A subscriber offered to fix my broken graphics card. Here's what happened...

I recently pulled a broken graphics card from an HP gaming PC which had some serious issues. After uploading the video, a subscriber reached out to ask if they could try to fix it. Here's how it went...
Thanks for watching :)

[@GustavoEBarriga]

Before: "Sure you can keep it" After: " *WHERE'S MY RADEON STICKER?* "

[@robertmueller6979]

lol

[@zarco5855]

That guy shoved it inside an oven to "reflow" the core for sure.

[@RandomGaminginHD]

Yeah that’s what I’m thinking

[@homelessEh]

@@RandomGaminginHD just go buy a toaster oven thats what i use i have had success prolonging death of cards.

[@hydraxxorion538]

Except that the GPU die is completely cooked and it is gradually dying completely, finally this will be the case when the silicon has reached its maximum entropy by constantly overheating to succeed in functioning and then the GPU will refuse definitely restart...

[@tourmaline07]

Such a janky fix , and he knew it too which is why he probably didn't want to explain ;) He'll also enjoy an oven full of fumes too.

[@LuisArcadia641]

There are people who can repair them on the component level That's expensive though, and people who do that usually advertise it and the guy would have told RGHD about his eletronics repair business

[@Drewtheelder]

The Radeon sticker was too heavy and slowed the card down, I'm thinking about removing the stickers from my card too.

[@nojoojuu]

I did, and now it is identified as RX 590 8Gb, Totally worth it!

[@dailylife8901]

😂

[@Lucas-ir9mn]

I removed mine and got 33 more fps

[@betag24cn]

im thinking on using a grinder to remove the word gigabyte from the plastic cover of the gpu too

[@iiisaac1312]

fake news, stickers add more horsepower! everyone knows that!

[@MegaHellstrike]

Hi, Andrew here! I managed to fix the graphics card by fusing my soul to the GPU but it didn't go perfectly. We are now one, we are in your PC.

[@korchevatel]

That RX580 is a Goddamned horcrux now.

[@southerndime333]

you got parkinsons then?

[@odius94]

Ed...ward...

[@user-gg5jd8zz3l]

In the end, Andrew's soul will go to GPU graveyard. 😢

[@R3TR0J4N]

Made me chuckle 😂

[@bananabanana8407]

That guy definitely baked the gpu. 😂

[@phen96]

But who the hell bakes the GPU with the cooler still on? That doesn't explain the missing sticker

[@bananabanana8407]

@@phen96 In the video he said the paste is fresh so I assumed the guy took the cooler off. For the sticker part, idk maybe the sticker was yummy or the actual plan of the guy was taking the sticker and we just don't expect it 🤣🤣

[@RobertFixit]

@@phen96 It fell off in the oven LOL

[@hrayz]

I own a heat gun now, just for these purposes. More control than oven baking.

[@bananabanana8407]

@hrayz that is definitely a good investment. I still find the baking in the oven hilarious 😂

[@Noiconnotag]

Next time send it to me, I promise not to send it back.

[@RandomGaminginHD]

😁

[@abaialsa712]

@@RandomGaminginHD are you homosexual

[@lissunger]

yes, he is ​@@abaialsa712

[@JulianFernandez]

@@abaialsa712 your mom is. And i still do her.

[@NowLedgeOutpost]

​@@abaialsa712dafuq?

[@niezzayt3809]

In that case, there are numerous cases where GPU repair technician somehow managed to get it working but also, at the same time, breaks its own clock speed scanner. So it's incorrectly reported in MSI Afterburner. I've seen someone fixing RTX 3080 and after it was fixed, everything runs normally as if it's brand new. Except for 1 thing: the Clock speed of 3080 shows at 0 MHz. Lol Imagine playing Cyberpunk 2077 with RTX 3080 on max settings, averaging 90 FPS, but clock speed reported 0 MHz. That happened

[@thesmashtvnetwork]

sound like a chip was replace and the vender id was hard code to the chip do you think a bios replace will reset the vender id

[@niezzayt3809]

@@thesmashtvnetwork the GPUZ will catch it if it was replaced or "fake". But it's not.

