Asus 4090 cracked PCB horror Part 1

[@northwestrepair]

Part 2 is going to be 3hrs long. More secrets, more lessons to learn. Get some popcorn ready

[@sfmn2396]

cant wait 🐰

[@alimih6865]

Love it .. thx for sharing your knowledge ❤

[@iNubpwn3r]

Where is it :) my popcorn is getting cold.

[@alinioanmoroi1370]

Waiting for part 2!

[@colinatherton3002]

looking forward to it ,popcorn and beer at the ready😁😁

[@ipie13579]

Thanks for fixing our card we appreciate it and thanks to Dan for the hookup. Will treat you to a beer if ya visit austin.

[@cppctek]

Proof it wasn’t just gigabyte cards cracking. Pro tip always use a support bracket or stick and use it properly. Or vertically mount it

[@aliensounddigital8729]

Vertical mounting is the way for the future. These cards are way too heavy now for the traditional horizontal mount and bracket.

[@honeybadger6275]

@@aliensounddigital8729 Either that or waterblocks.

[@temporaltomato3021]

@@honeybadger6275 Really there are lots of solutions to this problem, manufacturers should look into it 🤔

[@swilleh_]

@@aliensounddigital8729 this or just add more support for them

[@jockeolzzon1222]

no people are just dumb, you can easily support the gpu tying your power cables properly.

[@santiagocastro6701]

northwestreball you should be called :P, outside from jokes, nice work man it is amazing to see somebody that keeps that up the same level of good repair and jokes at the same time

[@Dell-ol6hb]

This looks like they forgot to unlock the PCIE slot on the motherboard and ripped it out, that seems like the crack you get from a sudden force/shock not the kind you’d get from stress over time due to the card’s weight

[@masterluckyluke]

I tried that once with an old board, it definitely rips out the plastic thingy before anything happens to the board. The board is much more sturdy than the plastic thing that holds the card in the slot.

[@Arelias95]

@@masterluckyluke dunno about that tbh, you said an old board, new mobos are reinforced a lot of the time.

[@masterluckyluke]

@@Arelias95 Old meaning from 2012. It was a pretty good board. And I mean, if modern boards are even sturdier, then my "test" with an older one doesn't change the fact, that the plastic part breaks before the board is damaged in any way. The lock was the same on the older board.

[@docshay7328]

​​@@masterluckylukeI had a x570 Aorus Master board do the same thing when I pulled a gpu out without unlocking it. The plastic tab just popped out with no damage to the card.

[@VndNvwYvvSvv]

​@@masterluckyluke Definitely can tear the tab on the board first. It depends on the PCB vs slot design and how you're abusing it.

[@ClaudioProductionsX]

My heart skipped a beat. I have a tuf 4080. These carfs come with a special screwdriver that you can flip over and becomes a card support, to help handle the weight of the card and doesnt relies entirely on the PCI slot.

[@cppctek]

Use it. 100% everyone needs a support stick or bracket. Cards are too heavy these days

[@FR4M3Sharma]

Please do yourself a favor and get a visor/extender.

[@lilpain1997]

@@FR4M3Sharma Or he can use the support stick that came with his card...

[@FR4M3Sharma]

@@lilpain1997 Still it's better to not risk putting any weight on the PCB. Especially when your GPU is worth 1500+$

[@ClaudioProductionsX]

@@FR4M3Sharma the support can allign perfectly to any height, and I have it lined up with the PCB, so all the weight falls on the support rather than the PCB.

[@handyman1957]

Can't tell you how much I enjoy watching your do your magic. I put on some music playing in the background and just chill and learn. Thanks

[@South_0f_Heaven_]

@24:00 Thank You, been saying this for well over a decade. Since changing to lead free solder the failure rate went thru the roof on the GPU BGA due to the solder joints cracking. So thank you very much Mr EPA. You saved the planet by mandating lead free solder and as a result the landfills are filled with eWaste instead. Great job 👏 Also awesome work as usual NWR.

[@timmienorrie]

Spot on. Lead in the environment is surely bad but waste is arguably worse. The heavy metals in electronics are probably a lot more harmful.

