Leadtek Geforce 3 - Any Salvation

Robster · 17th January 2002, 1:47 PM

Hi all,

My Bro has the said Geforce 3 card --- He was trying to do a replcement of the ram sinks with bigger ones as he felt they were get'n too hot at full load gameplay (good Idea).

I mentioned Arctic Silver epoxy and mentioned the price to him..............
the next day he called me up saying that the card was freezing and colourful spotted artifacts were appearing randomly in 3D gameplay mode.

He then tells me that he used Selleys Metal Cement to put on the new Ram Sinks. Oh my God, what did you do that For !!!!

- I told you Artic Silver Epoxy is the stuff (dont worry about the price).

No doubt he'd got some of this selleys stuff on the legs of the Ram IC's, which I would imagine shorted some of the IC's or whatever
Can you guys verfiy basically that this "job" he'd done is what caused this and What are his options.

If its the RAM IC's that are damaged, Can they be replaced (He said hes willing to do the job) and where can he get them.

The GPU was untouched.

We tried cleaning the IC;s carefully and running the card at minimum specs in 3D mode but still artifacts & freezing occur. Vertical black lines appear in 2D mode at relatively high resols

Any Help or suggestions, Or will it become a giant key ring?
$840.00 for the card at the time he bought it.

Onyx · 17th January 2002, 2:07 PM

Your bro is a nit and he deserves it.

To fix the prob would be likely to be quite expensive I'd think. Has he revomed the new ramsinks and the selleys cement off the mem chips yet? Try using isobutyl/rubbing alcohol, dilute ethanol, and progress to nail polish remover if necessary to clean off the gunk and start again from square 1.

He's lucky the card still works!

Robster · 17th January 2002, 11:51 PM

Yeh , thanks Onyx

We've had to do just that, start form square 1 , he picked up the
Arctic Silver pac ($38.00) -seems pitance for what he;s done to the card.

Anyway we've carefully taken off the gunk and left every surface
flush and smooth , free of grease and selleys cement & applied the Siver paste & epoxy as specified.

He did mention that he briefly ran the card without ramsinks
due to the panick after he realised that he'd maybe done the wrong thing. This also could have damaged the ram IC's due to heat.

Well. we are going to try it just this very moment and we'll see if it ressurects. I'll keep you posted.

Robster · 19th January 2002, 1:19 AM

Ahh, everything worked out OK .

The cards' working alright ATM, as if nothing happened.

Bugger Me, as they say. Maybe it was just heat. as the selleys metal cement must be atrocious at thermal conductivity, or very grainy to provide any decent flush surface.

In any case one very releaved Brother.

Firelord · 19th January 2002, 6:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Robster
He did mention that he briefly ran the card without ramsinks
due to the panick after he realised that he'd maybe done the wrong thing. This also could have damaged the ram IC's due to heat.

i wouldn't worry about that m8, as some GF3's come without Ramsinks so their not going blow or die because of heat, just make sure theres sufficient case cooling

Robster · 22nd January 2002, 11:44 PM

Yeh FireLord

Its amazing what we put some of our hardware thru, its tougher than we think sometimes.

Man he's lucky and Ive told him to hang on to it for a while - then sell it and upgrade to a Ti500 or Ti200 when they become cheaper. He'll be able to get something for his card.

ATM they're $350.00 retail something close to that.

PappaSmurf · 25th January 2002, 1:35 AM

Hmm, sounds familiar

A few months ago I got Arctic Silver 2 (not epoxy) on the IC legs of my GF2MX.. it screwed around bad.

