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.
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.
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