Non-working R9 380 4G card needs help

[alexander.o]

I have a non-working R9 380 card. Specifically a MSI R9 380 Gaming 4G. Here is the story of what happened:

1. Recieved it in the mail, as non-working. However, it was bent. https://imgur.com/a/mzcPgo7
2. Popped it in my system. As advertised, the card turns off under load. I can confirm this. Put it under load, boom, system froze. Had to hold the reset button for it to shut down and start up again.
3. Booted up, and noticed the card wasn't enabled in Device Manager. (https://imgur.com/a/EKVdzRz from Afterburner) Enabled it.
4. Got a Code 31 (https://imgur.com/a/JeLZpTg) error. Tried to install drivers from AMD (21.1.3 IIRC). System crashed while installing drivers.
5. Took it out overnight, and popped it back in again. Showed up as disabled (https://imgur.com/a/yejCg3e, 2nd pic) Tried to install drivers from AMD (same drivers as before), failed (but no system crash, https://imgur.com/a/yejCg3e, 1st pic).
6. Tried to install drivers again, worked fine and the GPU had drivers. But when the card was placed under load, I got a "Thread stuck in device manager" BSOD.
7. Opened up and inspected the card for damage (https://imgur.com/Ua6Ty3R, https://imgur.com/UuZqbCo. That little R47 thing is not burned, just dusty). Nothing visibly wrong there either.

It isn't a board damage issue (at least nothing visible), it isn't a PSU issue (same PSU is running a R9 290X and a R9 390 fine), it isn't a temperature issue (it wouldn't shut off immediately if that was the issue?), and the BIOS is a normal one as well.

 

So the question is, does anyone know how I can fix this card? Open to all suggestions.

 

 

[jaslion]

Honestly I think this is a situation of either of these:

 

1. Card is bent so contact with heatsink is not good causing heat issues and crashes on different components

 

2. Card is bent and certain solderings are cracked. The heat makes the solder expand and have connection issues/possible shorts.

 

I'd say go around and verify all is making contact first from the heatsink and see what that gives.

[alexander.o]

1 minute ago, jaslion said:

Honestly I think this is a situation of either of these:

 

1. Card is bent so contact with heatsink is not good causing heat issues and crashes on different components

 

2. Card is bent and certain solderings are cracked. The heat makes the solder expand and have connection issues/possible shorts.

 

I'd say go around and verify all is making contact first from the heatsink and see what that gives.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll see if I can't give that a try

[emosun]

Load could translate to heat so any time a load is applied a component starts to heat up instantly and detaches itself from its solder points. But that being said any single surface mount component could be operating outside its spec which would also cause the card to not work correctly. Without a diagram of the board along with a diagnostic testing workflow it might not be possible to fix so be ready for that.

[alexander.o]

1 minute ago, emosun said:

Load could translate to heat so any time a load is applied a component starts to heat up instantly and detaches itself from its solder points. But that being said any single surface mount component could be operating outside its spec which would also cause the card to not work correctly. Without a diagram of the board along with a diagnostic testing workflow it might not be possible to fix so be ready for that.

OK. I got a tip from PCMR to try reflashing a VBIOS, and I'll give that a try.

[jaslion]

2 minutes ago, alexander.o said:

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll see if I can't give that a try

You can easily check this by putting a tiny bit of thermal paste on the thermal pads and seeing what makes contact and what does not. It wipes of easily afterwards anyways with some alcohol and should not ruin the pads as I've done this in the past in situations where I was unsure of proper contact. It will stain the pads tho.

 

Either way this card as is is bit material right now so you don't really got anything to lose.

[jaslion]

Just now, alexander.o said:

OK. I got a tip from PCMR to try reflashing a VBIOS, and I'll give that a try.

DONT

DO NOT DO THIS ON A UNSTABLE CARD

NEVER DO THIS ON A UNSTABLE CARD

YOU WILL BRICK THE CARD

 

First verify if it is a hardware issue or not

[alexander.o]

Just now, jaslion said:

You can easily check this by putting a tiny bit of thermal paste on the thermal pads and seeing what makes contact and what does not. It wipes of easily afterwards anyways with some alcohol and should not ruin the pads as I've done this in the past in situations where I was unsure of proper contact. It will stain the pads tho.

 

Either way this card as is is bit material right now so you don't really got anything to lose.

I took the thermal pads off some part lol, the pads were basically goo. That was after I tried to fix it

[alexander.o]

Just now, jaslion said:

DONT

DO NOT DO THIS ON A UNSTABLE CARD

NEVER DO THIS ON A UNSTABLE CARD

YOU WILL BRICK THE CARD

 

First verify if it is a hardware issue or not

Ok, I won't do that then. lol

 

I did however remove the thermal paste, but I've got Kryonaut on its way. Should be at my house in three days so I can't fire up the card quite yet.

