Vega hotspot problem

[wonderboy8]

So I mounted a water block on my reference vega 64 because I was tired of hearing a blower card all the time. I know this is a problem for a lot of vega owners, especially those who water cool. When I look I my "GPU temperature" they have improved greatly, but the hotspot temperature has gotten much worse. I wondering if any of you have ran into the same issue. I will try taking the block off and on again and remounting with a bit more thermal paste. Does anyone have any more tips for this? My loop keeps getting heat soaked because of this and then my cpu overheats and it's just a mess. Temperatures on my very much underclocked vega reach 106C which is ridiculous. 

[Chabax]

there is slight height gap between hbm and gpu die, u probably need more thermal paste

[wonderboy8]

12 minutes ago, Chabax said:

there is slight height gap between hbm and gpu die, u probably need more thermal paste

would a thermal pad help more or no?

 

[Chabax]

1 minute ago, wonderboy8 said:

would a thermal pad help more or no?

 

im not sure, u could try, but i think more thermal paste would be better

[-rascal-]

41 minutes ago, wonderboy8 said:

So I mounted a water block on my reference vega 64 because I was tired of hearing a blower card all the time. I know this is a problem for a lot of vega owners, especially those who water cool. When I look I my "GPU temperature" they have improved greatly, but the hotspot temperature has gotten much worse. I wondering if any of you have ran into the same issue. I will try taking the block off and on again and remounting with a bit more thermal paste. Does anyone have any more tips for this? My loop keeps getting heat soaked because of this and then my cpu overheats and it's just a mess. Temperatures on my very much underclocked vega reach 106C which is ridiculous. 

 

Is your Vega64 now boosting even higher than before now that it is being cooled more efficiently?

Which water block did you buy for your GPU?

 

What is your current water cooling setup? How much radiator area?

Are you using a single 280mm for CPU + GPU? etc?

 

[Falkentyne]

7 hours ago, wonderboy8 said:

So I mounted a water block on my reference vega 64 because I was tired of hearing a blower card all the time. I know this is a problem for a lot of vega owners, especially those who water cool. When I look I my "GPU temperature" they have improved greatly, but the hotspot temperature has gotten much worse. I wondering if any of you have ran into the same issue. I will try taking the block off and on again and remounting with a bit more thermal paste. Does anyone have any more tips for this? My loop keeps getting heat soaked because of this and then my cpu overheats and it's just a mess. Temperatures on my very much underclocked vega reach 106C which is ridiculous. 

You need to make sure the entire die and VRM's all have proper heat transfer and proper contact pressure.

[wonderboy8]

7 hours ago, -rascal- said:

 

Is your Vega64 now boosting even higher than before now that it is being cooled more efficiently?

Which water block did you buy for your GPU?

 

What is your current water cooling setup? How much radiator area?

Are you using a single 280mm for CPU + GPU? etc?

 

bykski water block. Single 240 for both. 

[wonderboy8]

4 minutes ago, Falkentyne said:

You need to make sure the entire die and VRM's all have proper heat transfer and proper contact pressure.

I did twice. all thermal pads for vrms have the imprints on them. Also the vrm temps are great. They aren't the problem.

 

Also I have now reapplied my thermal paste and I am still running into the same problem....

so thermal paste is not the problem. I think I will try thermal pad next 

[-rascal-]

23 minutes ago, wonderboy8 said:

bykski water block. Single 240 for both. 

 

I'm just reading online about the Byski water block for the Vega 64, and I'm seeing a lot of different user feedback.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/7dabp8/psa_vega_custom_water_block_users_with_bad_temps/

Quote

I recently bought a Bykski Vega block for my 64, and was getting horrific temperatures. Like 80C+ core and 110C+ Hot Spot. It was so bad that my card was throttling down to ~900 MHz, no matter how much I downclocked it.

 

I first thought it was my installation, so I redid the card twice, but still kept getting sky high temps and crashing.

 

What solved it was the X-bracket that originally came with the stock cooler. This bracket is required for installation, having screws is NOT enough. I'm guessing that the PCB is not stiff enough to maintain pressure on the die, so it flexes away from my block.

 

So if you are getting poor temps with your custom block, try putting back on the X-Bracket. I know EK doesn't mention it in their installation guide, but that's what solved my problems.

 

Someone installing the thermal pads on the wrong spots...

https://www.reddit.com/r/watercooling/comments/aoeuv8/waterblock_is_bending_my_vega_64_any_help/

Quote

I found this on their website, did you install the thermal pads as shown?

