Best Pads for EVGA 660 Ti Superclocked+ (3GB)

[cat1092]

The subject line is much of my question. Purchased a EVGA 660 Ti SC+ (03G-P4-3663-KR), reference style GPU. Have tested well over the course of the week & runs well, OC'd a bit with EVGA Precision X, there was a bit of gain, enough to raise the graphics WEI from 8.4 to 8.5 (using Winaero WEI on Windows 10 1809 Pro). 

 

So far, the only thing I've done was blowed the dust from the obvious places w/out disassembling the card, from the fan to the rear, then reversed, and a final through fan. I want to clean this card, as well as another GTX 660 (non-Ti), yet just this one for now. Should I buy the replacement pads from EVGA, or are there better or equally as good pads aftermarket sold to fit this card? Note that I'm not interested in saving $10 on overpriced inferior pads (or overpaying), if the best are direct from EVGA or a 3rd party seller of their OEM components, feel free to say so. 

 

Will be using the thermal paste I've used & trusted the most in MX-4, I use AS5 at times on older builds (CPU), but don't want to chance it on a GPU. Some says it's safe for either, but the contacts on a GPU is much closer than that of a CPU & am not going to mess with placing liquid tape for what would be a minimal temp gain, if any. I use liquid tape only when delidding a CPU & applying liquid metal, of which am not going to be doing here, even if both contacts are copper. 

 

Any suggestions & approximate cost of pads (including links) would be highly appreciated. 

 

Cat

[Mick Naughty]

Well you’d need to know the size(s) you need. 

 

Performance pc has them, ekwb has their own. Newegg sells some pads as well as eBay. 

 

Ordered more from eBay recently. Similar to blue Fuji pads. 

[markr54632]

Mx-4 is horrible on bare die applications. It pumps out rather quickly 1-2 months.

 

Try something more viscous for a bare die.

 

As for pads fujipoly pads are usually considered the best.

 

K5-pro is my favorite though as it performs ok, you dont have to buy multiple thicknesses and it is easy to apply.

[cat1092]

37 minutes ago, Mick Naughty said:

Well you’d need to know the size(s) you need. 

That's what I was hoping to find the answer for here, maybe from one who has replaced the pads on this model. I've never replaced the pads on any GPU, only cleaned a few cards w/out any and using a dot of MX-4 in the center of die & reassembled. Have never done a card with a backplate, heck, I didn't use the replacement pads that EVGA sent me for my GTX 1070, the BIOS update fixed the heat. 

 

I'm not a gamer, so don't run my cards hot. Mainly watch a lot of videos on the PC via my Prime membership or YouTube. The reason why I'm considering pad replacement was via Google, the backplate had a bit of liquid stains, which I cleaned with Everclear, that's where I discovered it was likely pad wear. Have also seen this on PC's I've repaired for others, I'd clean what was on the backplate, and inform the owner, so that (s)he could decide how to proceed. 

 

So while I've done a lot of work on computers, to include building no less than 50, 6 for myself, the rest were for others, this is a new issue to me. I don't see throwing a perfectly working GPU away over pad replacement. On the other hand, if I were to ignore this long, could ooze on my MB & case issues. 

 

Thanks for your input, will continue to watch the discussion.

 

6 minutes ago, markr54632 said:

Mx-4 is horrible on bare die applications. It pumps out rather quickly 1-2 months.

 

Try something more viscous for a bare die.

How about Arctic Ceramique 2, it's much thicker than MX-4 & I still have near a whole tube, Newegg bundled it with some item I purchased last year. 

 

This was the thermal paste I used exclusively until AS5 became popular. 

[Mick Naughty]

Well not all pads are made the same. Some are larger and softer. Like the nvidia pads. Normally 1.5/2mm is what works. A picture or measuring would be ideal. 

[cat1092]

Thanks for all of your responses, am learning something from each of you!

 

11 minutes ago, markr54632 said:

K5-pro is my favorite though as it performs ok,

I see that this can be used to replace those small blue thermal pads in notebooks & AIO PC's. Can this be used to replace large GPU pads, or place on the die rather than MX-4 or any other thermal paste? It's rated decently on Amazon. 

 

I suppose what I need to do is tear this card down so that I have a better understanding of what's going on. 

 

Cat

[Mick Naughty]

I really don’t remember what my evga 660ti’s looks like but I’m pretty sure they were the off white pads that look just like the nvidia reference that matched my 780’s and 1080’s. 

 

Some parts need a thinner pad like the vrm and. So once I know one thickness, I put them next to each other to gauge what all sizes I need. 

[cat1092]

Has anyone here used these on GPU's, and if so, what were the results? 

 

This was a video produced by Linus.

 

I've seen this before, meant to buy for CPU usage & forgot about it......until now while looking around. However, these does conduct electricity, so don't know if a good choice or no. 

 

Cat

[cat1092]

25 minutes ago, Mick Naughty said:

Well not all pads are made the same. Some are larger and softer. Like the nvidia pads. Normally 1.5/2mm is what works. A picture or measuring would be ideal. 

Yes, the pads for my GTX 1070, still in the package, are somewhere close to that thickness. So I guess the thin stuff is out of the equation. 

 

Have to get ready for the Super Bowl, will check this discussion later.

 

BTW, the SB can be streamed using this link, for those who prefer to watch on PC.

 

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/superbowl/live/?ftag=CBS-01-10aab6g

 

Cat

[markr54632]

3 minutes ago, cat1092 said:

Has anyone here used these on GPU's, and if so, what were the results? 

 

This was a video produced by Linus.

 

I've seen this before, meant to buy for CPU usage & forgot about it......until now while looking around. However, these does conduct electricity, so don't know if a good choice or no. 

 

Cat

You had a bunch of questions I will try to summarize what I can based off experience.

 

Ceramique 2 is a very good paste for bare die longevity. Not the best performer, but it performs very well. I tend to prefer ic diamond for higher performance applications.

 

K5 pro can be used anywhere a thermal pad was used previously.

 

As for carbon pads, the ic graphite does not perform well in low pressure mounts ie laptops and graphics cards. It is also highly conductive if it becomes dislodged.

[cat1092]

4 minutes ago, markr54632 said:

K5 pro can be used anywhere a thermal pad was used previously.

So in other words, I can use K5 Pro for replacement of pads, to include on this GPU? 

 

If so, looks like I can save versus buying the kit from EVGA (or wherever).

 

Thanks for your follow up.

 

Cat

[markr54632]

53 minutes ago, cat1092 said:

So in other words, I can use K5 Pro for replacement of pads, to include on this GPU? 

 

If so, looks like I can save versus buying the kit from EVGA (or wherever).

 

Thanks for your follow up.

 

Cat

Definitely not the most popular use, but it performs rather well.

 

If you go with pads I usually buy sheets of 0.5mm 1mm 1.5mm and 2mm.

 

Just to clarify k5 is NOT to be used on the die.