[@niezzayt3809]

@@thesmashtvnetwork also, don't forget that RTX 3080 chip Pin layout is incompatible with any other card below it. Like RTX 3070, or 3060 or 4070 or 4060

[@IvanOoze1990]

@@niezzayt3809 Chinese scammers have put 3080ti cores on 4090 pcbs.

[@niezzayt3809]

@@IvanOoze1990 I did say it's about RTX 3080 repair, not 3090 or 4090. So it's far less likely to use fake chip for the repair since RTX 3080 already at the bottom of performance of its Compatible Pins layout. No other weaker card has same pins layout as 3080.

[@joman104]

My guess is that he flashed a bios onto it with super reduced clock speeds, you could rip the bios to check what it says if you care enough to try.

[@RandomGaminginHD]

Yeah could be I’ll have a look

[@TheChudoviste]

100%

[@kehax]

He probably did the oven method by cooking it in the oven for 10 minutes at 200 Celsius, or used a heat-gun on it for the soldering lanes to relink. Unfortunately this is just a temporary quick fix, because what caused the issue with the card in the first place was heat, hence why he probably adjusted the cards clock specification to prevent future high temperatures. Oven method has never been lasting repair.

[@MadIIMike]

Was about to post pretty much the same. I think people need to be more aware that putting a GPU in a Oven can cause harm, as there's lead and possibly traces of it landing in the food later on.

[@Gabu_]

@@MadIIMike Most PCBs have been lead-free for two decades, now.

[@jessragan6714]

Tried that with a malfunctioning Xbox 360. The trick lasted for all of six weeks. :P

[@MadIIMike]

@@Gabu_ I don't think there would be lead warnings on gpu packaging if there wouldn't be any in it.

[@fenixspider5776]

I think the clock speed is read wrong, cause I had a rx580 and it most definitely performs like this for most games atleast in elden ring and csgo

[@mr.pumpkin8891]

5:55 u made a smiley face on accident haha

[@jojoagmon]

@@AgentLazarus the spell burnt the right wall and it looks like a smile

[@IBims1Mark]

lol xddd

[@mr.pumpkin8891]

@@AgentLazarus the fire on the wall

[@robertmueller6979]

Gamer eye. One eye sideways while the other covers your front. They call it lazy eye but I know better.

[@mr.pumpkin8891]

@@robertmueller6979 not lazy eye i just scour everything like an eagle 🦅

[@XeonProductions]

I wonder if he flashed a lower clocked BIOS on it so it would be stable.

[@WaptimusPrime]

that's the correct answer

[@AgentLazarus]

​@@WaptimusPrime Hi Andrew.

[@nushnume]

Hold on so if you downclock a dying gpu it will work again at lower clocks?

[@XeonProductions]

@@nushnume sometimes, but in my experience once the silicon starts degrading it doesn't stop so it just keeps getting worse and worse.

[@Shahzad12357]

​@@nushnume No

[@xFluing]

I am very intimate with that kind of artifacting you got. It was definitely a blown cap - I've had two HD 7850s that behaved the same way when their power delivery blew up.

[@AdamNRG316]

Wonder if he had one that worked, swapped em over and sent you the one that worked back whilst he worked on the broken one? Strange he didn't message you or anything though.

[@RandomGaminginHD]

Yeah I’m not sure but I’m grateful for the attempt either way.

[@Google_Does_Evil_Now]

Andrew, thank you for trying to fix the card and hang some success with that. And for giving us some KZbin content from this enjoyable KZbinr. Would be interesting if you could let us know what you did. Maybe through the KZbinr, or in a comment, or some other way. I'm guessing you're a tech interested person who's learning to fix electronics, and probably most of us viewers here would enjoy seeing that.

[@IvanOoze1990]

He might of pulled the sticker off to look to see if there was a way to lubricate the fan possibly? but like others said, I think he took it apart and baked it in his kitchen oven.

[@Kykof]

Love the PS3 Slim in the back Steve!

