Worth the risk? Fixable? Or forget about it?

Hardware GPU
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I have a Twin Frozr GTX 780 (reference PCB) that was going to be put in my Linux machine but I realized it has a blown capacitor.


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Risk: After some googling, it turns at the capacitor that blew (C523) is part of the main power delivery for the GPU and it being blown should prevent the card from working; but it doesn’t. The card still boots and outputs video fine. It wouldn’t be under any load in the linux machine beyond handling outputs (no gaming or emulating) So is it worth the risk to run it under minimal load?

Fix: If it’s not worth the risk to run it, then what do I have to lose by putting my limited soldering skills to use and attempting a fix? The problem being I have no way to check the value of said cap.
Is there anybody that just happens to have a schematic of the Reference 780 PCB or knows/can know the value of this cap?

Or are neither of these options viable?

2

Fixable: Yes, relativly low risk when you can handle soldering irons.

Edit: Even if you don´t fix the cap, I would recommend removing it and cleaning the pads to prevent shorts.

1 Like
3

Its probably some kind of filter cap or it shorted across the pads.

Depends. Would test to see if the cap has gone dead short or not. If its not a dead short then remove it and use it like normal

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I know it physically can be fixed. The problem is I have no idea what cap to use or if I could just solder a wire across the pads

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That is a bad idea. It is a capacitor, not a resistor. It does not pass current from one pad to the other.

you could try to probe the cap next to it.

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6

I thought of this originally but I’ve read that proving a cap still in circuit gives a less than accurate reading. And honestly, I’d probably fry the cap removing it.

Worst comes to worst, I’ll probably do what @Dje4321 said and remove the cap entirely. But I’m cautious because like I said, usually when that cap blows, the GPU stops functioning

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Check to see if the cap failed dead short first. If it didnt then its safe to remove. If it did then it might be the only thing keeping the card running.