Did I just kill my graphics card?

[MxM0unta1n]

So, I wanted to try upgrading the TIM on my 6900XT to Liquid Metal. I took the card apart, cleaned off all the thermal paste, and put clear nail polish over the small components near the die. Then, as a sanity check, I put the graphics card back together (putting the thermal pads back in their spots) with no thermal paste. I just wanted to see if it was broken already. My computer posted, everything was good. Went to play a mid weight game to test basic stability, rgb pixels took over my screen. I instantly cut the power, turned it back on, and it seemed okay. I figured I overheated the die, so I used AMD’s software to undervolt the gpu so ir doesn’t cook as much. Tried using my computer, it black screened. No video output. Monitors detected a signal, but there was nothing. Turned the computer off, then it never detected a signal on the monitors. I disconnected the gpu entirely, plugged a monitor straight into my motherboard, and got a signal. Put the gpu back in (after turning off my pc), but no signal again. The VGA debug light is now on, tho. 

Is it dead? How can I check?

[Ottoman420]

How many times did you test with no Thermal paste on the die? Even once depending on how long you run it is dangerous.

 

Are you sure it is put together properly? i would start there but it dosent sound good for the card.

 

[MxM0unta1n]

1 minute ago, Ottoman420 said:

How many times did you test with no Thermal paste on the die? Even once depending on how long you run it is dangerous.

 

Are you sure it is put together properly? i would start there but it dosent sound good for the card.

 

Just once. And I am sure I put it together properly. The only thing I can think to do to change what I did is tighten the gpu mounting bracket more, but I am not sure if that’s a good idea?

[Ottoman420]

Just now, MxM0unta1n said:

The only thing I can think to do to change what I did is tighten the gpu mounting bracket more, but I am not sure if that’s a good idea?

You dont want to crank it tight, Touch tight is fine

[RONOTHAN##]

Sounds like you killed it. Artifacting immediately after replacing the TIM almost always means that a part of the die is overheating because it doesn't have proper contact with the cooler, and no amount of undervolting will keep the card from killing itself if it's not remedied immediately. 

 

That said, liquid metal and GPUs is always a terrible idea. There's a ton of tiny capacitors and a ton of solder for the liquid metal to eat away at if it's not perfectly insulated, and liquid metal has the tendency to spread to other parts of the board if it's not designed for liquid metal, so it can spread to and kill the memory after some time. Besides, the benefits from it and a good, non-conductive thermal paste is ~5C that it's not worth the risk of killing the card for such a small benefit. 

 

You've pretty much have to take it apart and see what the damage is. If it's dead, you should see some parts of the card with liquid metal shorting something, or you will see the die cracked because not enough liquid metal was applied. 

[lopj245]

Odds are 95% that you killed it. Take it apart and look for the "Crusty" bits.

[MxM0unta1n]

4 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Sounds like you killed it. Artifacting immediately after replacing the TIM almost always means that a part of the die is overheating because it doesn't have proper contact with the cooler, and no amount of undervolting will keep the card from killing itself if it's not remedied immediately. 

 

That said, liquid metal and GPUs is always a terrible idea. There's a ton of tiny capacitors and a ton of solder for the liquid metal to eat away at if it's not perfectly insulated, and liquid metal has the tendency to spread to other parts of the board if it's not designed for liquid metal, so it can spread to and kill the memory after some time. Besides, the benefits from it and a good, non-conductive thermal paste is ~5C that it's not worth the risk of killing the card for such a small benefit. 

 

You've pretty much have to take it apart and see what the damage is. If it's dead, you should see some parts of the card with liquid metal shorting something, or you will see the die cracked because not enough liquid metal was applied. 

That’s the thing. There’s no Liquid Metal on it. I tried to test the GPU for functionality, without TIM

[Kilrah]

6 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

you should see some parts of the card with liquid metal shorting something, or you will see the die cracked because not enough liquid metal was applied. 

He didn't even get to put the LM...

 

But yeah, testing under load with no TIM you're pretty much guaranteed to fry it, heck people even fry their cards when replacing TIM just because the die had a small spot that wasn't properly covered.

 

If you wanted to test before applying the LM it should have been at most power on, if POST screen appears it's ok, turn off straight away.

[RONOTHAN##]

7 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

He didn't even get to put the LM...

 

Oh, misread that then.

 

Yeah, it's dead Jim. 

[MxM0unta1n]

I opened my card up, but I can’t see any physical signs of damage. No blown caps, no blue smoke, no signs of damage. Anyone know what I can do to investigate better?

[lopj245]

1 minute ago, MxM0unta1n said:

I opened my card up, but I can’t see any physical signs of damage. No blown caps, no blue smoke, no signs of damage. Anyone know what I can do to investigate better?

Oh how i've been waiting for this moment....

 

 

[TrigrH]

42 minutes ago, MxM0unta1n said:

I opened my card up, but I can’t see any physical signs of damage. No blown caps, no blue smoke, no signs of damage. Anyone know what I can do to investigate better?

Add thermal paste (not liquid metal) and try again. If it doesn't work you killed it.

[jaslion]

1 hour ago, MxM0unta1n said:

That’s the thing. There’s no Liquid Metal on it. I tried to test the GPU for functionality, without TIM

99% of the time that kills it.

 

Put paste on it PROPERLY. So put it on spread it out and make sure its all covered then put 4 more small dots in every corner.

 

If it works like that stop there and keep it that way you have been insanely lucky.

 

But yeah gpus are bare die 10 seconds wiyhout proper cooling is plenty to kill it