[@koivids_]

one of the first things i spotted as well haha

[@WH250398]

The most reliable of the three models for sure.

[@glubrix]

The green screen means that the card's firmware is gone. It happens that the EPROM with the firmware becomes damaged over time. He reflashed it with lower timings, but poor thing it was time to die 😸He removed the sticker from the fan to see if there was a hole to put the oil back in, but they are made of paper with strong glue and are difficult to reattach. Maybe it can still be fixed, we need to reflow the gpu chip, ram seems ok, no artifacts. Bought rx580 £40 refurbished new on aliexpress

[@tf7426]

What I was thinking, no bake just a re flash... Used to do that to Radeons for a free upgrade

[@ATMGAMING1112]

bro i've been watching you for years..many many years......and you still look like a kid to me.

[@chongtak]

At least he temporarily fixed the card and got a free sticker, and you could make a new video.

[@Zoey_KL]

He's edited the BIOS and limited the clocks. He raised the voltages but that would normally have made it run a lot hotter, so he lowered the max clock to keep temperatures in check.

[@szczymryju]

You should try to flash the original bios, these are typical symptoms of a mining card.

[@SlavkoStorm]

This.

[@infinity2z3r07]

the missing sticker is the biggest mystery of all. andrew you have some explaining to do 🤔🤔

[@MrTelecasterIV]

Maybe Andrew is made up just to hide the fact that this bloke was drunk as a kite last night and had such a hunger (we're hungry when we are drunk, aren't we?) that he put his Gpu in the microwave and ate the AMD sticker afterwards. Confess!!

[@TheCudder4life]

Good video and hopefully IT'S COMING HOME.

[@RandomGaminginHD]

Oh I hope so. Going to be a good game for sure!

[@fusion_x_frost3836]

Let’s hope

[@GigaSane]

90+ Lamine Yamal remembers Messi showered him:

[@thomasg1513]

I'd happily fix any gpu you have on hand. Keep up the videos

[@causticdemon1971]

@RandomGamingHD Please send this card to someone who has the ability to test it thoroughly so we can know what the hell is happening with this weird card

[@ChristopherYeeMon]

Should have sent it to Kris-Fix Germany or northwestrepair for a collab video

[@mwhunter2346]

yup, worth a try!

[@fusion_x_frost3836]

Maybe the core and memory are faulty / damaged. So I think he could have flashed a new bios, that has limits and limits the MHz to be as low as possible, in order to make it boot and stable. Maybe previously the bios was modded or flashed and had it forced at a MHz that it couldn’t handle. Maybe?

[@darthwiizius]

Faulty core or power delivery compensated for by limiting the power draw, probably through a firmware hack is my guess. That would explain the high temps at low speeds.

[@fetus2280]

Sometimes, theres no need to say anything... Results speak for themselves.

[@Ryan-sk9ij]

Your faded

[@fetus2280]

@@Ryan-sk9ij You're* Do Better.

[@Ryan-sk9ij]

@@fetus2280 nah ur faded

[@Tw33zD]

It is a huge problem with those old rx 400/500 series that just stop working correctly. Tech yes city made a video about those relics

[@MasterJediSean]

Looks like a bad power phase, It looks like he tried to replace the mosfet but it kept shorting so he may have removed the mosfet all together, hence it is missing a power phase. It may explain the Core frequency being so low. Or he could have disabled the phase by using the I2C interface.

[@TheSpotify95]

Seems like a reflow job via the heat gun or oven method. This sometimes works, and mostly doesn't - and when it does work, it's only temporarily. This GPU is completely cooked.

[@Yy-ig6fm]

A proper reballing, (removing and reapplying new solder balls) could have probably brought the card back to full functionality.

[@TheSpotify95]

@@Yy-ig6fm Possibly, but good luck taking the GPU die off in one piece, removing the old solder balls, adding fresh solder balls, and then getting the GPU back on the board again in one piece.

[@Yy-ig6fm]

@@TheSpotify95It can be done pretty consistently if you know how, but it's a pretty niche skill.

