Mobile GPU Re-balling

[MrCaffeineX]

I have an HD6990M that I am trying to help a friend resurrect, if the price is not too high ($150.00 or so gets another used portable oven...), but I lack both the skills and equipment for a proper job. Can anyone here recommend a professional that can re-ball the GPU/VRAM or should I just tell him to take the chance buying a used one?

 

[pxc]

Actually reballing the GPU and ram will cost over $150. The bake and pray method isn't a real fix.

 

[MrCaffeineX]

From my experience with bake and pray on 360s and PS3s, I have determined that it is almost useless, so it was not even a consideration. I suppose the real question is whether a used card will experience the same problem in a short time frame, or if the re-balling might last a while longer. It sucks to pay the kind of money these things run to have them die just past the warranty period...

 

[YeuEmMaiMai]

buy a proper heat gun for the job and you can do it easily... gotta be careful, don't want to cook your silicon.... if done properly the repair should last unless there is some design defect (aka orignal 2 models of the 360)

 

[MGDMN]

I owned the 6990m in my Sager NP8170 and it is a card that gets VERY hot during gaming. I would regularly reach 90C. After about a year it finally bit the dust so I made the decision to have Sager upgrade it to a 7970m. The difference in temperature was amazing. At 100% load on the 7970m I never saw a temp above 70C. The point of my story is this, even if you do replace it with a used card, I dont think that it will last long, even if the used card is in like new condition. The upgrade wasnt cheap, but in the long run it was well worth it.