I ended up "washing" my card in metho, fully submerging one end of the card and rubbing at it with cotton tips but I couldnt get it all off.. fortunatly I could see the only last bit remaining which I thought must be causing the problems & I used a needle to remove the gunk, and it worked sweet again

phew

17th January 2002, 1:47 PM	#1
Robster Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: SYDNEY Posts: 103	Leadtek Geforce 3 - Any Salvation Hi all, My Bro has the said Geforce 3 card --- He was trying to do a replcement of the ram sinks with bigger ones as he felt they were get'n too hot at full load gameplay (good Idea). I mentioned Arctic Silver epoxy and mentioned the price to him.............. the next day he called me up saying that the card was freezing and colourful spotted artifacts were appearing randomly in 3D gameplay mode. He then tells me that he used Selleys Metal Cement to put on the new Ram Sinks. Oh my God, what did you do that For !!!! - I told you Artic Silver Epoxy is the stuff (dont worry about the price). No doubt he'd got some of this selleys stuff on the legs of the Ram IC's, which I would imagine shorted some of the IC's or whatever Can you guys verfiy basically that this "job" he'd done is what caused this and What are his options. If its the RAM IC's that are damaged, Can they be replaced (He said hes willing to do the job) and where can he get them. The GPU was untouched. We tried cleaning the IC;s carefully and running the card at minimum specs in 3D mode but still artifacts & freezing occur. Vertical black lines appear in 2D mode at relatively high resols Any Help or suggestions, Or will it become a giant key ring? $840.00 for the card at the time he bought it.

17th January 2002, 2:07 PM	#2
Onyx Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: NSW Posts: 4,264	Your bro is a nit and he deserves it. To fix the prob would be likely to be quite expensive I'd think. Has he revomed the new ramsinks and the selleys cement off the mem chips yet? Try using isobutyl/rubbing alcohol, dilute ethanol, and progress to nail polish remover if necessary to clean off the gunk and start again from square 1. He's lucky the card still works! __________________ Q9300@3.0Ghz, Asus P5Q-E, Kingston HyperX DDR2-1066 4GB, Gigabyte GTX560Ti, 2xWD 500GB RAID-0, WD1002FAEX 1TB Caviar Black, WD20EARS 2TB Caviar Green, Seasonic S12+ 550W PSU in CM 690-II Case. Dell E248WFP 24" monitor. MBP 13" C2D 2.4G/4GB/250GB.

22nd January 2002, 11:44 PM	#6
Robster Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: SYDNEY Posts: 103	Yeh FireLord Its amazing what we put some of our hardware thru, its tougher than we think sometimes. Man he's lucky and Ive told him to hang on to it for a while - then sell it and upgrade to a Ti500 or Ti200 when they become cheaper. He'll be able to get something for his card. ATM they're $350.00 retail something close to that. Last edited by Robster; 22nd January 2002 at 11:50 PM.

25th January 2002, 1:35 AM	#7
PappaSmurf Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: sydney.nsw.australia Posts: 3,299	Hmm, sounds familiar A few months ago I got Arctic Silver 2 (not epoxy) on the IC legs of my GF2MX.. it screwed around bad. I ended up "washing" my card in metho, fully submerging one end of the card and rubbing at it with cotton tips but I couldnt get it all off.. fortunatly I could see the only last bit remaining which I thought must be causing the problems & I used a needle to remove the gunk, and it worked sweet again phew __________________ Roundhead44: "Then again look at [H]... you can buy Kyle's arse with a pink donut and a good bedtime story - yet it's still going strong."

17th January 2002, 11:51 PM	#3
Robster Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: SYDNEY Posts: 103	Yeh , thanks Onyx We've had to do just that, start form square 1 , he picked up the Arctic Silver pac ($38.00) -seems pitance for what he;s done to the card. Anyway we've carefully taken off the gunk and left every surface flush and smooth , free of grease and selleys cement & applied the Siver paste & epoxy as specified. He did mention that he briefly ran the card without ramsinks due to the panick after he realised that he'd maybe done the wrong thing. This also could have damaged the ram IC's due to heat. Well. we are going to try it just this very moment and we'll see if it ressurects. I'll keep you posted.

19th January 2002, 1:19 AM	#4
Robster Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: SYDNEY Posts: 103	Ahh, everything worked out OK . The cards' working alright ATM, as if nothing happened. Bugger Me, as they say. Maybe it was just heat. as the selleys metal cement must be atrocious at thermal conductivity, or very grainy to provide any decent flush surface. In any case one very releaved Brother.