Any general advice for vmodding?

As the title states I'm just after some general tips or anything you dudes have for vmodding. I've read up on a few guides and know exactly what I need to solder and where it needs to go, but in practice I've found I'm not so good at soldering.

My previous 8800 GTS card died during the vmem mod because I had slightly bridged solder and it had hit another connection, instantly killing the card when I turned it on. I clean the area I'm going to be soldering on with alcohol before starting (and letting it dry of course) but I still find the solder doesn't stick to the surface very well and ends up being a pain to solder to. I've also found that a lot of the time my connections break and become useless.

Are there any little trips or tricks you guys have to help you along or is it really just a case of practice makes perfect?

I know to tin the tip of the soldering iron and such, so I thought I was doing it right, but I'm definitely doing something wrong. I'm finding the whole thing quite difficult to do with just 2 hands to be honest.

I have another 8800GTS sitting infront of me now begging to be modded, but I certainly don't want to be killing another one.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Thanks a bunch mate, I'll take that right on board and have a few practice runs before taking the solder iron to my next card.

Thanks for the advice guys, I managed to pull the vgpu mod off pretty easily and the 8800GTX was working without issue. I mounted the waterblock and all of a sudden it just artifacted (stock voltage, was just testing) and appears to be dead.

Here's an image of what's happening:

Is anybody able to offer an explanation as to what might have caused it?

Quote:

Originally Posted by CL3P20 

too much juice + bad mount.. = dead core..?

Only had 1.35v going through it and was hooked up to chilled water. Though you could be right on the bad mount part. I hadn't even managed to get to the OS before it happened the first time, it was pretty much an instant process.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CL3P20 

Oh.. those GPU's have exposed cores right? I hope you didnt crack the core or chip a corner when mounting the block.. Lord knows that has killed a few of my GPU's before  sadly i suspect it though based on your statement.

I don't think it is an exposed core, definitely looks like it has an IHS. I can't see any damage or such. Here's a pic of it with some insulation:

This has got me really stumped, it's clearly gone, but I can't understand why.