Also it would be nice if you could disassemble the block and click a picture with the thermal pads you installed.

EDIT: On closer inspection, it seems like you installed thermal pads on the inductors which is not specified in the manual and is causing the flex.

 

The Bykski block *might* have some fitment / alignment issues ...may need to remount it a few times...

https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/ag220k/vega_64_liquid_cooling_hotspot_temperatures/

Quote

Custom loop water cooling for cpu and gpu. The Vega is covered with a bykski full cover block to which I had to remount several times. Poor fitment aside it takes the heat out of the card very well. As for radiator I have a single 280mm (60mm thick) rad with push pull fans, this is essentially a requirement due to the thickness.

 

[wonderboy8]

Ok so I took it apart again and there's no freaken way thermal paste or contact is the problem 

 

[wonderboy8]

8 hours ago, Chabax said:

there is slight height gap between hbm and gpu die, u probably need more thermal paste

More thermal paste didn't work. I but 109c while play call of duty

[-rascal-]

6 minutes ago, wonderboy8 said:

Ok so I took it apart again and there's no freaken way thermal paste or contact is the problem 

 

 

Have you tried using the 'X' bracket from the reference cooler?

Like I quoted..

Quote

I recently bought a Bykski Vega block for my 64, and was getting horrific temperatures. Like 80C+ core and 110C+ Hot Spot. It was so bad that my card was throttling down to ~900 MHz, no matter how much I downclocked it.

 

I first thought it was my installation, so I redid the card twice, but still kept getting sky high temps and crashing.

 

What solved it was the X-bracket that originally came with the stock cooler. This bracket is required for installation, having screws is NOT enough. I'm guessing that the PCB is not stiff enough to maintain pressure on the die, so it flexes away from my block.

 

So if you are getting poor temps with your custom block, try putting back on the X-Bracket. I know EK doesn't mention it in their installation guide, but that's what solved my problems.

 

Also, did you put thermal paste onto of the inductors??

You don't need to do that.

Doesn't the block / kit come with thermal pads to go onto the MOSFETs ??

 

From my second link...

Red box is where the thermal pads needs to go.

THOSE are the things that will get HOT, not the heat shield / cover over the inductors / chokes.

https://imgur.com/a/URta8vy

 

Hot spot can be ANYWHERE on the GPU, not just the GPU die.

It can be VRAM chip, VRM / MOSFET, other parts of the PCB.

Since you have nothing over the MOSFETs, I think *those* are the things reaching ~110*C.

 

[wonderboy8]

Just now, -rascal- said:

 

Have you tried using the 'X' bracket from the reference cooler?

Like I quoted..

 

Also, did you put thermal paste onto of the inductors??

You don't need to do that.

Doesn't the block from with thermal pads to go onto the MOSFETs ??

 

From my second link...

Red box is where the thermal pads needs to go.

THOSE are the things that will get HOT, not the heat shield / cover over the inductors / chokes.

https://imgur.com/a/URta8vy

 

I only put thermal paste on the gpu and hbm2

[wonderboy8]

3 minutes ago, -rascal- said:

 

Have you tried using the 'X' bracket from the reference cooler?

Like I quoted..

 

Also, did you put thermal paste onto of the inductors??

You don't need to do that.

Doesn't the block from with thermal pads to go onto the MOSFETs ??

 

From my second link...

Red box is where the thermal pads needs to go.

THOSE are the things that will get HOT, not the heat shield / cover over the inductors / chokes.

https://imgur.com/a/URta8vy

 

So you think I should take off the thermal pads from the mosfets? 

[-rascal-]

Just now, wonderboy8 said:

So you think I should take off the thermal pads from the mosfets? 

 

Look at my IMGUR link.

 

From the imprint in your pictures, you don't even HAVE the thermal pads on the MOSFETs.

You have them on top of the square-shaped inductors / chokes.

The MOSFETs are the smaller components beside it.

[-rascal-]

[wonderboy8]

1 minute ago, -rascal- said:

So should I take my pads off of inductors? Or no

[-rascal-]

6 minutes ago, wonderboy8 said:

So should I take my pads off of inductors? Or no

 

If they ARE on the inductors, take them off, and put in over the MOSFETs, where they are supposed to go on in the first place.

With the thermal pads on the inductors...