[@leedergs]

4:12 thats just the normal fallout 4 experience

[@johnturley6918]

The 580 s a great card , my granddaughter is still using my old one in the PC I built for her. Glad to see you mention a 4060 I get fed up when I see reviewers slatting it eg. Hardware Unboxed it time they realised that not everybody plays triple A games I bought a 4060Ti and it plays all my games, no problem keep the great videos coming

[@sk0mi]

Bios on Polaris gpus is so easy to change, tweak, do almost everything you like with the values. Idk if there was a reflow of core and memory (lines should be fixed with reflow or total changing of chips both gpu or mem), but bios reprogramming is easy to do and make a gpu work on different values...like higher voltage maybe, power phases, mem clock OC, core downclock, fan speed...idk what he did there, I'm just saying what can be done with Polaris gpus. They are really made great for tweaking with bios values changes.

[@cheezitupp]

I had similar low clocks when I used thermal pads that were a quarter of a mm too thick. I fixed it by using a rolling pin on the pads because .5mm lower was too low. The die just needed better mounting pressure.

[@stermyslides6214]

Oven reflow and reball, but that core is dying

[@RuruFIN]

It needs the Radeon sticker for its full performance. Andrew has now more performance with his GPU.

[@RichardArkax]

definition of "plug a lil weird but he chill tho"

[@Alpha-ms9nj]

Try a bios re-flash maybe? It's worked out well on 2 cards I purchased. I even managed to flash one that produced no image using the Intel graphics on my I7-4790K. Might be worth a shot man. The missing sticker will probably forever remain a mystery lol.

[@jonronnquist]

Thought this was going to turn into the story of how a hacked RX580 stole his identity and emptied his bank accounts. 😂

[@ModernOddity728]

Maybe that'll be the next episode? lol

[@residentevilfan4]

......he baked it without taking off the shroud? God lord.

[@GeAlMaDi]

Hi Steve, it looks like one of the memory modules looks burnt out going by the look of the board.

[@JMS_Saint]

shadow distance for fallout 4 is bugged , when u put it to ultra the fps dank dramatically. if u switch them to high or medium this problem goes away.

[@balaam_7087]

Imagine if that graphics card could talk. As soon as it got put into the envelope for the return mail, it’d be like *’Ah s***, here we go again.’* like in GTA

[@ghosttheoremproductions5469]

Probably bios modded to lower mem clocks since that is what was failing. Potentially with some voltage tweaks as well. --- A nice trick to try if you can get a dead/dying mining card for free. --- Though I would not sell a card after bios modding it can be handy if you're putting together a zero-budget build. RX 470/480/570/580 were used a lot for mining so it's fairly common to find them in a similar state.

[@No1BRC]

If he really did try to reflow it by baking then there are a few things to consider: this method doesn’t fix the problem of the solder itself which became bad and brittle. Another issue the card may suffer are bad ceramic caps which regenerate a little due to the heat but fail soon again.

[@solanumtuberosa]

Revived gpu literally did a 'change da world my final message'

[@mattparker9726]

I wonder if this was a miss binned card from the factory? Instead of being a full 580, maybe it was supposed to be a 580sp.

[@v.9876]

Check the bios version maybe flashed a bios for a different model but more than likely there is a damaged resistor somewhere from the possible reflow/oven attempt. Most cards are fixable for someone like northwestrepair if the core is not dead so it can still be fixed I would even have a go but i'm overseas from you. Clean the pcie strips on the card

[@StuffJason437]

The chip on that graphic's card needs re-balling and as such reflowing is a temporarily fix.

[@alexturnbackthearmy1907]

Everything else doesnt look good too.

[@Hellwalker855]

Looks like the pads are too thick and the heat sink isn't making proper contact with the core. Also the PCIE pins could use some cleaning.

[@DanielCardei]

Electrolytic capacitor bulges if you put them in the oven.

[@JDStickland]

I've done this to "save" a GTX 660 before. Just underclocked the stuffing out of it to make it stable.

[@River_Miles]

A little reflow while baking some cookies.

[@UNATCOHanka]

Andrew is smart. Andrew now has access to your system and is mining it for data and dogecoins.

