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Guy Cooks dead Video Card in Oven, Brings it back to Life

hardforum.com — i removed all bits from the card including the i/o shield and placed it gpu side down with the card raised up on 3 sides by tiny balls of aluminum foil and placed it on a very thin cookie sheet. i preheated the oven to 385f, put the card in and waited around 8-10 minutes. Put the card back together and it now works!

Who dugg this? Made popular May 30, 2009

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  • 10goto10, on 05/30/2009, -2/+620I bet he has really crisp graphics now.
  • dhughes, on 05/30/2009, -0/+469"...i preheated the oven to 385f, put the card in and waited around 8-10 minutes..." (moves to other oven) "here's one I prepared earlier that's already done."

  • XenonofArcticus, on 05/30/2009, -2/+457Your geek cred just went to infinity.
  • dododohead, on 05/30/2009, -0/+264chips that are baked have less oil and better for you
  • thelastcivilian, on 05/30/2009, -0/+243"When we return from commercial I'll show you how to overclock your machine using only an egg timer..."
  • whiteness81224, on 05/30/2009, -14/+200needs bacon
  • Akraz, on 05/30/2009, -1/+156Tonight's dinner is Intel i7's sprinkled with audigy sauce and a side dish of HD4870s
  • inactive, on 05/30/2009, -10/+115Something seems wrong about this.
  • Crosshare, on 05/30/2009, -1/+88It sounds like they finally tightened them up on level 3.
  • eviljolly, on 05/30/2009, -1/+86Right, like Geek Squad would actually try to fix something instead of just replacing it....
  • HyperLightRS, on 05/30/2009, -0/+82The GPU (biggest chip on the board) and the memory chips (little square ones around it) are called BGA packages. The have hundreds of tiny solder balls on the bottom. During manufacture, they literally run the entire board (in a VERY controlled manner) through a reflow oven to make the solder balls melt and connect the chips to the circuit board. Engineers *hate* BGA packages, because sometimes the balls don't melt/stick properly and cause weird electrical faults long after the product has shipped - like if the board is flexed slightly, for example, or if the chips get hot. We solder prototype boards in our dev lab using a toaster oven (forced convection types work best!) but we *did* add a digital temperature controller to it. NEVER reflow a board that has an kind of heat pipe on it - it could explode. Plastic components can also melt if not removed. They get added to a product after it's been passed through the reflow oven. Cheers! ^HLR^
  • Jack8274, on 05/30/2009, -12/+82Well I had sex with a woman that didn't cost money... See how easy it is to lie!
  • dhVyse, on 05/30/2009, -0/+69It's called a reflow, and although the oven isn't the best way to do it, it can get hot enough.
  • fredrockbluff, on 05/30/2009, -7/+66just curious... is that...


    OVER 9000!?!
  • RyeBrye, on 05/30/2009, -7/+64The funniest part of the joke isn't the ridiculous idea of serving baked video cards at a party - it's the idea of Bill Gates actually entertaining people.
  • ttntyler, on 05/30/2009, -1/+57yes
  • PanthusDire, on 05/30/2009, -0/+55Now to put my keyboard in the DISHWASHER!!!
  • moxley, on 05/30/2009, -1/+51Mothers don't count.
  • crashlock, on 05/30/2009, -1/+51Bill Gates cooks these at his dinner parties.
  • Origin415, on 05/30/2009, -0/+50I know I'd start broiling if my graphics card stopped working
  • fraglessone, on 05/30/2009, -2/+47I told my friend about this and he tried it. He baked his dead nvidia card for about 7 minutes at 375 degrees F, let it cool down then popped it in and it booted right up no problems whatsoever.
  • graemee, on 05/30/2009, -0/+44I ate his GPU with some fava beans and a nice chianti.
  • KSUdesigner, on 05/30/2009, -1/+43Same goes for sisters.
  • frankglez, on 05/30/2009, -1/+42Same effect as re-soldering all the contacts.
    And quicker too!
  • COLstriker, on 05/30/2009, -0/+37What about cousins?
  • 80hd, on 05/31/2009, -0/+34so did anybody else notice that pic #3 looks amazingly like an ocean front city? I mean, holy crap! you almost couldn't do that on purpose.

    http://i41.tinypic.com/2a8kao1.jpg

    The reflection even looks like the sun.
  • dhughes, on 05/30/2009, -1/+35 What, you mean when you flick a wet towl and snap it at someone's ass? We know that one.
  • memper, on 05/30/2009, -0/+33That oven is nasty.
  • a1cd, on 05/30/2009, -4/+36He has stumbled upon Geek Squads most highly guarded secret!
  • frontaxle, on 05/30/2009, -0/+31You might want to crack out the EasyOff before the inlaws come over for that lasagna.
  • Roget, on 05/30/2009, -1/+30Living?
  • inactive, on 05/30/2009, -0/+29And then they'd sell the fixed one in the store at a very small "opened box" discount.



    ...unless they can make it look new.
  • Lunarbunny, on 05/30/2009, -0/+28http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflow_soldering
  • abadonn, on 05/30/2009, -0/+28This is a whole new level to "just bang it with a wrench"
  • JinnRikki, on 05/30/2009, -0/+27Quit playing video games and clean your oven.
  • wontstoptalking, on 05/30/2009, -2/+28Don't forget the towel trick.
  • p3ngwin, on 05/30/2009, -0/+25yep, how some people revived their Xbox 360's after they ***** up.
  • OnAsideNote, on 05/30/2009, -1/+26Home brew Reflow oven
    Next well make a pick & place using printer parts !
  • sartorious, on 05/30/2009, -0/+24I think it can merely approach infinity.
  • seth553, on 05/30/2009, -0/+23No doubt this guy's social life has been on the back burner for awhile.
  • t00lman, on 05/30/2009, -0/+22Read up on the disadvantages of ball grid soldering. Re-heating is a common way of fixing.
  • gojcaj, on 05/30/2009, -0/+22Or when you wrap the 360 in towels and leave it on for ~20 minutes. Worked for me.
  • lazyspartan, on 05/30/2009, -0/+22I guess you could say he brought his dead video card back to life.
  • fredrockbluff, on 05/30/2009, -8/+30must really heat up his gaming experience.
  • Chompy, on 05/30/2009, -0/+20It's a piece of cake to bake a pretty card.
  • graemee, on 05/30/2009, -0/+19Actually they'd replace it, keep the card and try this on the dead one. If it works, they win twice.
  • aggies11, on 05/30/2009, -0/+19Does "from the chest up" count?
  • Ma5t3r_Chi3f, on 05/30/2009, -0/+18Overclock or overcook?
  • dhVyse, on 05/30/2009, -0/+18Alot cheaper then a reflow station. I used a heatgun to reflow my Xbox 360. It had a bad contact on a cold solder joint on one of the ram chips. That machine really is just a big POS.
  • drunkirish, on 05/30/2009, -1/+19Don't forget to bring a towel?
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