An upgrade for me, and a failed repair.
Oct 8, 2016 5:50:34 GMT
Power Supersport, Famer, and 1 more like this
Post by TinSoldier on Oct 8, 2016 5:50:34 GMT
So I decided to upgrade my POS dell.
upgrading the ram from 2G to 8G
adding a 2G Nvidia graphics card
upgrading the CPU from 2.33G dual core to a 2.6G dual core
Should have all the parts by the end of the month , (just in time for Halloween and a new upgrade horror story)
And at just over $200, it should keep me happy for a year or 2 while i save up for a pricey gaming system.
I decided to go this route cause i tried to refloat my old laptops video card.
refloating or reballing ( the extreme repair version)
refloating involves heating up the the video chip to just the right temperature to remelt the solder contacts.
This is said to fix lines on the display caused by many heating and cooling cycles and overheating, that cause the contacts to break.
I assume the issue here is the manufacturer use of the lowest temperature solder, to keep heat down during production, to help protect the components.
The side effect of this is two fold, first it means the solder connection can break easier and shortens its life span, using a higher tin content solder would be better, but during heating cooling cycles the stronger solder wont flex as much and may put stress directly on the motherboards copper traces, which could cause them to break away from the motherboard.
Its a tossup which way is the best.
So anyway, did the refloating, reassembled the laptop, booted it up, and bobs your uncle...
the display was perfect. not a single line issue to be seen.
5 minutes after booting up, bob is not my uncle ! .. damn it.
The lines came back, just as bad as before..
It was a failed attempt.
Im not willing to do it again, even though youtube videos said i may need to try 2 or 3 times to get it to work.
It's a 1G P4 3.4G setup that's 8 yrs old now, and just waiting for other issues / problems to popup, so its dead and a done deal...
PS reballing is a process of completely removing the video chip and removing the old solder from both the chip and the motherboard's contacts, then applying new solder to both, then resolding it back.
This sounds not so bad, but the video chip has to be perfectly aligned, and exactly the right amount of solder reapplied, plus exactly the right amount of heat to properly resoldier it back.. this takes experience or **** luck to get it done right.
not so many years ago computer chips all had a simpler design where all the pin contacts extended out from the sides of the chips, these were much easier for the DIY guys to play with and repair.
As computer chips evolved, more and more contacts were required and became smaller and smaller.
Manufacture's realized, that the bottom of these chips was all but wasted space on the circuit board.
So large chips, like the CPU now have contacts on the bottom and not on the sides, the CPU's first started using pins pointing straight down, these have evolved now so just solder balls are used as contact points.( you can drop your CPU chip now and not worry about bent pins ).
I assume once again, this is a process of saving money, by reducing the amount of copper needed, and reduces the complexity of the mounting hardware as well, all in all saving production cost's. ( more money out of our pockets and into the manufacturer's )
upgrading the ram from 2G to 8G
adding a 2G Nvidia graphics card
upgrading the CPU from 2.33G dual core to a 2.6G dual core
Should have all the parts by the end of the month , (just in time for Halloween and a new upgrade horror story)
And at just over $200, it should keep me happy for a year or 2 while i save up for a pricey gaming system.
I decided to go this route cause i tried to refloat my old laptops video card.
refloating or reballing ( the extreme repair version)
refloating involves heating up the the video chip to just the right temperature to remelt the solder contacts.
This is said to fix lines on the display caused by many heating and cooling cycles and overheating, that cause the contacts to break.
I assume the issue here is the manufacturer use of the lowest temperature solder, to keep heat down during production, to help protect the components.
The side effect of this is two fold, first it means the solder connection can break easier and shortens its life span, using a higher tin content solder would be better, but during heating cooling cycles the stronger solder wont flex as much and may put stress directly on the motherboards copper traces, which could cause them to break away from the motherboard.
Its a tossup which way is the best.
So anyway, did the refloating, reassembled the laptop, booted it up, and bobs your uncle...
the display was perfect. not a single line issue to be seen.
5 minutes after booting up, bob is not my uncle ! .. damn it.
The lines came back, just as bad as before..
It was a failed attempt.
Im not willing to do it again, even though youtube videos said i may need to try 2 or 3 times to get it to work.
It's a 1G P4 3.4G setup that's 8 yrs old now, and just waiting for other issues / problems to popup, so its dead and a done deal...
PS reballing is a process of completely removing the video chip and removing the old solder from both the chip and the motherboard's contacts, then applying new solder to both, then resolding it back.
This sounds not so bad, but the video chip has to be perfectly aligned, and exactly the right amount of solder reapplied, plus exactly the right amount of heat to properly resoldier it back.. this takes experience or **** luck to get it done right.
not so many years ago computer chips all had a simpler design where all the pin contacts extended out from the sides of the chips, these were much easier for the DIY guys to play with and repair.
As computer chips evolved, more and more contacts were required and became smaller and smaller.
Manufacture's realized, that the bottom of these chips was all but wasted space on the circuit board.
So large chips, like the CPU now have contacts on the bottom and not on the sides, the CPU's first started using pins pointing straight down, these have evolved now so just solder balls are used as contact points.( you can drop your CPU chip now and not worry about bent pins ).
I assume once again, this is a process of saving money, by reducing the amount of copper needed, and reduces the complexity of the mounting hardware as well, all in all saving production cost's. ( more money out of our pockets and into the manufacturer's )