[@honeybadger6275]

@@timmienorrie Kinda like when everyone advocates for switching to "green" energy like solar or wind while ignoring how destructive it is to mine the materials to make the batteries and solar panels needed for those types of energy. Far more destructive than coal or nuclear.

[@the_hate_inside1085]

I hear the F1 circuit is switching to bio fuel in the cars, to green wash their operation. Then they transport the cars, people, and everything else, all around the world with trucks, and airplanes running on fossil fuels...

[@honeybadger6275]

@@the_hate_inside1085 Biofuel sucks, it prematurely ruins engines and fuel pumps.

[@the_hate_inside1085]

@@honeybadger6275 There are lots of different types of biofuel, with different origins, and chemical property's. Stating that "biofuel sucks" is ignorant. All oil underground originates from biological sources.

[@AmmarAbotouk]

honestly these cards should only be vertical mounted their way too big

[@btwbrand]

All my cards are vertically mounted, I choose a case that oriented them in this direction intentionally almost 15 years ago when cards started getting huge.

[@victorsegoviapalacios4710]

No, no need, just learn how to build Gaming PC

[@psychedelaholic]

I own an EVGA 3080Ti FTW3 and it's stupid how heavy it is, I bought an aftermarket adjustable support that goes under it to offset the weight of the card. If I didn't have it the card would have sagged so badly that by now the board would be bent.

[@Dell-ol6hb]

It’s fine if you support it properly using a brace, vertical mounting may not work with your case

[@SupraSav]

Love my Thermaltake core P3! Vertical mount ftw

[@HerrAlien]

Ok, this is going to be unusual, but the explanation that follows this for it will help. I ended up fixing 4 video cards with PEX_RESET problems: the AND gate was torn off from the PCB. I also fixed another one with power sequencing issues - resistors torn off from the PCB. And then the mini-display port was not working on another one, because (you've guessed it) torn off low power mosfets. The reason for this I believe has to do with how the people selling these cards at fleamarkets store them: in plastic tubs, in piles of cards and PCBs. Basically, the treat what was probably functioning hardware as wooden planks; then they wonder why they start doing their job just like a wooden plank would.

[@losslessthoughts]

I can tell by looking at this one that this is the victim of the locking tab. Someone likely forgot to unlatch it and pulled the card out.

[@irasthewarrior]

As far as I know, only those chips harvested at the center of the wafer or closed to it are suitable for higher performance boost or factory overclock because they are of higher quality.

[@rougeneon1997]

Wizardry! I have been smashing through a lot of your videos. So cool

[@d0wngrad391]

I fell in love with your channel! Keep up good work 😊👍

[@gcbification]

Gotta love a good horrorshow =)

[@i_grok_u2902]

I put a brace on my 4090- they are huge cards, no need to take chances.

[@kelefgaming2795]

Don't EVER let your graphics card sag!!! I am using some kind of bracket under the card for over 15 years, back then i even had no idea that the PCB can crack like this.

[@cosmicp.o.m.e3460]

Looking forward to part 2. Lots to learn luv it.

[@brandonroeder2461]

GPU in-a-box is where the market will head as they get bigger, heavier and more expensive. It doesn't make sense to house a giant card in a case anymore, especially given their current size. They'll have dedicated PSU's too so you'll only need to power your mobo and peripherals.

[@zizlog_sound]

Eventually, gfx cards will become a computer system on its own in a computer.

[@Dandan-tg6tj]

Any idiot can build a PC. Only professionals know how to build a PC that will give you no trouble. There are cases where the graphics card stays vertically. If a graphics card is over 1Kg you always mount it vertically.