[jaslion]

1 minute ago, alexander.o said:

I took the thermal pads off some part lol, the pads were basically goo. That was after I tried to fix it

That is not what a thermal pad is supposed to do like at all.

[jaslion]

Just now, alexander.o said:

Ok, I won't do that then. lol

 

I did however remove the thermal paste, but I've got Kryonaut on its way. Should be at my house in three days so I can't fire up the card quite yet.

You NEED thermal pads. The cooler is NOT MADE to used thermal paste for any component that ISNT the gpu core. There will be NO contact between the cooler and vram, vrm,... as the thermal pads bridge the gap. You need correct thickness thermal pads. Too thick and it will cause pressure and contact issues which can result in things breaking under pressure, no contact for other components,... You also cannot use too thin thermal pads as well those wont connect.

[alexander.o]

Just now, jaslion said:

That is not what a thermal pad is supposed to do like at all.

What would you do then? I removed the thermal pads where the red thing is, not the big SFC things but the row behind. Where you see white goo residueen? The stuff I removed was 

[jaslion]

2 minutes ago, alexander.o said:

What would you do then? I removed the thermal pads where the red thing is, not the big SFC things but the row behind. Where you see white goo residueen? The stuff I removed was 

Get new thermal pads. Just buy a sheet of the correct thickness and put them on. If you use the card without it it will crash and eventually coock itself to death.

 

Also I see a big big issue there already there is a thermal pad on the gpu core no wonder it is shutting down that is NOT supposed to be there at all.

[alexander.o]

1 minute ago, jaslion said:

Get new thermal pads. Just buy a sheet of the correct thickness and put them on. If you use the card without it it will crash and eventually coock itself to death.

 

Also I see a big big issue there already there is a thermal pad on the gpu core no wonder it is shutting down that is NOT supposed to be there at all.

The thermal pad stuff is old paste. I didn't remove it 100% when I took the picture but it is gone now

 

Edit- any thermal pad suggestions? Have a few GPUs I might want to repad, so several thicknesses would be nice

[jaslion]

1 minute ago, alexander.o said:

The thermal pad stuff is old paste. I didn't remove it 100% when I took the picture but it is gone now

I doubt it did much. It also just looks like it barely even made contact with the cooler. I'd say when installing the cooler again before you put any pads or anything on it put a small drop of paste on and mount the cooler then immediatly take it back off and see if any contact is even being made at all. As of now it honestly just looks like the cooler is in a state where it is just barely touching the thing.

[alexander.o]

1 minute ago, jaslion said:

I doubt it did much. It also just looks like it barely even made contact with the cooler. I'd say when installing the cooler again before you put any pads or anything on it put a small drop of paste on and mount the cooler then immediatly take it back off and see if any contact is even being made at all. As of now it honestly just looks like the cooler is in a state where it is just barely touching the thing.

Ok. I'll give that a try

[alexander.o]

9 minutes ago, jaslion said:

I doubt it did much. It also just looks like it barely even made contact with the cooler. I'd say when installing the cooler again before you put any pads or anything on it put a small drop of paste on and mount the cooler then immediatly take it back off and see if any contact is even being made at all. As of now it honestly just looks like the cooler is in a state where it is just barely touching the thing.

So the plan is to put new paste, and double check cooler and core are making 100% contact, then fire up the card, and give the card a load?

 

Thanks a lot so far though

[jaslion]

2 minutes ago, alexander.o said:

So the plan is to put new paste, and double check cooler and core are making 100% contact, then fire up the card, and give the card a load?

 

Thanks a lot so far though

The plan is:

 

Get thermal pads that are the correct thichness and put them on the card

Put a little paste on the gpu core and mount the card to the core. Undo it immediatly after and see if any contact has even been made

If contact is good then properly apply a good amount of paste and spread it out a bit (rather too much than too little)

Only if all steps above are done do you fire up the card. Anything else will damage it or give issues,

[alexander.o]

Just now, jaslion said:

The plan is:

 

Get thermal pads that are the correct thichness and put them on the card

Put a little paste on the gpu core and mount the card to the core. Undo it immediatly after and see if any contact has even been made

If contact is good then properly apply a good amount of paste and spread it out a bit (rather too much than too little)

Only if all steps above are done do you fire up the card. Anything else will damage it or give issues,

I understand. But how would I get the right thickness if I don't have the original pads to measure? And do you have any brand/model recommendations?

[jaslion]

3 minutes ago, alexander.o said:

I understand. But how would I get the right thickness if I don't have the original pads to measure? And do you have any brand/model recommendations?

Google is your friend here hopefully. At worst you get a thin pad and start stacking them on top of eachother. As for pads I honestly just buy whatever really.

[alexander.o]

9 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Google is your friend here hopefully. At worst you get a thin pad and start stacking them on top of eachother. As for pads I honestly just buy whatever really.

I'll try that. Thanks for the advice so far and I'll update you when I get the paste and pads in my hands!