[@Medicated1]

Since you flipped from amd drivers to nvidia drivers for your cards, were you doing a driver cleaner before you installed the nvidia drivers? If you don't, that can cause the problems that you are seeing. Just a thought.

[@alexturnbackthearmy1907]

Not really. I used different cards in my system and it is not how it works. Each card pick up its own drivers and nothing more (unless you force it to, but it is a BAD BAD idea even if you technically can do it).

[@Brunsas73]

Love youre vids, just gotta ask, what mic are u using ? !

[@trivialpershoot]

Fan swap as you can see through it so zero dirt on those fan blades?

[@iHorus]

So he increased the voltage (hence the temps) and lowered the Hz

[@n3tskyy151]

that guy prolly installed some bitcoin mining on that card

[@lmcgregoruk]

Removed the Radeon Sticker and got surprised temps went up!, Try removing the heatsink and/or fan from your cpu, and see what happens to the temperatures! I mean stickers are a vital part of the systems cooling, why you think they used to stick them all over the place on old laptops/prebuilts? Just to advertise it was an Intel Inside? no of course not, to keep things running cool.

[@cardinalseven1168]

but hey its working, and u got a chance to test it!

[@CrociG]

That's a nice offer!

[@philtkaswahl2124]

The fact the you sound the most annoyed about the Radeon sticker being gone makes this even funnier.

[@justhezo]

I think he bios modded it and tried to remove the fan for voltage stuff

[@stratuvarious8547]

I don't know if you have access to a GTX 1650, but if you do, it could be a interesting video to test FSR 3.1 in supported games to compare if it makes them playable on low end hardware.

[@alexturnbackthearmy1907]

Not really. Frame gen doesnt work good on old cards, and if you didnt have good FPS to begin with - it will still feel like shit even if you cant see powerpoint presentation effect anymore.

[@stratuvarious8547]

@@alexturnbackthearmy1907 Sure, that's the impression we all have, but, if you don't see the new tech in use, do you really know? If everyone just assumes that's the case, and no one tests it, what is gained? Science is about testing assumptions, not just using what we know in most cases and going with that.

[@kaseyboles30]

Sounds like a borderline reflow job. The kind you might get using an old toaster oven because it's what you can afford.

[@Timmy51m]

Scooby Doo, where are you, mysterious Andrew.

[@Chill_Mode_JD]

rut row raggy

[@XaFFaX]

Seems to me like a good'ole "bake'n'flash" and it is good to go 😂

[@SmithBeatZ1]

Ah clever. He either baked the chip with a heat gun or the actual oven and then set a custom bios so it doesn't boost to normal frequencies, hoping to prolong the already dead chip.

[@mokkymiah2742]

He flashed a bios to limit the card to a stable spec

[@vinyfiny]

I'd love to get a modern GPU that's this size. A 4070 only uses about 20 more watts...

[@Vanessinha91Pucca]

He prob took the sticker out to replace the fan oil.... after put it in the oven and got lucky it actually for once make a slight difference.

[@oremarinkovic7925]

3 minutes ago is crazy 💀

[@i_cant_hear_a_word_you_say]

6 minutes ago is crazy 💀

[@SunnyWave174]

47 minutes ago is crazy 💀

[@alteito]

crazy? I was crazy once

[@LiquidSnakeSSJ4]

autism is crazy

[@i_cant_hear_a_word_you_say]

@@LiquidSnakeSSJ4 just like your profile picture

[@Fordgpw1942ocalafl]

That's awesome he sent it back I like the mystery guy.

[@AKG58Z]

Either it's ovened or a modified bios was flashed.

[@problematic3255]

it was me. i just wanted the sticker. sorry

[@BillyBoy444]

5:00 have you ever thought about fixing them yourself? There are lots of videos on KZbin showing how to test with a multi meter and how to remove components and re shoulder them. Also though do need another card for spares

[@alexanderlasombra]

what a good history, probably andrew fell bad about just doing a mess and that´s the reason of the silence, he had their best intentions and even resurrected it a bit

[@robertmueller6979]

stalker for sure. card just randomly started. happens all the time. probably got heated up in the mailbox. oh well, nice knowing ya kid....

