Quote:
Originally Posted by rpm1200
In my experience there is no substitute for having a BGA chip resoldered with the appropriate equipment.
I have an HP TX1000 laptop which had a flaky NVidia GPU (common problem on those and other laptops including other HPs and some Toshibas). It started blacking out the video and losing network connectivity, then eventually got to the point that it would not even show the startup splash screen. The GPU is a BGA chip. I tried a recommendation of cutting out a piece of cardboard to mask the GPU, covering the cardboard in foil and hitting it with a heat gun. The laptop started booting again, but it only lasted about a week before it died again.
I sent the motherboard off to a shop in Miami that has the proper BGA resoldering gear (including x-ray to check the soldered connections). It cost $100 plus shipping to have a new GPU soldered in properly. Since I got it back from them in 2010, the laptop has not given me a bit of trouble. The shop I used will only work on specific model laptops.
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Of course, because each model laptop requires a special placement and anchor jig so it doesnt warp or bend during a reflow/remount.
You only have a certain jigs, and each jig fits its own board.
Same deal with xbox360 and PS3s. for PS3, there are 3 known different board mounting configurations so there are 3 different jigs. Gets expensive. I think the standard is 0.14mm of give in any direction. any warp greater than this, the BGA balls will refuse to sit right. I do the reflow thing with an IR rework station now, so I kinda know how this goes. lol.
the game systems though are starting to become a major thorn in my side because no matter how much you try those peices of crap keep coming back with the RROD. Hell I even went out of the way and completely replaced the entire GPU on a few, and still got them back within a day or so.