[@TechnologyHive]

This is the guy I would trust with my GPU repairs 👍👍

[@TechnologyHive]

@@snaplash I learned myself how to do minor repairs just by watching this guy. He's the goat 🙂

[@TechnologyHive]

@Look_What_You_Did lolololol that's what I thought when I saw it. Didn't say anything though 🤣🤣

[@jerrykrovichdrvlof1362]

Cracked motherboard "this is a no fix, I'm charging repair attempt fee though I've barely touched the board" Looks around for another video card with a mosfet driver stage issue "here we have a... ... Let's inject some voltage with our voltage injection tool that you can find at our webpage..." Meanwhile you: "A cracked motherboard? We have video!" (no complaining, I love this videos and I'm amazed by all the effort you put on fixing a device that seems unfixable)

[@christopheroverton6188]

The Gigabyte 4090 that I bought off of ebay had a nasty L shaped crack that extended out as far as that crack did. I managed to repair it though. I was fortunate enough to not have damaged vram, and I don't think anyone attempted to power it on because none of the power rails were actually short before I started repair on it. No burns or anything. I don't remember how many traces I had to repair, but there were a LOT (over 25), and some vias were broken also so I had to come up with interesting solutions for that.

[@tony_bauer]

Might have to contact you for help 😅

[@christopheroverton6188]

@@tony_bauer I only recommend doing this kind of repair if you're going to use it personally, and are willing to take extra precautions to ensure the safety of the card. They are extra sensitive after breaks considering that the whole card is no longer 1 solid, evenly spread piece. What issue are you having?

[@taufiqhidayat8273]

" Hello internet " Warm my heart 😇

[@DIYRepairHour]

Hmmm if the card was sent for crack repair, why did you lift the core? Of course there is always the possibility that there are broken pads, but taking if off you did put yourself in a bad position - there's always a inherit risk with core reball, and it just so happened you droped it. Should have just attempted to repair the crack first, and then if the card wouldn't work or just artifact inform the customer that it may need the core / memory repair (and for additional $$$). Great job as always, but a mistake in the business side of things. You would charge for the crack repair regardless if the customer would go with core reball or not.

[@VndNvwYvvSvv]

Any signs of physical damage on the card indicate the likelihood of broken solder joints or torn pads under memory or especially the core due to shock or flexing. This would happen a bit less often if they still used lead solder

[@BrutalFoX.]

computers are starting to go backwards where it'll be as big as a room someday, they really need to come up with a new cooling system

[@techluvin7691]

Hi, Jim from Tech Luvn, a Canadian gaming rig builder. I absolutely love your video’s. I watch religiously. Keep ‘em coming. I’m learning alot.

[@RogueWraith909]

2.74kg (2,742 grams) combined mass for the back plate, heat sink and shroud... that's really heavy. I recall hearing somewhere that some companies making 40 series GPU's are using the shroud as a structural part now to assist in stiffening the whole thing and stopping it bending the board at the cost of increased overall mass. At this point it's gotten rediculous.

[@alexatkin]

The founders edition cards seem to do this, they are very solid. Where the AIBs aren't helping is when a card is more than 2 slots, only having 2 slots on the IO plate when having the third can add a lot more rigidity.

[@gabrieltirtau7095]

at 2x speen your voice is just perfect XD no offense keep up this work, mate!

[@marinipersonal]

Had few Lian Li cases where the motherboard standoff was either shorter than expected or the case slightly twisted/misaligned. That would cause the PCI-E lock to stay locked and risk damaging the GPU. Using a Fractal North and no issues removing the GPU. Totally a case issue in my case.

[@FR4M3Sharma]

It honestly looks like deliberate design flaw so that these expensive cards die quickly, they really don't care about the environment and just want to you keep buying their products, and that's basically every manufacturer out there.

[@trucid2]

I laid my case horizontally on the floor when I installed mine. Almost six pounds--that's heavy!

[@EDOD_EseDelOtroDia]

It's so cracked the video had to come in parts. 😳

[@Albel8499]

Honestly I don't do board repairs I just like seeing you work.

[@Fatpumpumlovah2]

Gorilla hands, impatientness and just lack of care when removing your card is what causes this. nothing else.

[@torshec8634]

The Doctor is in. And seriously, vertical mounts or add more supports.

[@btwbrand]

Hope those layers didn't separate internally, that's a huge crack. Looking forward tot he rest of the video.

