What’s to like about 10 series cards? Lots!
For me, the Nvidea 10 series was an amazing series that set a commanding status across the entire range. These cards brought new levels of performance with excellent efficiency for the time! They still have plenty to offer, even the low-end ones are capable of some level of gaming and with great power consumption. As a card to repair, due to their success, they are often well analyzed. This means schematics, guides, forum posts etc. All very helpful. The top-end cards are still relatively valuable, so potentially some profit to be had.
Some of the problems?
Lots of great designs, but due to age and often overclocking, many faulty 10-series cards have core-related issues making them unfixable for most. VRAM issue are also quite common, sometimes exhibiting as a blank screen with the monitor’s backlight illuminated, as well as the usual artefacts and crashing.
GTX 1030
Nice desktop cards, with certain editions featuring better cooling and even capable of very light gaming.
- GT 1030 Gigabyte 2GB GDDR5 (SCRAP – Lots of damaged components)
- GT 1030 Gigabyte (Card B) (SEMI FIXED, WORK ON – Missing PEX reset, some damaged components)
- MSI GTX 1030 2Gb AERO ITX (Card A) – (RETEST – Replaced damaged HDMI port, the DVI port displays a low-res picture, but the card crashes to a blank screen on driver load.
- MSI GT 1030 AERO ITX (Card B) (SCRAP) – Core and memory completely shorted.
GTX 1050 TI
The gtx 1050 TI was a super budget card. However, as a card to repair, I find them ‘hit or miss’, mostly either fixable VRAM issues or unfixable faulty cores.
- 2 x MSI GTX 1050 TI (LOG – seems to both have errors on all banks in MATS 367, likely memory controller issue)
- MSI GTX 1050 TI LP (Crashes on driver load, MATS passes, MODS fails with NVDD related error and screen corruption, should check phases and voltage before/after crash)
- ASUS PHOENIX GTX 1050 Ti (no picture, crashes on driver load)
- MSI GTX 1050 TI 4Gb OC (Has unusual power reporting anomalies, crashes under load perhaps similar to my two ASUS GTX 150 TIs)
- ASUS Expedition GTX 1050 TI 4Gb (Interesting, blank screen on/off, MATS passes, BIOS seemed strange at first, but it could be a power delivery problem, as in GPU-Z the picture goes on/off and VRel shows, as well as a voltage dip when the blackouts occur)
- ASUS CERBERUS GTX 1050 Ti OC (Interesting in that it loads drivers, can’t run any games/benchmarks, but doesn’t actually crash the PC – Possible power delivery / VRM issues. Very similar to ASUS Expedition GTX 1050 TI 4Gb)
- Palit GTX 1050 Ti StormX (Runs, but unstable and appears to have power delivery issues. HDMI port not working)
- MSI GTX 1050 2Gb (WORK ON – Had a failing VRAM chip, was fixed but failed after being used, also two ripped pads now)
- GIGABYTE GTX 1050 2GB (FIXED – Had a failing VRAM chip, fixed and sold)
- GIGABYTE GTX 1050TI 4GB GDDR5 (RETEST – Card A – code 43 – reflow of vram didn’t change anything – could be core related? Should double check the BIOS)
- Gigabyte GTX 1050 TI 4Gb (Card B) (WORKING)
GTX 1060
This card was most people’s go-to for HD gaming and is useable today, once being the most popular card on Steam for a long time. The 3Gb version was an odd blip in the otherwise illustrious 10-series lineup in some ways, with fewer cores and only 3Gb of VRAM compared to the best-selling 6Gb version. However, as a card to fix the 3Gb version can be OK due to getting less attention and thrashing. I prefer to target 1060s with missing voltage rails or shorts, rather than BGA related issues.
