Gigabyte GV-N210D2-1GI affected

[alindumitru46]

Someone left me two video cards that do not work, hoping they can be repaired.
The Gigabyte GV-N210D2-1GI has started after a few attempts, but only after using a solid PSU.
I went to a careful visual inspection, to take some pictures and discovered that the board was unconsciously abused, with a missing capacitor.
Now I also ask those who really know how serious is the absence of this capacitor and how can I find out what value it has to replace it.
What do you recommend?
Thank you.

[momaka]

Re: Gigabyte GV-N210D2-1GI affected

I went to a careful visual inspection, to take some pictures and discovered that the board was unconsciously abused, with a missing capacitor.
Now I also ask those who really know how serious is the absence of this capacitor and how can I find out what value it has to replace it.
What do you recommend?

Those bigger ceramic capacitors help filter noise going to the GPU and RAM, so they are important. However, there is usually enough of them that missing a few won't affect the operation of the video card. Thus, it's not that much of a problem that you are missing one.

What I'd be more worried about is the exposed fine copper tracks on the back of the video card. Was that damage due to scraping or did the copper tracks appear to burn out for some reason?

Either way, if you did get the video card to work, and it doesn't crash with the drivers or under heavy 3D load, then it might be okay.

The Gigabyte GV-N210D2-1GI has started after a few attempts, but only after using a solid PSU.

That's probably a coincidence there, unless you were using a really crappy/marginal power supply that put out too much ripple due to the higher load from the video card in the system.

Personally, I think it might have been a BGA issue that went away as the card's GPU heated up. Either that, or the pins on its PCI-E connector were dirty, making the card not get detected by the PC. I've actually had that happen quite a few times. So if you get a no video from a PCI-E video card, try re-seating it in the PCI-E slot several times.

[alindumitru46]

Re: Gigabyte GV-N210D2-1GI affected

Ok, that's why I put high resolution pictures...
I think the boys are recovering the pieces but they do not know how to pack them, and then these problems arise, with flipped tracks or detached pieces.
I'll try to clean the areas with scrapped tracks, then apply some varnish. I understand that the nail polish is suitable for this, otherwise the tracks will be oxidized and will break away.
So can I leave the video card without capacitor, at all?

[momaka]

Re: Gigabyte GV-N210D2-1GI affected

So can I leave the video card without capacitor, at all?

It should be okay.

Though if you really wanted to fix that, just take another dead video card or motherboard (if you have one for parts) and find a ceramic cap of similar size. If I had to guess by the size and location of that broken ceramic cap, it was probably a 4.7 uF, 25V or 32V -rated cap. Though if it is attached to the GPU V_core output, then it could also be a 10 uF cap... but I doubt it. 4.7 uF is really common for these bigger caps.

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: Gigabyte GV-N210D2-1GI affected

Someone left me two video cards that do not work, hoping they can be repaired.
The Gigabyte GV-N210D2-1GI has started after a few attempts, but only after using a solid PSU.
I went to a careful visual inspection, to take some pictures and discovered that the board was unconsciously abused, with a missing capacitor.
Now I also ask those who really know how serious is the absence of this capacitor and how can I find out what value it has to replace it.
What do you recommend?
Thank you.

Missing SMD component=Looks just like typical WinCycle shit...

[alindumitru46]

Re: Gigabyte GV-N210D2-1GI affected

I know, for 10$ I received this videocard aaaand... but a rare 8800GTS from Zotac , and a dead hdd (for neodymium magnet ).
That's why I accepted this mess, without seeing the products.
However, Zotac has become almost destroyed, in the plastic bag in which these three parts were put into the pile, I found some very small SMD components.
And the chances to fix it by myself are very small, without special support, as I find here.

[momaka]

Re: Gigabyte GV-N210D2-1GI affected

However, Zotac has become almost destroyed, in the plastic bag in which these three parts were put into the pile, I found some very small SMD components.
And the chances to fix it by myself are very small, without special support, as I find here.

If it's a G80 GeForce 8800GTS, it should have a standard board layout - in which case, let me know. I have a dead-beyond-repair E-VGA 8800GTS that I don't mind desoldering parts from to give you component values.

[alindumitru46]

Re: Gigabyte GV-N210D2-1GI affected

Hi, @momaka I think is not neccesary to open another thread for Zotac.

[momaka]

Re: Gigabyte GV-N210D2-1GI affected

See attached image. I labeled only the important missing parts. You are missing U507, which is an ADT7470 fan controller and temperature monitor. It likely is needed for the card to run, as it communicates with the GPU over standard serial bus to report temperature abnormalities. If missing, chances are the GPU will not work. But you can try without it if you like - there won't be any damage to the card.
You were also missing a jumper resistor by U501 - that one is very important, as that's the PWM controller for the GPU's V_core voltage.

Everything else that I did not label are just small ceramic capacitors that are not important. You can safely try running the card without those. I removed a few from my card, and they all tested 100 nF on my capacitance meter. Though, if you do want to add them back on your card, you can use anywhere between 47 to 220 nF.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you need any other assistance.

[alindumitru46]

Re: Gigabyte GV-N210D2-1GI affected

Pfuu,
I suspected there was something wrong with the pins of that temperature regulator, but I did not think to check on a reference board for a comparison.
Just now I realize that this card looks like it's butchered...

[momaka]

Re: Gigabyte GV-N210D2-1GI affected

Well, give it a try anyways. You only need one 2-2.4 Ohm resistor, one jumper resistor, and one 1uF cap. Everything else, leave as is. If the card doesn't start, then it's probably due to the missing fan controller chip. Or it could also be that the GPU was toast anyways. The G80 GPUs (GeForce 8800 GTS 320/640, GTX, and Ultra) tend to run very hot and are guaranteed to fail due to the bumpgate issue. The only way you can save one from dying is by liquid cooling and keeping it under 60C at all times (preferably under 55C) *OR* underclock and undervolt (in BIOS) the core so it runs under 60C under load with the stock heatsink.