With all the engaging discussion on various theories as to why nVidia's GPUs are failing more often than normal ( right here -> http://www.overclock.net/hardware-ne...explained.html ), I thought I might add some pictures of my own for illustration on exactly what we're talking about. I had half a GF 8500GT sitting in my parts drawer (don't ask...) and decided to try to "die-sect" it (no pun intended) to try to see just what these bumps look like. I got more than I expected!
The patient after disection.
![Image]()
Bits of the 8500GT core. You can see the circuit tracings that make up the core logic.
![Image]()
Here you can see the actual bumps that connect the die to the substrate. Once the die was removed, there was still a layer that needed to be scraped away. I'm suspecting that this is the mentioned polyamide layer from the article. For scale, the die measured about 11mm x 11.5mm.
![Image]()
The patient after disection.
Bits of the 8500GT core. You can see the circuit tracings that make up the core logic.
Here you can see the actual bumps that connect the die to the substrate. Once the die was removed, there was still a layer that needed to be scraped away. I'm suspecting that this is the mentioned polyamide layer from the article. For scale, the die measured about 11mm x 11.5mm.
