Reflowing a motherboard is the process of heating up a chip on the motherboard, or the entire board itself, to a temperature that forces the solder to soften and reconnect cracked solder points. Of course it can be difficult to know exactly how hot a motherboard or chip needs to become in order to melt solder while leaving the components unharmed. The GPU is the most likely to fail on most high end devices such as laptops or gaming consoles. The most common issues with broken GPUs are no video, distorted video, or failure to turn on and post. Reflowing a GPU correctly will fix any of the previously mentioned issues with a laptop or gaming console.
First thing you need to do is make sure you have the correct materials. You’ll need a heat gun that is capable of putting out at least 550 degrees Fahrenheit. You can buy these heat guns at most local hardware stores and they are usually about 40 dollars. Next you’ll need solder, thicker rosin core solder works the best, and a penny.
Now that we have our materials, you will need to locate the GPU that needs to be reflowed. Once you find the chip that needs to be reflowed take note of any large capacitors near it and make sure you don’t hit these directly with the heat gun while your reflowing the chip, excess heat can cause some capacitors to explode. If you find the capacitors are close to the GPU and your worried about hitting them with the heat gun accidentally you can use aluminum foil to cover the capacitors. Place the penny on top of the chip with a small piece of solder on top of the penny. When the solder melts you will know that the chip is heated to a good temperature. Now set your heat gun to 550 degrees Fahrenheit and start to heat the chip by holding the heat gun 3 to 4 inches above the chip and rotate the heat gun in circular movements. When the chip gets hot enough you’ll notice the solder on the penny becomes liquid. When you see the solder turn to liquid the chip should be hot enough and you can remove the heat gun and allow the chip to cool down. When the chip is cool enough go ahead and start putting your electronic back together. Test and see if everything is working normally, if you reflowed the board correctly any issues you had that were being caused by your GPU should be fixed.