Graphics card in the oven: sounds paradoxical, but it can eliminate many a defect.
In many cases it is hardly or not at all possible to make a defective graphics card work again. This is often because we do not dare to approach the filigree electronics due to a lack of specialist knowledge, or we simply lack the technical equipment.
From time to time, basic knowledge and simple home remedies are enough to get a broken graphics card going again. So had Reddit user FledPotato According to his own statements, he received a defective graphics card as a gift and can repair it using his oven.
Incidentally, the GPU is the former and still very popular flagship Nvidia Geforce GTX 1080 Ti, as the chip designation indicates GP102-350-K1-A1
revealed in the picture above. For information: The Pascal graphics card is still sold on Ebay for around 500 dollars and is roughly on par with the RTX 3060 Ti in terms of pure rasterization performance (i.e. without ray tracing).
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Bake graphics card – does that really help?
So what exactly did FledPotato do? Actually it’s really quite simple. The Reddit user removed the heat sink of the graphics card, cleaned the circuit board, graphics memory modules, graphics chip and other small components with isopropanol (alcohol) from dirt and residues of thermal paste, then placed them on aluminum foil and packed them in his standard oven.
We didn’t discover the exact temperature at which he did it in the Reddit thread, but around 120 degrees with a baking time of around 20 to 30 minutes is usually recommended. The whole point is to soften the solder used to such an extent that any weak points such as cracks between the solder joint and the component or so-called cold solder joints can be repaired again.
Depending on the alloy, the actual melting point of solder is around 180 degrees (e.g. if lead is added) or much higher. From our own experience we can say that baking the graphics card can actually lead to success, even if the process is often referred to as a myth. However, how long the repair lasts is another matter. It is quite possible that FledPotato will have to repeat the procedure from time to time.
By the way: If you are worried that this process could damage the graphics card even more, we can put your mind at ease. The components usually easily withstand 120 degrees as long as they are not in operation.
Have you ever done something like this yourself? And if so, was it successful? Write it to us in the comments!