[@changeagent228]

I'm going to take a guess that after placing the card in the slot there was a reason for removal and there was insufficient clearance to reach under the card and disengage the slot lock. Then excess force was applied to attempt to remove the card regardless. In the past I have had the same issue although when I pulled the card the lock released with a loud click. It seems likely either the lock gives, the slot rips off the motherboard or the gpu pcb cracks at the slot lock point like in the video.

[@levistoner]

Folks, you really have to try and get your finger in there to press the release tab on the PCI-E slot. If you don’t, you dramatically increase the likelihood that this will happen.

[@EMFixIT]

I've repaired 4090 tuf not long time ago. Massive crack both sides, bout 8 hours of work

[@tony_bauer]

Might have to contact you bro 😅

[@mikeshobbiesandrandomstuff]

It would help a lot if companies would stop making the heatsink longer than the card itself it would be much lighter and less stress on the card and socket.

[@bhoot1702]

What about cooling

[@Dell-ol6hb]

The problem is they still have to cool a 450 W card, they have to make them that big or it will be unusable because it would almost immediately thermal throttle

[@u9Nails]

If you were designing that PCB, would you run traces through that area? I don't know about the board design, but that looks like a weak area to me. It also looks like someone could easily avoid running circuits into that area.

[@alext6933]

​@@snaplashyeah that or for some reason they accidentally put a bunch of pressure on top of it while it was still hooked in.

[@The_Man_In_Red]

Holy crack Batman

[@nagzz06]

GPUs nowadays should be installed vertically to avoid cracking them, due to their massive size and weight

[@gucky4717]

That is why you use a solid "pillar" (or other type of holding device) to hold the end of the card up AND you don't transport the PC with the GPU in it. Just by carrying the PC around, when you put it down with too much force, those forces are multiplied at the GPU and make it crack. My 4090FE is different. I have an ITX PC and between the GPU and the bottom of the case is just 15mm and inbetween those 15mm is a slim fan. So half of the GPU is sitting on that fan, not just a small GPU "pillar" like the ASUS cards...

[@CotyRiddle]

hell if i ever can afford one of these my case has the option to mount it seperately from the MB. i will buy a pci riser and mount it vertically :D

[@Vaba-Mees]

tHIS IS HIGH Level Repair!👍

[@Rzn8B58]

why do they make the most important part hold all the weight and then keep adding more weight every generation?

[@ozgurakbulut6533]

Recently dropped a case with 3070ti and bent the pcie slot and probably bit of the board as well, been a week but I can use the card with a bit of support to the free end of the card assembly Never use a 3 fan heavy card without a support bracket

[@4sp3ro]

I was waiting for the spicy comment about how assemblers strive to create products with blatantly reduced life spans.

[@intoxicode]

Everything's bigger in Texas, including their PCB cracks...

[@TheBlueBunnyKen]

Imo, if you have any 3 fan card, use an anti-sag brace/bracket. You're card will last way longer

[@TheBlueBunnyKen]

Your*

[@MasterJediSean]

These cards ARE way too heavy, But people should also get a gpu mount to prop it up to avoid sagging with cards like these, I only have an ASRock PG RX 7600 and I still use a mount. They only cost about $25-$30. There really is no excuse to not have one when you drop a grand on a monster heatsinked GPU.

[@No1BRC]

My brother's MSI 4090 was delivered with a support which screws into the slot holder of the tower, however- I don't trust it and ordered a different one to support from beneath. Well needed, I see...

[@aleksandrbmelnikov]

Don't know why Pb solder can't be used, if it's only needed for BGA chips. They haven't outlawed lead in automotive batteries. Last i looked, there's a lot more lead in those.

[@northwestrepair]

Some say it's for workers safety but I think it's for more profit.

[@aleksandrbmelnikov]

@@northwestrepair Yeah, it's all bs. They don't even ball the stuff by hand. They paint with solder paste using machines. But anyway, guy from Meritech said he'd work on PCI-E slot, and let me know once he had something. You prob should replace the slot with OEM type, and then use PCI-E riser cable. If the slot on riser cable fails, at least it's easy to replace. Sorry, but it will maybe some time before they retool molds.