1. Inductors are taller, so you are making an even wider gap between the card and the block with the thermal pads on top
2. MOSFETs are not conducting heat away onto the block without the thermal pads, so they are probably cooking
3. The 109*C ~ 110*C hot spot you are seeing is probably the MOSFETs, and not the GPU Core or HBM Memory chips

 

Also, try using the 'X' bracket at the same time, or after you've done that changes.

[wonderboy8]

1 minute ago, -rascal- said:

 

If they ARE on the inductors, take them off, and put in over the MOSFETs, where they are supposed to go on in the first place.

With the thermal pads on the inductors...

1. Inductors are taller, so you are making an even wider gap between the card and the block with the thermal pads on top
2. MOSFETs are not conducting heat away onto the block without the thermal pads, so they are probably cooking
3. The 109*C ~ 110*C hot spot you are seeing is probably the MOSFETs, and not the GPU Core or HBM Memory chips

 

Also, try using the 'X' bracket at the same time, or after you've done that changes.

Ok thanks. And yes I realize I'm a noob haha. I appreciate the help

 

[-rascal-]

7 minutes ago, wonderboy8 said:

Ok thanks. And yes I realize I'm a noob haha. I appreciate the help

 

 

Keep us updated on this situation!

We want to make sure everything is running properly / smoothly.

[wonderboy8]

Well thank you guys so much!!!!! It was the heatpads on the transistors. it was the contact problem after all because of the height difference of the thermal pad. Big thanks to            -rascal- for figuring out the main problem. This is such a big headache solved. Thank you guys so much. 

[lukesturr]

On 5/13/2020 at 9:47 PM, -rascal- said:

 

If they ARE on the inductors, take them off, and put in over the MOSFETs, where they are supposed to go on in the first place.

With the thermal pads on the inductors...

1. Inductors are taller, so you are making an even wider gap between the card and the block with the thermal pads on top
2. MOSFETs are not conducting heat away onto the block without the thermal pads, so they are probably cooking
3. The 109*C ~ 110*C hot spot you are seeing is probably the MOSFETs, and not the GPU Core or HBM Memory chips

 

Also, try using the 'X' bracket at the same time, or after you've done that changes.

 

This is complete misinformation... Thermal pads should be placed on the Inductors/Chokes and the MOSFETs as shown in this picture of the reference cooler:

 

 

It looks like wonderboy8 already had thermal pads on the MOSFETs as well as the Inductors in their first picture and the one below so I'm unsure how removing them from the Inductors solved anything.

 

[-rascal-]

55 minutes ago, lukesturr said:

 

This is complete misinformation... Thermal pads should be placed on the Inductors/Chokes and the MOSFETs as shown in this picture of the reference cooler:

 

It looks like wonderboy8 already had thermal pads on the MOSFETs as well as the Inductors in their first picture and the one below so I'm unsure how removing them from the Inductors solved anything.

 

The stock reference cooler has a dedicated deep recessed pocket for the chokes, so did have thermal pads on them from factory.

The Byski waterblock, however, does not have this deep recessed pocket.

It only has clearance for the chokes to be there, and not additional space for thermal pads, too.

At least, from what I can find / see.

Adding the thermal pads on top of  the chokes added an extra... ~2mm thickness (or whoever the thick the thermal pads are).

This subsequently added extra unnecessary space/gap between the GPU block, and the GPU itself -- improper contact between the GPU and block.

 

This is vary, depending on the GPU, and the block you use.

EKwb offered a full Vega 64 block, and you are supposed to use the included thermal pads on both the MOSFETS and chokes.

[lukesturr]

12 minutes ago, -rascal- said:

 

The stock reference cooler has a dedicated deep recessed pocket for the chokes, so did have thermal pads on them from factory.

The Byski waterblock, however, does not have this deep recessed pocket.

It only has clearance for the chokes to be there, and not additional space for thermal pads, too.

At least, from what I can find / see.

Adding the thermal pads on top of  the chokes added an extra... ~2mm thickness (or whoever the thick the thermal pads are).

This subsequently added extra unnecessary space/gap between the GPU block, and the GPU itself -- improper contact between the GPU and block.

 

This is vary, depending on the GPU, and the block you use.

EKwb offered a full Vega 64 block, and you are supposed to use the included thermal pads on both the MOSFETS and chokes.

 

That makes sense and if it's true, not a great design on the Byski waterblock... They should have made it capable of using the same thermal pad placement and thickness as reference cooler.