- EVGA GTX 1060 6GB SC (TO LOG – Has artefacts, found failing VRAM chip A0 with MATS)
- Gigabyte GTX 1060 6GB (TO LOG – Missing VCore)
- ZOTAC GTX 1060 6Gb MINI (FIXED – Had 5V, 1.8V, but no VCore or VMem or PEX, there were missing components on the back preventing VCore enable. Some VRAM caps were replaced)
- MSI GTX 1060 6Gb Aero ITX OC (WORK ON – Detection issues, possible BIOS issues, more testing required)
- MSI GTX 1060 3Gb (Card B) (FIXED – shorted 12V rail)
- GIGABYTE NVIDIA GTX 1060 3Gb (Card B) (SCRAP – serious 12V short and damage to PCB)
- MSI GTX 1060 3Gb (FIXED – faulty VRAM issue)
- GIGABYTE GTX 1060 GDDR5 6GB (WORKING – Was fine following successful testing)
- Gigabyte GTX 1060 6Gb OC
- Zotac GTX 1060 6gb (REVISIT – Repeated MATS failures following VRAM replacement, suspected core reball required, one of my first repair attempts so need to take another look)
- EVGA GTX 1060 6Gb SC (REVISIT – suspected dead core, should check crystal and get other evidence)
GTX 1070
TODO Add picture of a nice 1070
For my level of gaming the 1070 and up are still going strong! There is a noticeable step up from the 1060.
| Voltage Rail | Working GTX 1070 Resistance | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| VCore | 0.5-1Ω | |
| VMem | 40Ω – 200Ω | If low like 10Ω or less this is often an indicator of a shorted core |
| PEX | 72.8Ω | If low like 10Ω or less this is often an indicator of a shorted core |
| 1.8V | 857Ω | If shorted, can indicate a faulty core, as 1.8V is used by the core |
| 5V | 1.9KΩ | |
| 3.3V | 35KΩ, basically very high! | |
| 12V | KΩ++ very high |
- EVGA GTX 1070 FTW ACX 3.0 (Card B) (Working on – missing VMem)
- EVGA GTX 1070 FTW (Card A – Had a12v DRMOS short – removed, now has a 5v rail short)
- ASUS Turbo GTX 1070 8GB (SCRAP – very low vmem rail resistance, shorted core)
- Lenovo GTX 1070 8Gb (SCRAP – shorted PEX rail, dead core)
Featured GTX 1070 card project
MSI GTX 1070 Seahawk X (SCRAP – PCB damage, probably not fixable, liquid cooler might work) – TODO fill out progress
GTX 1070 TI
A bit nicer 1070.
- MSI GTX 1070 Ti AERO (WORKING – Initially seems to soft-crash starting applications e.g. benchmarks, games, possibly a VRM issue as doesn’t seem heat related. MATS passes. Must have been driver/test machine issues, as completely fine after retest)
- ASUS ROG STRIX GTX 1070 TI (WORK ON – missing minor voltage rails, likely power management issue)
GTX 1080
Still very nice cards! With the extra power can come risks, watch out for PCB burns for shorts.
- Inno3D iChill GTX 1080 X3 (WORK ON – Missing VCore voltage)
- MSI GTX 1080 Armor (Has a 12V short and remains of a burnt MOSFET from a prior repair attempt. This will likely need to be carefully ground away)
- EVGA GTX 1080 SC ACX 3.0 (WORK ON – Fine until seconds after the driver’s load, at which point the fans ramp up and the display cuts out, low resistance ~240 on the 12V PCI)
- EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 ACX3.0 FTW Gaming 8GB GDDR5X (seller note ‘Bought as not working, Doesn’t power up, parts only.’ – was cheap, external condition very good, but there is a savage short on one 12v PCI-E socket and some burns to the PCB components)
GTX 1080 TI
Even nicer! Often get pushed by the type of performance-loving owners who seek the top end, I proceed with caution when buying them, but can still be great to fix.
- Zotac GTX 1080ti (FIXED – missing nv3.3v rail)
- Reference GTX 1080 TI (FIXED – Card stuck at 139Mhz, overcurrent measured on the PCI slot and messy prior repair attempt discovered. A full trace of the INA 3221 circuit was necessary to fix the card. The INA chip was also replaced with a new one for good measure)
TITAN
- GTX Titan X Pascal (Seller Note ‘No signs of life’ – actually does show life, fans and backlight lit on the monitor, but has two faulty memory chips shown in MATS – chips ordered)