1: Reflow , this technique is nothing more than applying a physical principle on metal expansion, so if there is a microfracture somewhere by heating the card it expands like the various components and miraculously starts working again, but will last a long time little and often irreversible damage is created in the various substrates of the board also you will never reach the melting temperature of the pond which is 217 ° without the right equipment and the necessary experience to respect the various steeps of times and temperatures, to be absolutely avoided , under penalty make your irreparable Macbook or Imac, beware of those who offer it to you. Of course there will be those who say: I did it and it works for me, as if to say: I won the lottery , it is only luck and difficult to replicate. And then sorry if it reaches melting temperature why not do a proper job and change the chip? Because to do this you need experience, manual skills, etc., for the Reflow heat gun from a few euros Amazon . Very low cost

 

2: Disabling the discrete GPU , this is done through programming modification of the efi, and another small hardware modification to exclude the power supply of the graphic chip, generally does not involve risks and is inexpensive as a job, however be careful that the machine will no longer have the same performance as before, much less and the external video output for secondary monitor or projector will no longer work, honestly it does not seem like a great solution, a 2000 € machine with the performance of a low cost PC

 

3: Disabling the discrete GPU through the addition of a third-party hardware chip, here everything is the same as in point 2, except that you don't change the efi, and you don't need to put a password on the firmware to avoid resetting the pram but the cost of this operation is slightly lower than the replacement of the video chip with the questionable results above, usually these repairs are recommended when much, much less complex than the replacement of the video BGA to be performed and do not require equipment or skills details.

 

4: Reballing , here everything is completely different in that there is the removal of the graphic chip, the cleaning of the board from the residues of the old tin, the chip is also cleaned, and once resoldered over the new tin microspheres generally just under a thousand, the chip is repositioned with specific equipment and it is re-welded in its seat. Certainly much more reliable than Reflow and if done correctly it does not cause damage and is fully reversible , even here, however, depending on the type of chip , replacement is convenient as damage is often inside the chip and not in the solders, a correct diagnosis and due experience are indispensable personally i recommend whenever possible the replacement of the chip with a NEW one, and not rebranded and passed off as the last release free of defects, a BUFFALO .

This is the only true reliable solution to bring the machine back to its correct functioning and has a 99% feasibility provided that the card has not been tampered with by clumsy attempts to repair, if it is delaminated it is no longer repairable and often the pop corn they do it under the chip and it is not seen until the BGA is removed.

I get so many machines massacred and unfortunately sometimes even if reluctantly I have to tell the customer that nothing can be done anymore and their answer is: I didn't know , I had known before I didn't let him touch, that's why I decided to write this little one guide to inform you about a very complex and often confusing job.

Obviously this is the most expensive solution because there is a high cost of materials, new video chips, good quality fluxes, equipment and a lot of manpower, however, it is the only one to give life back to your machine and bring it back to its old splendor.

 

5: Thermal paste , and here another painful note opens, let's start by saying that there are no miraculous thermal pastes, no more than an ointment on a fracture could be. In the meantime, it must be said that it is only used to fill micro-cracks on the processor core and heat sink that occur during the production phase, so as to make the contact area uniform and establish a uniform heat exchange. A very thin layer must be used (often I see it put with the trowel to make plaster ), it is not needed in large quantities, it does not cool better, on the contrary there is the risk that air bubbles form inside and therefore frustrate its usefulness , it must also be said that this does not work miracles, usually the difference between one and the other does not exceed a difference of 3 ° / 4 ° degrees, which honestly certainly does not solve the problems of a machine that tends to overheat. Important thing is that it is of good quality and that it keeps its characteristics unchanged over time, I prefer silicone ones that offer excellent coverage even after many years. Keep in mind that a good heat conductor is also a good current conductor , so beware of metal-based thermal pastes, if it ends up around the condensers around the core they are pains, not to mention that they are very difficult to remove and end by all parts.

 

6: Baking, this topic I left out on purpose because then we get too specific and I don't think it's from VS. interest is aimed at sector operators who therefore should already know everything. Then there would also be the VRAM speech , and many other things that make up the video section that you believe me is very very complex, nothing to do with YouTube movies.

 

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