2004/05 AGP GPUs: Repair Tips and Tricks
Hello, everyone!
This is my first actual post on this forum. I don't know anyone here nor have any knowledge on proper etiquette that is supposed to be applied here... So, bear with me and my mistakes. I'll try my best.
Regardless, here's my story.
A few days ago, i discovered and managed to purchase two AGP x8 GPUs (ASUS Extreme N6600 [NVIDIA GeForce 6600] and ASUS AX1650PRO AGP [ATI Radeon X1650 Pro] ), from a trusted seller, for dirt cheap, which were released way back in 2004/05. They were primarily used for graphics design and 3D modelling. As far as know, they had never been overclocked nor had any kind of damage inflicted upon them. At a first glance, they appeared to be, and still look, great, if not minding the excessive amount of dust that had accumulated on them over the past two decades or so. And yet, they have one major problem: both of them have bloated and, in some places, corroded capacitor caps. With that in mind, i have a series of questions that i'd like to have answers for:
Basically, what i want is to make my experience fixing those GPUs as smooth as possible. Also, i'd like this experience to be rewarding in terms of skills and knowledge.
This is my first actual post on this forum. I don't know anyone here nor have any knowledge on proper etiquette that is supposed to be applied here... So, bear with me and my mistakes. I'll try my best.
Regardless, here's my story.A few days ago, i discovered and managed to purchase two AGP x8 GPUs (ASUS Extreme N6600 [NVIDIA GeForce 6600] and ASUS AX1650PRO AGP [ATI Radeon X1650 Pro] ), from a trusted seller, for dirt cheap, which were released way back in 2004/05. They were primarily used for graphics design and 3D modelling. As far as know, they had never been overclocked nor had any kind of damage inflicted upon them. At a first glance, they appeared to be, and still look, great, if not minding the excessive amount of dust that had accumulated on them over the past two decades or so. And yet, they have one major problem: both of them have bloated and, in some places, corroded capacitor caps. With that in mind, i have a series of questions that i'd like to have answers for:
- Is it worth saving these particular devices? I will supply this post with a few images of them. If you know something about these particular devices, like common issues and such, let me know in the comments below;
- Why did capacitors go bad on these PCBs? Like, what is the main cause of their downfall and how to prevent that in new capacitors?
- What is the most optimal approach to desoldering of old capacitors without causing any unnecessary harm to the PCB and nearby components? From tools and resources i have two soldering irons, one with a wide tip and one with a small tip; solder, a copper wick and a solution which shares common characteristics with an ordinary flux.
- Which one of the manufacturers have the best and, at the same time, affordable capacitors? I'm quite limited in a ways of monetary resources, but i don't want to cheap out on those devices either. I'd like to hear all your recommendations, facts, specifications, caveats and et cetera that you are aware of. Bonus point if you provide an adequate list of all manufacturers that you know of, reasons for choosing them and why do you recommend buying their products, especially capacitors.
Basically, what i want is to make my experience fixing those GPUs as smooth as possible. Also, i'd like this experience to be rewarding in terms of skills and knowledge.
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