[@a.bamatraf6054]

maybe he just reflash the bios with lower clocked memory

[@Psyden5757]

My own RX 570 runs extremely hot under load, shoots up to 90°C in seconds on furmark or a demanding game, i had to undervolt it a little bit and add a lot of fans around the GPU to have it run fine lmao

[@hydroponicgard]

It being stuck on 800mhz max is either the dye got damaged, or the controller of some sort got damaged. My Lenovo does that too, and I can't fix it, even with oven reflow.

[@alexturnbackthearmy1907]

Oven reflow doesnt fix shit. Just gives card few more days (or weeks, sometimes months) of life, it is still toasted due to bad solder under the core. If you have any memory problem and card does work - reflow will only damage card further, the ONLY fix is replacing bad components on board.

[@MR_GAMING_BOYS_1]

Just give it a smack it probably worked because the postal company droped it alot

[@yeetus59]

That RX 580 is somehow thermal throttling itself to death. Polaris cards throttle in a weird way I noticed. Similar thing happened with my RX 580 but the performance and clock speeds wouldn’t drop so badly. But my paste was dry. Maybe the heatsink or pcb is warped and not making full contact with the gpu die?

[@Captain_Char]

I have too many older GPU's you'd likely have a field day with, just to test retro gaming builds

[@HamSammich88]

This is very interesting. @RandomGaminginHD, Please post a video update if "Andrew" ever responds to your email and explains what repair technique he did to the card. Also, maybe try to revive the card once again and check the VBIOS to see if its been modified or flashed to a different version. You never know, It may come back to life and work once again. Thanks.

[@Kumimono]

Andrew,... We call him the Sticker Stealer.

[@eriknielsen3753]

I Thought this dude was Elon musk' for a sec?😂😅

[@BigBruh47]

Does Andrew even exist ? This story is crazy :D

[@UNATCOHanka]

Andrew is his other personality. He forgets what his other persona did once he falls asleep and wakes up.

[@DownUnder43]

He backed the card. Fixing these things properly ain't easy task and you need professional equipment.

[@jonathanfabian7297]

So 'Andrew' now has your name, your address and your postcode..... Along with your YT channel and Socials, is there value or use in that?

[@milanmottl8983]

Yep, he baked it. It reflowed the GPU a little BUT after you tested it and let it cool down again it started again. It is either shaders in the core itself or balls are not properly touching making the gpu starve and run it in slow mode. Whenever a sticker is down = GPU was baked. Also sometimes, if it is baked more or multiple times, the PCIE gets darker shade of yellow. EDIT: And flashed lower clocked BIOS to compensate for the power.

[@another3997]

Some huge assumptions there, none of which you can substantiate. You have no evidence, other than axmissing sticker. Removing a sticker could just as easily mean the fan was being cleaned and serviced. It might not even be the same fan.

[@milanmottl8983]

@@another3997 the sticker has nothing below. There is no reason to take it off if you are cleaning the fan. Few times I experienced situation like this with RX 4xx and 5xx GPUs these were the reasons why. Balls and (or) partially dead part of GPU

[@flyaway6671]

He wiped his ar*e with it, the sticker got stuck in his crack then he sent it back to you. Anyway don't give away your home address to randoms so willy nilly, I'd use a PO box.

[@N2tech]

One explanation he might have been a repair guy and labeled all his jobs with the return address and after he repaired it passed away and his family decided to mail back all of his jobs that had addresses.

[@Babbages]

I wonder if he modded its bios for lower voltage and clocks.

[@fracturedlife1393]

mining bios / homemade rbe to keep clocks low? hopefully in this last minute you have an amswer lmao

[@mohamedalimaaroufi4327]

I think he flashed the bios of the card in the section where it was broken skipping the clock jumps to keep the card under control he caped the clock speeds other theory he baked it so the eeprom got grilled so it is reporting bad clocks and btw gpu-z show the clocks for the specific model and specific bios not the actual clocks of the actual gpu