[@Samurai38135]

With Asus TUF comes a support in the box, its like a pillar, its magnetic and height adjustable. it supports the front far edge of the card. No problem there.

[@ToastenButter]

That's why you always use protection with the 40xx series as they are chonkers and will self destruct in a number of fun ways. As soon as the 4090 got in my case I put the bracket in. Is it ugly kinda does it give me peace of mind, yes.

[@jasonkaiser1179]

I have an Asus Strix 4090 and I have it supported in three places to keep it from cracking. They are just way too heavy.

[@constantinesoldatos]

''If we look a liiiittle closer...'' Pretty sure we'd be able to see that crack from outer space 😂

[@SB-qm5wg]

Holla` from Texas 🤠

[@bkaczy]

mother-father-motherboard patchwork family! Regards!

[@2xKTfc]

Your desk mat needs a sticker "say no to crack!" 😅

[@R3TR0J4N]

ASMR seeing how satisfying desoldering the chip

[@silenceddoogood]

Love your videos which aib partner would you suggest? or is reference cards better?

[@Nickfulcrium]

Simple fix would be to ships these with aios like they do for some versions lots of weight taken off by radiator it would be light and better cooling

[@elior77]

"The father ? The motherboard !" ROFLOL !

[@grast5150]

That type of crack to me says two things. 1st, they dropped their machine or shipped the machine with the video card installed. I would also bet they destroyed their motherboard too. OR 2nd, someone did not know about the detent on PCI express slot and forced it. Just my opinion. This looks like misuse or incompetence and not manufacturing error.

[@kenabi]

with the visible twist at the crack itself, i'd say drop/shipping damage exclusively, while still in slot.

[@The_Man_In_Red]

@@kenabi Such a dumb mistake to make. Take it out, put it in the box, takes like 30 seconds!

[@CloudJack]

They probably dropped the card before it was ever installed

[@kenabi]

@@CloudJack nah, you can see the slight marring in the matte finish that shows it was in the slot when whatever happened, happened.

[@TheApotheCarrot]

The reason it's so heavy is because it was supposed to pull 600w of power. Little do 4090 owners know that it performs within 5% of stock 450w power if you set it to 70% power limit (315w).

[@RamonChiNangWong078]

Everything is BIG in Texas indeed

[@LamGorYun]

wouldn't it be cheaper to buy some kind of support for the card instead than to have it repaired

[@northwestrepair]

Yes

[@star5328]

I'm curious about the process he's going through after he takes the core off the pcb. It looked like he was melting solder, spreading it around, and then absorbing it back off with a piece of rope. Obviously I have no clue what I'm talking about but that's why I'm asking.

[@socratesg4210]

Manufactures of these newer cards need to stop taking copper traces through that support. But of course they will not since they make more when a card breaks.

[@girenloland]

Thats why you use the provided support that is in a bag in the box

[@rayray00204]

you cured my insomnia

[@alexatkin]

What annoys me about this card specifically is the shroud is metal but seemingly purely for aesthetics, in all the pictures I had assumed it was plastic as it makes no sense to have such a heavy shroud. They should only be metal if its going to add structural support at the IO bracket to reduce sag, like the FE cards do. If a card effectively takes up 3 slots it should have a 3 slot bracket for structural support IMO. I have this exact card btw but my case is inverted which I'm hoping avoids this as its putting the stress on the backplate and IO shield with no sagging.

[@madaknevarski6478]

I'm so glad I mounted my card vertically ,I did it for looks....

[@b1bek564]

bro is a gpu dentist at this point

[@Blacksnowfanfics]

I bought an ati that was artifacting I pulled off the heatsink and run it in my computer for about a minute and the artifacting stopped I put it all back together installed the drivers and gave it a stress test and she ran like a dream

[@mechanoid5739]

That is such a blatant design flaw with these cards. I don't know how the manufacturers get away with not allowing a warranty repair.

[@Legoloewe]

3:30 they have done this for easy deshrouding / noctua fan replacement.

