Club3D HD7950 (aka R9 280) 3GB strange issue

[Dan81]

As the title says, I bought a HD7950/R9 280 (they're the same card) for cheap ($16) and it exhibits a strange issue:

Plugging the card in ANY computer (I tried it with two good PSUs that had 2x6pin 12v connectors and it does POST) will yield no signal over HDMI or DVI. However, the card does POST fine as I can hear the BIOS beep once (which means everything's okay) on my GA-EP45T-DS3R, but neither HDMI nor DVI ports will output anything.

The only difference I noticed over the two is that using a Samsung P2270HD LCD, the messages between HDMI and PC (which is VGA because I am using a DVI-I to VGA adapter) differ - I get "No Signal" on HDMI, while VGA will say "Check cable connection". If I unplug the HDMI, I get the same message as the VGA connection, so it looks like the card DOES send out something to the LCD.

I even tried it on a UEFI based motherboard (ASUS H61M-A) without any luck, the same happens. (evidenced by the onboard HDMI/VGA/DVI-D combo being disabled altogether)

What should I do? I tried various LCD monitors to no avail.

Should I try a second reflow? The card does show signs of being reflowed once, though I fear that might make the card not POST anymore.

[piernov]

Dead GPU.

[Dan81]

Originally Posted by piernov

Dead GPU.

Then how come it still POSTs and gets recognized by Windows just fine?

[Uranium-235]

different part of the silicon is damaged likely. the PCI-E lanes for processing and motherboard communication are fine, but the other side for video output are damaged. Yes, they could be unballed. I'm not sure how the R9 handles output, if it's direct from the GPU or there is another chip handling switching monitor outputs. Could be different per card really

[Dan81]

Have reflowed it just today with new flux, still same thing.

Maybe miniDP works? It's the only thing I haven't tested due to no adapter.

[momaka]

It's dead [GPU chip], Jim.

I have numerous cards that do the same thing: PC POSTs and some of the cards even wake up the monitor on analog and digital output, but display nothing.

The HD7k and R9 cards are very failure-prone.

Reflowing it with flux is pointless, because it's not the BGA that fails on these cards. It's the GPU die to GPU substrate connections/BGA. Just re-heating it to normal reflow temperature will accomplish the same task (and often that means accomplish nothing.) So don't waste your flux.

I have a dying R9 290 that also needs a reflow (works OK in Windows without drivers, errors out as soon as drivers are installed), but I'm not very hopeful it will work. Most likely will just pull its fancy heatsink to install on another video card.

[Dan81]

Originally Posted by momaka

It's dead [GPU chip], Jim.

I have numerous cards that do the same thing: PC POSTs and some of the cards even wake up the monitor on analog and digital output, but display nothing.

The HD7k and R9 cards are very failure-prone.

Reflowing it with flux is pointless, because it's not the BGA that fails on these cards. It's the GPU die to GPU substrate connections/BGA. Just re-heating it to normal reflow temperature will accomplish the same task (and often that means accomplish nothing.) So don't waste your flux.

I have a dying R9 290 that also needs a reflow (works OK in Windows without drivers, errors out as soon as drivers are installed), but I'm not very hopeful it will work. Most likely will just pull its fancy heatsink to install on another video card.

Well, as a last resort, I might blast it with 550*C for more than 3 minutes (all caps are polys) and see if anything happens.

Thing is, on my card, Windows does install drivers just fine.

[momaka]

Originally Posted by Dan81

Thing is, on my card, Windows does install drivers just fine.

Is that with another card as the boot/main card?

If not, and you're using the 7950 as the main card, and it boots and installs drivers OK without crashing, then try it on another PC to see if you get the same results. Also make sure you're using the "latest" drivers from ATI and maybe even try an older more "legacy" driver, just in case.

Originally Posted by Dan81

Well, as a last resort, I might blast it with 550*C for more than 3 minutes (all caps are polys) and see if anything happens.

Well, really do save that as a last resort.

I just blasted a stubborn HD5750 that continued to artifact in a weird fashion, even after the first reflow. So the second time I upped the heat too much and popcorned the GPU chip. Result: GPU V_core, RAM Vdd, and GPU Vtt all shorted to ground. I didn't even bother to try powering it on, as I'm sure at best it won't work (and at worst, the GPU VRMs will obliterate themselves and fumigate my room with magic smoke - no thanks!) In fact, there was even a small ball of solder ball that had splatted from under the GPU chip die. Ooops! I really gave it too much heat, as I didn't want to see it artifacting a third time. Either it was going to be "showtime" or the morgue for this card... and unfortunately it was the latter. :\ Kind of a shame, as it would have been a good low-mid-range card for my needs with fairly low power consumption (only 86 Watts TDP, vs 105 for the HD5770.)

[piernov]

Hot air: 200°C max on the die, 2min
Oven: 200°C max, 8min, aluminum foil all around the card except GPU
Not a fix, dead is dead.