Motherboard repair — when everyone else says “not worth it”
The motherboard is the most complex component in a laptop — dozens of layers, thousands of connections. When it fails, most shops just say “replace the laptop.” We specialize in repairing it. In most cases, a repair is cheaper than a replacement, and your data stays untouched.
Types of faults we fix
BGA reballing — chips lifting off the board
The most common serious fault on older laptops. The CPU or graphics chip has tiny solder “balls” underneath it (BGA — Ball Grid Array). After years of heat, a ball cracks or lifts off the board. The system shuts down, the screen stays black, or it powers on and dies instantly. Reballing means removing the chip, applying fresh solder balls, and re-soldering it. Price 8.000-15.000 RSD depending on the chip.
Liquid damage (coffee, water, sugary drinks)
The worst-case scenario. Liquid causes corrosion — the copper traces slowly dissolve. If it happens, DO NOT POWER ON the laptop. Bring it in, we open it up, clean it (if possible), and move on to the repair. Success rate is around 70% for laptops brought in immediately. Price 4.500-12.000 RSD depending on the extent of the damage.
Replacing blown capacitors and SMD components
A specific problem — the laptop won’t power on, but it’s “alive” (you can hear a click). Often it’s a blown tantalum capacitor or a MOSFET transistor near the CPU power supply. Under magnification we locate the damaged component and solder in a replacement. Turnaround 1-3 days, price 4.500-7.000 RSD.
Motherboard power repair (DC IN, charging IC)
A laptop that won’t take power, even though the charger works and the battery is fine. The problem is in the IC (chip) that manages charging on the motherboard — usually an ISL or BQ chipset. Replacing the IC is 5.000-8.000 RSD, turnaround 1-2 days.
Broken trace — signal loss
After the laptop takes a knock, a thin trace on the board breaks. The picture flickers, a USB port stops working, or one RAM slot fails. Under the microscope we find the break and bridge it with a fine wire. A quick repair — 4.500-6.000 RSD.
What the process looks like
- Diagnostics with a short-circuit search (power, signal, and BIOS testing)
- Thermal camera scan — we see where a chip is overheating
- Microscope inspection — we locate physical damage
- Assessment of what is repairable and what is not
- A conversation with you — price, turnaround, warranty
- Repair in our lab (BGA station, microsoldering kit)
- 48-hour testing before return — we have to be sure it won’t fail in 3 days
Pricing
When it’s NOT worth it
We’ll be honest. If a laptop is 6+ years old, the repair estimate is 15.000+ RSD, and a decent replacement is 50.000 RSD — often it’s better to invest in a new one. But before you throw out the old one, bring it in for diagnostics — it often turns out the repair is cheaper than you thought.
Specific situations where we DO NOT recommend a repair:
- A laptop with the entire motherboard in a short circuit (tracing it down would cost 20.000+)
- Multiple chips blown at once (cumulative failures)
- Special proprietary chips that aren’t sold (some HP enterprise models)
- A cracked ceramic RAM under the CPU (BGA under BGA, it can’t be separated)
Repair warranty
All motherboard repairs come with a 6-month warranty. If the same fault returns within that period — we fix it for free. Our return rate is low because we test for 48h before it leaves the workshop.
Frequently asked questions
Can I leave my data, or do I need to back up first?
Since the motherboard isn’t the same thing as the disk, your data stays untouched on the disk. We repair the motherboard; the disk isn’t touched. After the repair, everything is right where it was. To be safe, if we can access the disk before the work, we copy important files to our secure location — and put them back afterward. No extra charge.
How long does the repair take?
Typically 3-7 business days. For urgent cases (a business left without its laptop) we can do priority work — 1-2 days with a 50% surcharge. BGA reballing takes 3-5 days because the process requires precise thermal treatment that can’t be rushed.
How long will the repair last?
Our goal is for the repair to last a long time. If I’ve done BGA reballing, the warranty is 6 months, but in practice the machine runs 2-3 years before the same problem recurs (because the chip itself has aged, not our repair). For capacitor or SMD component replacement — that’s a permanent repair, it doesn’t come back.
Do you also take desktop motherboards?
Yes. Desktop boards are usually easier to repair because they’re larger and more accessible. Prices are similar — 4.500-15.000 RSD depending on the fault. Diagnostics are mandatory, since desktop motherboards can fail for many reasons.
Related
The motherboard is a common culprit when a computer won’t power on or keeps shutting down — take a look at our laptop service, graphics card repair, and data recovery too. Prices are in the price list.
We cover every Belgrade municipality
Our courier picks up and returns devices across the whole city. Click your municipality for the neighbourhoods we cover, the problems we fix most often and arrival times: