Card Disassembly

Just like the GeForce 9800 GX2, the GeForce GTX 280 is very difficult to disassemble. I put together all the steps required. Please be advised that taking the card apart will most probably leave marks behind, which could result in a refused RMA in case your card breaks. Also quite a bit of force is required in some steps, especially to separate the top assembly from the PCB.


First you remove the ten screws on the back, if you don't have a screwdriver with a tip small enough, stop here. There will be even smaller screws until you can see the naked card.


NVIDIA uses some kind of clip and hook system which is a major pain to work with. I marked two of the clip spots in above picture. As you can see the right one broke while I took the card apart.


Above pictures show the hook locations in no particular order. The best way to approach this is by exerting some force with your fingers on the backplate and see where a spot opens. Now unlock the hooks near that location and work your way around the card. If you get stuck, work on another spot. This step alone should take you about 10 minutes when done carefully the first time. You will need more force than you would expect because you have to lift off the sticky memory cooling pads from the memory chips.


Next remove the two marked screws, yes only two screws. You will need a very small screwdriver here.


As final step you have to remove the screws near the fan exhaust, then you can separate the PCB and the top cooler assembly. The difficulty here is that you need to use enough force to overcome the suction force between GPU IHS and heatsink base while trying not to break the card at the same time. Start slowly, work around the card using more and more force. Take your time.