[Cleaned, Soaked in Isopropyl Alcohol] Options for my 'broken' AMD Radeon 6870

[12355616511651]

I purchased my XFX AMD Radeon HD 6870 in 2011 and it's had many problems. Sometimes the driver would stop responding and it would successfully recover, and other times the I'd get line splits and random black/red crap around the screen (like this), finally sometimes the screen would 'split in half' (this as an example). 

 

I've sent the card to XFX and they said it worked PERFECTLY fine, and when I got it back it didn't work. Except, the next day it worked fine for 5-6 months. Then this started to happen. Now I'm getting a complete black screen, but when I move the DVI cables around, I get red vertical lines. Video demonstrated here, skip to the end because I made it for the XFX folks.

 

I was planning on buying 91% Isopropyl alcohol and bathing my GPU in it (Not exactly sure for how long) to see if it might somehow fix it. I have a small hunch that the issue is around the ports, I haven't tried the mini HDMI because I don't have a cable for it. 

 

Any suggestions on what to do? At this point it's 100% my GPU because the issues are still occurring after upgrading my other parts.

 

EDIT:

So I took apart my GPU and soaked it in 91% + 70% isopropyl alcohol (Mixed because I didn't buy enough 91%).

(After dusting out and letting it sit in it's original box for 5 months)

I was thinking about painting the GPU white and blue.

[Aniallation]

I had this

exact

fucking

problem

 

Same crappy XFX 6870, same crappy XFX service. I feel your struggle.

 

In the end I literally just threw it in the trash and bought a 7870. The GPU was just outright dying and there wasn't much I could do about it.

[flibberdipper]

XFX REPRESENT!!!

 

Yeah, my 7950 ran over 85C all the time with the stock paste on a good day with a 20.5C ambient. One cleanup job later with some MX-2-based paste, and I get 78C on a really bad day with my fans in my case and an ambient of 25.5C. Keep in mind before I only had one monitor. Now I have two.

[12355616511651]

I had this

exact

fucking

problem

 

Same crappy XFX 6870, same crappy XFX service. I feel your struggle.

 

In the end I literally just threw it in the trash and bought a 7870. The GPU was just outright dying and there wasn't much I could do about it.

 

  I guess I'm stuck with my GT 545 for a while.

 

 

XFX REPRESENT!!!

 

Yeah, my 7950 ran over 85C all the time with the stock paste on a good day with a 20.5C ambient. One cleanup job later with some MX-2-based paste, and I get 78C on a really bad day with my fans in my case and an ambient of 25.5C. Keep in mind before I only had one monitor. Now I have two.

Mine ran 60C max.

[Aniallation]

Mine ran 60C max.

Mine ran in a poor airflow OEM case for about a year where it'd hit ~85 under heavy load but later on was moved to an aftermarket one where it worked for another year or so at 65-70c under heavy load, before it started developing issues.

[12355616511651]

Mine ran in a poor airflow OEM case for about a year where it'd hit ~85 under heavy load but later on was moved to an aftermarket one where it worked for another year or so at 65-70c under heavy load, before it started developing issues.

Wow so did mine..

 

 

Upgraded a while ago, everything except for my GPU. I wasn't going to play those 250+ games in my steam inventory anyways. x)

[12355616511651]

Okay so I cleaned up my GPU:

http://imgur.com/a/r53aY

What now? I guess I'll let it dry till tomorrow and see if it works . I'd be so happy if it worked since my current GPU is a GT 545 (Equivalent AMD = 4770)

[Cheddle]

snip

 

cook the CPU, put it in the oven as per instructions here.

 

http://lifehacker.com/5823227/save-dying-video-cards-with-a-quick-bake-in-the-oven

[Ertman]

if you do the bake thing, let us know how it turns out.

OT

I once had to clean a GPU I got from a guy who turn out was a smoker. The card and heatsink were covered in tar and dust. A little 99% alcohol, gloves, and some light scrubbing with a soft toothbrush and now it's pretty clean.

[12355616511651]

Wow thanks guys, I'll try out the oven thing if the card doesn't work after giving it a bath. I'm trying to be safe with the card and make sure everything dries (Scared that the display ports containers on the GPU might have some liquid in there .

[12355616511651]

Woow.. My card is working.. Temps seem a little high for idle, maybe I didn't apply the thermal correctly?

Played a bit of skyrim

I'm getting 65 C on another game, if it goes passed ~67 I'm probably going to apply more thermal paste.

Edit: It hit 70C. Applying LESS thermal.

Well I just applied a little less. Everything is working well and my temps are average. I guess the alcohol bath fixed whatever was wrong, thanks for the read.