[@zombizombi]

Just started watching your videos and I'm upgrading from a smaller gpu to one of this huge ones. How do you prevent these issues? Is there something you consider good enough? Specifically with the PCBs bending/twisting and such. I guess what I'm asking is how you personally install your own gpus so you don't face issues.

[@AI_MicroSolder]

I wanted to write you one last thing I noticed going through all the instructions. Noware does it say to line up the graphics card io shield so it's level on the back of the computer. If you push the card support so it pushes up on the pcie plug end of the card just puts a hard bind on that lock tab cracking it. You can see how the direction the pressure break direction shows. If the card was just hanging. It would Crack on the othersid3 of that lock tab. Sorry to be repeating myself but I tested it and sure enough it will Crack the tab with the bulge on the side the pressure was being exerted on that pc board lock tab you keep having to repair on ALL heavier cards that are air-cooled. You do not need to put pressure on 5he end of the card. You just set the support to support the weight of the card not push as much pressure as you can. There's no reason to put excessive pressure on the support

[@DanRing]

biggest cliff hanger ever

[@danytoob]

Will your board heater pop the corn? Now that would be a full service shop! Thanks even if no pops DT

[@peterfalkner4436]

That 4090 has been damaged by shipping the PC with the GPU mounted . Cracks that bad don't happen just because you don't use a support btacket.

[@kitchenbriks3685]

Why any vital traces run through the area of that tab is mind blowing

[@PapaMav]

Another good example of some people just should not have nice things...

[@Ivan-pr7ku]

This card has terrible cooler mounting. The entire weight of the heat-sink part is hanging on the PCB alone with no extra screw points to the I/O shield, to provide more rigidity. As if the card was meant only for vertical mount position.

[@vishnu7794]

Finally, face revealed😁.

[@DellaroyEngineering]

It blows my mind that there is no short created from re tinning

[@rohan8611]

Great video

[@endame90]

More than the pcb quality, it's gpus that are too big and heavy nowadays, at least that's what I think.

[@dark_cobalt]

I have a questin. Sometimes you are using a tool where you can locate wich microelektronic parts are build on the gpu. I mean where all parts are listet in numbers in a GUI, so you can locate when you broke something off, you know wich it was. The program where the whole gpu with pcb shows up and you can see everything from a-z. I want to repair my RTX 3070 Ti, but i don't know what i broke off, because this tiny peace (maybe a resistor) is so small, that i cant tell what i need to buy to repair it myself. Thank you and s0orry for my bad english :)

[@MikesRigs]

Shouldn't literally every 40xx still be under warranty?

[@batemanjo9]

You can try to do a warranty claim but they will send it back to you with a red arrow sticker pointing at the crack. And a notice that says "not covered"

[@leebaker372]

If the kids got Legos, you have a perfect customizable gpu support. Just saying, but anyway. I can't be the only one absolutely interested in what you use, brands and all, along with temps.. The jigs and stencils you use, and the the heating unit you use, and why you chose it. A straight up how to video basically with a shop tour. 😊

[@nizemee729]

This GPU would have came with support bracket in the box. Its the users fault of he didnt use it or not used it correctly. Ive had rtx 3070, 3070ti , 3080ti and 4080 and all those came with support brackets included even the cheaply made Gigabyte eagle OC 3080ti.

[@Rmm1722]

good work

[@suryavanshib]

Awesome ✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻

[@billchildress9756]

Lead free soldier!

[@user-qi9be4lv7l]

So many people abuse their cards then try to pretend like it's the manufacturers fault. The only way these cards crack is from customer abuse. The board can't crack itself.

[@TheBlueBunnyKen]

It can from years of sagging, but they probably most likely tried to tug it out of the motherboard since the gpu is so huge it's hard to reach the pci-e release latch. If using chunky cards get a motherboard with a quick release button

[@randcoin]

THats almost 3Kg's on that slot at an angle its crazy, One more reason to reduce all that weight and water-cool

[@Tekjive]

“Repair attempt fee”??? I can’t imagine that lol 😅