So my dad aquired an older Dell XPS that had an artifacting 8800GTX in it.  I already baked it once and it fixed the problem for a few months and then it started back again.  I was a little eager and was a dumb--- and didn't remove the shroud so it was a bit deformed but it worked.  Now I am in the process of tearing it completely down and was wanting to do some mods to it and possibly some over clocking.  The card itself is still in good condition, it just had suffered some heat issues due to old TIM and a disfigured shroud.
 
I have cleaned the paste off and have the card stripped completly down.  Where to go from here for some sweet mods?
 
Need to find a good TIM Pad kit and good TIM for the GPU.  I have some EK MX4(?) from the CPU block I had in my rig.  Should I even mess with the stock cooler and fabricate a new shroud or should I look into an aftermarket cooler and what should I look at?
 
I know there is the option to Zombie it but I'm not that advanced and I don't plan on doing any LN2 on it so is there any other nifty mods I can do?

I'd just use the stock cooler if you're just running on air.  I don't think an investment in an aftermarket cooler would be worth it.
 
You can use any thermal paste on the gpu.  And if the mem pads are shot use thicker tim, like ceramique or something.
 
YOu can probably find better, but here's a mix of .5 and 1mm tim pads http://www.koolance.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=580
 

well well well now this is FUN!!!
 
as for cooling take the plastic shroud off leave the heatsink on and the memory plate and put a high CFM fan directly on the heat sinc!
that should keep it cool for upto 1.4v
 
ok for mods this is where it gets FUN!!!
first off the 88GTX/ULTRA mods can be found 
http://madshrimps.be/articles/article/1000072/nvidia-geforce-8800-series-overclocking-guide/7#axzz1olmsuvdc
 
then there is the ZOMBIE!
this is when you cut the back of the PCB off and use it to power smaller cards with a single power phase like the 8600gt.
 
ill provide pics of both if people are interested =D

Nice!  Thanks for the suggestions!  I just bought a lot of no-post/artifacting GPUs off ebay for $35 shipped.  It had five 8800GTX cards in it so for $35 I thought it may be worth the risk and seeing if I can bake a few of them to life again.  I'll have plenty of cards to mod/work on.
 
BTW are the 8800GTX cards tri SLI capable or are they just SLI?  Are there nay sort of BIOs flash ability for overclocks on these as well?

I actually have a pair of Sparkle 8600GTS cards with the daughter card read out on them they are pretty sweet little cards and I may do some zombie mods to those.  There will definately be enought parts to do some crazy stuff.
 

did you end up getting any 8800GT's in that bunch?

can't remember but I don't think so.  I think there was a 9600, a 7900, and some ATI cards. a 4780 and 1900Xt or some thing of the sort.  I'll update with some pics when I get them.

nikkocortez


Nice!  Thanks for the suggestions!  I just bought a lot of no-post/artifacting GPUs off ebay for $35 shipped.  It had five 8800GTX cards in it so for $35 I thought it may be worth the risk and seeing if I can bake a few of them to life again.  I'll have plenty of cards to mod/work on.

BTW are the 8800GTX cards tri SLI capable or are they just SLI?  Are there nay sort of BIOs flash ability for overclocks on these as well?

 they are 3way capable but only in vista/wn7
 
also make 1 of them a zombie, its much more fun!

also if you have a 2900XT or PRO they make THE BEST zombies. they use state of the art voltara PWM's, the same ones that are on the EVGA untouchables. they can also be controlled by the EvBot

Nice!  LOL I think I am ready to start entering a new phase of my computer hobby. My buddy keeps telling me to learn a programing language but I would think learning the engineering of the components is where I want to go.
 
I'm starting to want to look into "reballing" and other real in depth repairs/ modifications.
 
First though I need to get the right tools.  As I like to put it I'm a great artist/designer, but an impatient craftsman.  One of the things I really need to do is start looking into some of the job specific tools.  Any ideas on where to find some good ones that are not going to completely break my wallet?

Here is a list of what I picked up from that auction.
 
-XFX 7900 GTX; Artifacts.
-2X X1900 (One has cooler) Does not post.
-1X HD 4870; Does not post. No cooler.
-5X 8800 GTX; Received these as bad, range from no post to post with artifacts.
 
Let me know if anything catches any ones eye for some sweet mods but as far as I know they are all dead.

I have an MSI 8800GT w/o cooler that posts but artifacts if that would help.

LMK if you are willing to dump it.   It might make a good zombie experament if I can reflow and correct the artifacting.

by now you definetley killed a capacitor in the proecss
 
the 8800gtx was such a hot hard,  i was so happy when foxconn replaced mine with 9800gtx+
 
id stay away from OCing... i had non refrence card that didnt go past 45mhz before hitting high 80's
 
remove all thermal compond and redust the whole card over and over.

the 8800's are easy to zombie, but not geat in terms of power. they are great for powering low profile cards by pushing 4 phases into a single phase.
 
the 4870 VRM is terrible, and since it doesnt post might as well scrap it.
 
not sure about the others

Here is the lot of 8800GTX cards.  The one on the end is the one I started rehabbing earlier this week.  waiting to get some TIM pads for remounting the heatsink to it.
 

Alright, so a bit of an update.  I did a quick test on four of the 5 complete cards above.  The one that missed out is the middle BFG card as its missing a Cap on the bottom end of the card.  I simply put the cards in and booted to see what was wrong with them so here is the list.
 
EVGA - No artifacting but the screen is purple in tint, missing the green color.  I am thinking its just a bad connection on the DVI port connecting to the card.
 
BFG 1- Posted with Artifiacting
BFG 2- Posted with Artifacting
Foxconn- Posted with Artifacting, 16 bit colors only, not sure if this is anything specific but the artifacting was considerably worse on this card than the others.... maybe cuz its a foxconn?

another update.  I got the four cards stripped down and baked today.  Did it with 380*F for 10 minutes.  Testing will be later this weekend to see if the $36 for the lot was worth it.
 

Cooking Spray Always helps for the no mess GPU Baking clean up!  (not really, don't use that crap!)

 
The Cards Cooling.
 

 
 

You're the Martha Stewart of graphics, man. 
 
I hope it works for you.

Can't wait to see your results in all this lol.

Well in short they all booted up and installed in windows with no artifacts! 4 for 4!  I will have stress test them later.  Its been a busy night of work and baking.  Now to get them to pass some Benchmarks.  I am sure Martha Stewart would agree that "Its a good thing."
 
But every one has heard of Baking success'.  The fact I turned $36 of junk into roughly $100 of functional parts is nice but it's time to do some aesthetic mods and do something about the idle 60*C temps.

Wanna send me one for the 8800GT I have that artifacts and an HR03GT cooler?

I may have some buyers for some of them and I may keep one for toying around with.  I will let you know.  I have enother one ready to be baked back to life.  I did it once before with that card but I screwed it up by baking with the HSF on.... Good thing I have a parts 8800GTX card to pull a shroud from.

Nice, let me know.