GPU freezing after AIO mod

[Flojer0]

Hello GPU forum. Weeks ago I was intrigued by this little mod:

 

http://www.overclock.net/t/1086286/complete-build-log-zotac-560ti-corsair-h70

 

In short you take a closed loop cooler and slap it onto the gpu to enjoy lower temps and less noise. So I ordered my self a Cooler master loop that was going for $25 after rebate to play with. After everything was situated I started it up and the gpu core was loving it. My idle temps were down about 15 degrees Celsius. But under load the gpu would climb up to 55 at a reasonable speed and begin to slow down its ascent. Once the temperature gets above 60 then the chance of my computer freezing opens up. I don't believe it happened any cooler than that but I'm not certain.

 

My vram was getting too hot to touch for more than a few seconds. Unfortunately my card, a Powercolor 7870 XT, does not seem to give readings for vram and vrm temps. My personal guess is that the vrm's are over heating because the freeze was sudden with no signs of artifacts. But either is a possibility.

 

Lastly I did notice that the die had not been entirely covered with tim. But when I replaced the stock cooler to make sure everything was still in good order and took it off again to contemplate switching back I still hadn't covered the entire die. So I'm not sure if that is the entire cause.

 

Now here is probably my real question. Assuming it is my vrm is there a good place to go to get a bigger heat sink? I can find vram heatsink options easily enough but if I want to cool my vrm's it appears that I will need to get something that is good enough and slap it on with thermal tape, instead of mounting it properly.

 

Sorry if this was a little long. If I've done everything right I'll just see if I really want to spend another chunk of change to finish the job I guess.

 

Oh, and if I under clock the card it will run without issue.

[Hirad123]

Wait so you put the AIO on your gpu, what was cooling your VRM and ram?

[JORDANonPC]

Nevermind I read something wrong

[Flojer0]

Wait so you put the AIO on your gpu, what was cooling your VRM and ram?

The ram chips don't have any contact with the heatsink, they are just cooled by air flow. And the VRM's have the mosfet heatsink and are cooled by the hot air after going through the gpu heatsink.

[Hirad123]

The ram chips don't have any contact with the heatsink, they are just cooled by air flow. And the VRM's have the mosfet heatsink and are cooled by the hot air after going through the gpu heatsink.

Your ram needs a sink. That may be what is causing your issues. Also what do you mean the VRM has mosfet heatsinks? Do you mean the VRM has the same heatsink as the mosfet's on a motherboard?

[WildTurtle]

This is why you buy a waterblock and do it right the first time.

[Flojer0]

Your ram needs a sink. That may be what is causing your issues. Also what do you mean the VRM has mosfet heatsinks? Do you mean the VRM has the same heatsink as the mosfet's on a motherboard?

I mean the standard vrm heatsink. Like how in the vrm you have your capacitors, your inductors, and your mosfets, and the mosfets are the ones that get hot and need a heatsink so they get one. Maybe I should have been more generic and just said vrm heatsink.

 

And even if the card didn't come with ram it still need heatsinks? Would make sense with less airflow but I was almost hoping someone would say something like "oh they can live without it just keep up your airflow". 

 

This is why you buy a waterblock and do it right the first time.

1) waterblocks are expensive

2) even buying aftermarket heatsinks for the ram and the vrm I'll be about half the cost of a full cover block alone.

3) it's a fun project to play around with an something you don't see that often.

4) just because it's different doesn't mean it's not right.

[Hirad123]

I mean the standard vrm heatsink. Like how in the vrm you have your capacitors, your inductors, and your mosfets, and the mosfets are the ones that get hot and need a heatsink so they get one. Maybe I should have been more generic and just said vrm heatsink.

 

And even if the card didn't come with ram it still need heatsinks? Would make sense with less airflow but I was almost hoping someone would say something like "oh they can live without it just keep up your airflow". 

No you need a heatsink on the ram. And i still don't fully understand what you mean by standard VRM heatsink. The card doesn't come with a heatsink but you put your own on it right? As long as you put a heatsink on your mosfet's with thermal pads in between it's not your VRM and it's most likely your RAM.

[Flojer0]

No you need a heatsink on the ram. And i still don't fully understand what you mean by standard VRM heatsink. The card doesn't come with a heatsink but you put your own on it right? As long as you put a heatsink on your mosfet's with thermal pads in between it's not your VRM and it's most likely your RAM.

 

Here's an image of my card with the heatsink removed.

I do still have the stock heatsink, but I wanted to see what results I could get with the aio (closes loop liquid) cooler. This is exactly what I'm looking at with the stock cooler removed. The chips you see around the die are the ram and as you see there are no heatsinks on them stock. If they need some were I to continue with this idea I may put some on. To the left of the die you see a row of capacitors, then a row of inductors, then a heat sink covering a row of mosfet chips, or the 'vrm heatsink' . 

 

To try to summarize and clarify my first post I'm wondering whether it is more likely the vrm or the ram is causing my freezing. And if anyone knows of a better place than newegg or frozencpu to get such heatsinks because as such I'm looking at $40 in mini heatsinks.

 

Thanks for your help so far .

[Hirad123]

Ooooooooooooooooooh sorry the reason i was confused is cause i didn't know your card comes with a heatsink already on the mosfet's. In that case don't worry about the caps and chokes as long as there is airflow those will be fine, however your ram will need thermal pads and a heatsink.

[Flojer0]

Alright, I should have started with a picture then. So my VRM's don't need to be touched? I'm prettey sure caps and chokes don't make much heat so I wasn't worried about those. My point of confusion is that I get no artifacts. Just an outright freeze of everything. In my past experience the when there were ram issues things complained a long ways before they buckled. So I then assumed that the mosfets must be over-heating and doing something weird with the voltage.

 

If you are confident that the VRM's are not a problem then I'll try the ram heatsink thing then.

 

Edit: I almost want to try thermal pasting some tin foil to the ram, but I'm not so sure if that will help

 

Edit 2: If there wasn't any heatsink contact on the ram to begin with then in theory if I got enough airflow shouldn't that solve the issue?

 

[vipirius]

 

Edit 2: If there wasn't any heatsink contact on the ram to begin with then in theory if I got enough airflow shouldn't that solve the issue?

 

 

Why don't you try it? Just get a 80mm fan and point it at the RAM and see if it solves your problem. If it does, use zipties to mount it there permanently, if it doesn't, order a heatsink.

[Flojer0]

Why don't you try it? Just get a 80mm fan and point it at the RAM and see if it solves your problem. If it does, use zipties to mount it there permanently, if it doesn't, order a heatsink.

By that logic I think I do need to order heatsinks for the ram. At one point I had an 80cfm 120mm pointed at the card and it didn't solve the problem completely. And that fan is noisier than just leaving the stock cooler on.

[Hirad123]

If cooling your ram chips doen't fix the issue there may be something wrong with your card cause I am 100% positive that out of all the vrm only your mosfet's need direct cooling.

[Flojer0]

If cooling your ram chips doen't fix the issue there may be something wrong with your card cause I am 100% positive that out of all the vrm only your mosfet's need direct cooling.

The card is fine with the stock cooler, so I doubt there is a more serious issue. I was just assumed that the vrm would be a more likely culprit. But the ram does sound very possible, especially with it getting to hot to touch. I do have some heatsinks and thermal tape on the way that should be here in a week or two. As far as the vrm is concerned I was thinking that the mosfet's may need a bigger heatsink, not something else in the vrm.

 

I can let you know the outcome in PM so I don't necro this thread .