Looking to purchase a graphics card but i also wanted to take into consideration repairability vs certain brands. Out of the major brands like MSI, Gigabyte, Asus, XFX, maybe zotac, maybe powercolor. And maybe i missed a couple brands. but any or several brands in particular lean toward or make it somewhat "easier" to teardown the graphic card and repair it more than the other brands. i suppose i'm asking whose like easier to repair in the event of catastrophic failure like a fan or cleaning after the warranty has elapsed?
#Anyone have experience doing a graphics card teardown?
soft jasper
latent willow
Ive torn down both a XFX (specifically a Radeon RX 570) and a ASUS ROG (specifically a Radeon RX 5600 XT). Both are relatively simple to tear down.
However, on the XFX, the pins for the fan plug weren't soldered in very well from the factory, and I had to re-solder them every time I took it apart.
soft jasper
ah ok!
so with your experience with the XFX and asus with some mild issues it was relatively easy huh?
i was thinking about getting an XFX card
latent willow
Yeah
For both, it's just a matter of taking the screws on the bottom of the card out and making sure all the thermal pads stay flat on the heatsink (ask me how I know). Also making sure you clean off the old thermal paste and apply new thermal compound to the chip before putting the heatsink back on the card
soft jasper
alrighty
should i try, in general i suppose, try to get replacement thermal pads and replace those while i'm there?
latent willow
As long as you don't accidentally fold one over itself or break one without realizing when putting the heatsink back on, you generally don't need to.
Also make sure to replace the thermal paste every few years if you don't take it apart to clean it
latent willow
No problem
soft jasper
i was trying to get ahead of the game when i get these 2 new graphics card, thinking ahead past the warranty if and when the card needs servicing
would you say the reference NVIDIA geforce 3060ti is relatively "tough" to dissamble?
latent willow
To be honest, I don't know. Im just an average computer guy trying to help people out with what I know about computers.
soft jasper
alright no probs! and i thank you for sure 🙂