The Graphics Card DIP line

The Graphics Card DIP line

So while we were there, two production lines were active. You have just been able to see the motherboard DIP line. But I wandered off to the VGA DIP line as well. Same process really... but just as fascinating.

So they just started up a VGA line... this is the GeForce 9800 GTX / GTX 250 if I remember correctly. The PCBs with primary components are placed in these molds (for the wave soldering machine). You can see that only the really discolored segments are soldered, protecting the rest.

But it all starts on the conveyor belt, where employees will insert a multitude of components once again. These boards just came from the SMT process floor.

As a graphics card guru... I have to tell you, this is impressive stuff to see you guys. So again here we have the half finished PCB. Primary SMD components are already mounted and soldered (GPU + memory + really small items like resistors and voltage regulators and other ASICs).

As you can see here we are nearing the end of the DIP production line. All DIP components like capacitors, but also 6-pin power connectors, D-SUB, DVI connectors need to be applied.