installed fine and everything. On to the next job.
                                        Originally posted by PeteS in CA
                                        Remember that by the time consequences of a short-sighted decision are experienced, the idiot who made the bad decision may have already been promoted or moved on to a better job at another company.
                                        A working TV? How boring!

                                        Comment

                                        Working...
                                        X