Wrong screw causes 12V short on ASUS ROG Strix RTX 3090
Northwestrepair has published several interesting repair videos recently, including a rare RTX 4090 Founders Edition variant and a fake RTX 4090 using a GA102 GPU. The latest video covers a more common issue. It shows what can happen when an enthusiast loses track of which screw goes into which hole.
Before getting into the failure, this is a good reminder for anyone planning to replace thermal pads or thermal compound on an out-of-warranty GPU. A silicone repair mat or magnetic screw mat can help keep screws separated by location. On large graphics cards, one wrong screw can be enough to damage the PCB.
Northwestrepair fixes damage from oversized screw
A repair video shows how an ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 can fail after a screw is driven too far into the PCB during a thermal pad replacement. According to the technician, the failure started after the owner replaced the thermal pads. The pads were reportedly correct, but the screw was driven too far into the PCB . This created short and damaged traces tied to the VRM control circuitry.
Source: Northwestrepair
While repairing broken traces is already something most of us can’t do, this card was more damaged as a result of these shorts. The repair required replacing multiple driver MOSFETs and a phase controller. The technician also had to repair cut traces before the card could be tested again.
Source: Northwestrepair
The repair looked complicated, but after replacing three driver MOSFETs and a phase controller, the card posted again. The GPU core survived, which was not guaranteed at the start of the repair.
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