r9 270x Heatsink on XFX RX 480

Deuxez · October 30, 2019

So i got an old MSI r9 270x Gaming layin around not doing anything other than collecting dust, and i also got a xfx rx 480 4gb in my current system. The RX 480 is one of XFX worst models, aka the RS one, with one incredible bad heatsink on it. Playing The Outer Worlds at stock settings, it has to spin the fans at like 2500-3000 to keep it around the high 70c. I was wondering IF i would be able to put the r9 heatsink on the rx 480? Ive tried and it seems to fit other than the heatsink touches the DVI port:

It also got a suuuuuper small space between the GPU and heatsink, that is only visible if i pull them away from each other. The Green Thing Is the VRM i think. With The OG heatsink they had contact but with the MSI one they are cm away from the heatsink. In the second picture below u can see the things i think is the vrms. Im thinking they get really hot when playing games as they where i contact on the OG heatsink, with a thermal pad between. Could i just buy some of those like small vrm heatsinks and put them on it? or could i run it without anything on them? About that little space between the gpu and heatsink i was thinking of either finding a pair of screws that makes it tighter or just put a small piece of copper in between.

EDIT: i just realized the r9 270x dont have anything over the "VRMS" other than a piece of metal holding the whole gpu up, to keep it from sagging WITH some thermal pads under it, here and there. So shouldnt it be fine to run the rx one without anything? or i could try to fit the holding thingy on the rx too, shouldnt be so hard.

Deuxez · October 30, 2019

Just now, Genwyn said:

The tiny heatsinks cost like 2$ on eBay, get some.

So trying to move the metal thingy from the r9 to the rx wouldnt really help any? AND i dont really shop from amazon or ebay, mostly swedish sites, and while they are still kinda cheap i cant manage to find any thermal glue, or can i just use normal thermal paste instead? Wouldnt they just like glide off?

EDIT: When i say Metal thingy i mean this. The r9 only got this on the vrms, so they are not in contact with the heatsink at all:

Deuxez · October 30, 2019

Just now, Genwyn said:

You would ideally want to use adhesive thermal pads or glue.

If it fits on the VRMs then it’ll work I guess. Make sure everything has full coverage.

Thanks! and about that little space on the gpu, how would u try to fix it? Like maybe just put some little washers on the screws to make them thighter?

SPARTAN VI · October 30, 2019

3 minutes ago, DankDeuxez said:

So trying to move the metal thingy from the r9 to the rx wouldnt really help any? AND i dont really shop from amazon or ebay, mostly swedish sites, and while they are still kinda cheap i cant manage to find any thermal glue, or can i just use normal thermal paste instead? Wouldnt they just like glide off?

EDIT: When i say Metal thingy i mean this. The r9 only got this on the vrms, so they are not in contact with the heatsink at all:

I doubt that would fit. We can see from this naked PCB of the MSI 270X GAMING that the capacitors aren't in the same spot, so that heatspreader will probably be phyiscally blocked.

Deuxez · October 30, 2019

Just now, SPARTAN VI said:

I doubt that would fit. We can see from this naked PCB of the MSI 270X GAMING that the capacitors aren't in the same spot, so that heatspreader will probably be phyiscally blocked.

Yeh nah that is a picture of how a r9 290 looks. I didnt manage to find a picture of a r9 270x in time so i just took one who looked close. This is how it really looks along with the rx 480 pcb: