Video Card Thermal Compound Upgrade

[alhot11]

guys linus said at the end of the video the thermal compound need to be refreshed once in while like what period of time, how long ?  

[alhot11]

Using a low TDP card for testing wont show that much of a delta compared to a high TDP card.

yeah he should use Sapphire R9 290X that he have that would be perfect !!!!

[Wesleydn]

Anyone tried this on an MSi GTX 970?

 

I had the twinfroza V on mine they swapped it out for G10 and AIO and it works great.

 

I decided to try with new thermal paste with stock cooler but when i put it back the GPU gets to like 100 under load and throttles down to about 300Mhz in speed.

So i have put the G10 back on and works great like before.

 

Any ideas why this happened with the stock cooler?

[LifesCompanion]

At the start of the video, Linus mentioned that EVGA is chill with you playing with your card as long it looks "stock" and they're not too fussed if there's an aftermarket cooler, does that mean if I slap a water block on my 780, overclock the snot out of it and it kills itself, are they chill with that (or at least having a waterblock on it)? 

[Redheadsrule13]

At the start of the video, Linus mentioned that EVGA is chill with you playing with your card as long it looks "stock" and they're not too fussed if there's an aftermarket cooler, does that mean if I slap a water block on my 780, overclock the snot out of it and it kills itself, are they chill with that (or at least having a waterblock on it)? 

I think you'd have to put the stock cooler back on, but yeah, they would I think. You can always look up their warranty policy if you're really curious.

[Redheadsrule13]

@nicklmg @LinusTech CPU delidding video in the future as a follow up to this? I've been considering doing it myself and I'd be definitely interested to see LTT do a video on it.

[Deli]

Tried this trick with GTX650Ti boost and GTX780 a year ago. Didn't see any noticeable different in temp. Did I do something wrong????? I use MX-4.

[Marvzl1357]

Guys I would not use ICD on the silicon die. The diamonds when you remove them can scratch the die and kill the card.

My thoughts exactly, it really does scratch the die, I've personally done it to my Gtx 760 and it ain't pretty.

Although the scratches are relatively microscopic, it just doesn't feel right.

A non-scratching and similarly performing compound (yes, I've used both) is Gelid gc extreme. Spreads like a charm, works like gold.

[Grrizz]

Thought I'd share this:

It was a Nvidia 7600GT, I think it was a Gigabyte... it overclocked like a boss though, got slightly over a 50% OC on the core with a peltier

[Grrizz]

-snip-

Edit: Guys I would not use ICD on the silicon die. The diamonds when you remove them can scratch the die and kill the card.

-snip-

Note the side of the die you put the thermal paste on is not the side with the MOSFETs on.

[Marvzl1357]

Note the side of the die you put the thermal paste on is not the side with the MOSFETs on.

It may not kill the card, in fact it most likely won't, but the micro scratches you get from using ic diamond is just cringe worthy. If you'd experienced it yourself, you would understand.

[Num43]

Anyone who has a reference R9 290\X needs to do this.

 

 

The GPU surface is just COVERED with thermal paste and is completely suffocating the GPU with a far too thick layer that seems to have been manually applied by...monkeys maybe? 

 

I've done it for my R9 290 while thinking of watercooling the GPU and it has changed the way the GPU behaves and sounds. 

[Nup]

Delighted to see you guys made a video on this, it's one iv always wanted to see!  

[PhilBoisvert]

I feel like your scripting is getting better and better! Keep it going!

[MageTank]

It may not kill the card, in fact it most likely won't, but the micro scratches you get from using ic diamond is just cringe worthy. If you'd experienced it yourself, you would understand.

I agree with you 100%. No doubt, IC Diamond is very potent at getting the job done, it works great, but the scratching just bothers me. Its why i use MX-3 and Mx-4 over IC D. 

[Nivis Tigridis]

guys linus said at the end of the video the thermal compound need to be refreshed once in while like what period of time, how long ?  

 

Depends really, the big factors are

1- Thermal compound quality (stock stuff will last really not long compare to quality stuff)

2- Themperatures (If you OC the device and/or keep it running at high temps, the thermal material interface will degrade faster).

3- Time (How long do you keep it ON and at what % is it running most of the time).

Exemple: I have change the thermal stuff from my old PS3 (after 5 years of use (not always on mind you)), the thermal paste had the same consistence of playdoh.  That's really expired Thermal compound.

Stock stuff used on stock cooler usually will take in account that the Compomnent will be turned off once in a while.  Aftermaket stuff are designed to be left turned on / under certain load 24/7 (Unless the paste require a Cure time (like Artic Silver) then you have to let it cool down for the cure time.  After that you can use the system as you wish).

So from what I've heard, most person that will do a Moderate OC with quality Thermal paste, will change them every 1-2 years (depending if it's on 24/7 or not).  Higher / agressive overclock I've heard ranging from 6 month to 1.5-2 years.

I would say time you're system run cool / normal temperature it's not really required before a few years (unless you change of cooler).

NB: IF my info are not accurate please feel free to correct me or add to what I say.

[Nivis Tigridis]

I agree with you 100%. No doubt, IC Diamond is very potent at getting the job done, it works great, but the scratching just bothers me. Its why i use MX-3 and Mx-4 over IC D. 

Why not using AS5 (Artic Silver 5)?

[MageTank]

Why not using AS5 (Artic Silver 5)?

I've used AS5 for years now (since 2008) and it has worked wonderfully for the most part. I have found that other pastes such as MX-3 and MX-4 can perform slightly better, and depending on where you purchase it from, can even be cheaper than AS5 (Radioshack charges $12 for a 4 gram tube of AS-5).

 

I avoid the metal based conductive compounds because my brother's are less experienced with handling thermal pastes, and i worry that they may accidentally apply too much when using it, and i do not want to deal with the potential of them damaging the circuitry. AS-5 will work wonders for people that needs something stronger than OEM paste, and can find it cheap enough. Otherwise, Arctic's MX-3/4 will also be a great choice.

[Nivis Tigridis]

I've used AS5 for years now (since 2008) and it has worked wonderfully for the most part. I have found that other pastes such as MX-3 and MX-4 can perform slightly better, and depending on where you purchase it from, can even be cheaper than AS5 (Radioshack charges $12 for a 4 gram tube of AS-5).

 

I avoid the metal based conductive compounds because my brother's are less experienced with handling thermal pastes, and i worry that they may accidentally apply too much when using it, and i do not want to deal with the potential of them damaging the circuitry. AS-5 will work wonders for people that needs something stronger than OEM paste, and can find it cheap enough. Otherwise, Arctic's MX-3/4 will also be a great choice.

Thanks for the info, I've mostly use AS-5 and I'm happy with it.

[Keudn]

Said what the hell im bored today and did a thermal compound change on my EVGA 770 ACX. While running Valley it only gets to 65C at 56% fan speed 

[rcarlos243]

what a piss poor video.

 

IC Diamond SCRATCHES an IHS and block on a CPU so why the hell would you recommend using it on a bare GPU core?

 

You also fail to mention that not ALL TIM are non conductive and it would be very very bad if you spill it on the sides of GPU core.

[SteveGrabowski]

Nice video. I'm surprised it made such a huge difference. But I have heard great things about IC Diamond.

[The_Evenger]

so I did this to my Gigabyte R9 290, because it needed to be cleaned, and I thought... why the fuck not! so I did, and well...

 

now my card has coil whine... how the fuck did replacing thermal compound = coil whine???

[Gumi Rokkaku]

Linus made a good segue for once.
lol great video though. Very informative.

[RoC_HopE]

super cool video very interesting!