In the midst of the crypto-apocalypse, graphics card prices have reached disturbing levels, even on the second-hand market. That means any unexpected failure can become a tragedy for the user. The road to repairing a video card is complicated, and most people don't even have the basic tools to do it, but a young YouTube channel called Tech Cemetery offers direct details that can help you get an accurate diagnosis…
Graphics cards. Video cards. GPUs. Use whatever name you like. Today it's almost impossible to buy one at reasonable prices. The semiconductor shortage combined with the so-called “scalping” on eBay (and some trade wars in between) is wreaking havoc. Even low-end cards and integrated graphics processors cost a fortune, driven by demand pressure.
The last thing we need in such a situation is an unexpected failure... but it can happen. Graphics cards have MOSFETs, voltage regulators, resistors and other components that often give up overnight, even under “factory” conditions. That raises a worrying question: How do you repair a video card? How do you make a proper diagnosis when the manufacturer doesn't share a single schematic? My first suggestion is to visit the Tech Cemetery channel:
Learning to Repair a Video Card
Yes, his English is not always clear and YouTube doesn't do a great job with its subtitle generation, but the videos are educational enough to evaluate multiple aspects of a modern graphics card. This YouTuber (named Evan if I'm not mistaken) teaches us his diagnostic process, checking for shorts on the 12v and 3.3v rails on the PCI Express connector, followed by the dedicated 12v connector on the card (6 or 8 pins), and the 5v and 1.8v rails.
The best part is that he doesn't use equipment that is unattainable for the average user: his general diagnosis depends on a common multimeter, switching from resistance mode to voltage mode sometimes. Determining shorts is essential to avoid mistakes like sending 12v directly to the GPU. In his second diagnostic phase, he works with the board “alive” (that is, connected to a powered computer) to confirm the presence of the correct voltages.
The content of his videos tends to prioritize Nvidia cards, but there are some Radeon RX 580, and a Radeon RX 6900 XT that somehow already got damaged (this card debuted in December 2020). Motherboards are not foreign to the channel, but their frequency is much lower, and at the time of writing there is only one MSI B450 Tomahawk Max.
Obviously, repairing a video card is not free of difficulties, and Tech Cemetery's videos are not exactly “for dummies”. We must know how to use a multimeter, and how to solder/desolder using a heat gun. In many cases, the graphics card is beyond any rescue, but sometimes it's as simple as replacing a 0 Ohm resistor. Don't give up!
