First experience with cleaning a GPU.

[mepwm]

Hello everyone!

 

    Long time fan of the channel here, so props for all the entertainment thus far. First time posting on the website I believe, but I've had a bit of a complex last few days and I could use some guidance. 

TLDR; 

Fixed broken GPU (GTX 560 ti). temps super cool for a few days now under load at 99-100c. Potential problems? Also, buy a 200 dollar Graphics card for now(and extend the wait time for my new 1500$ build) Or try my best to fix it again and pray it works until I have the cash saved up.

 

So if you're still interested I'm glad you're taking the time.

 

Anyways, it started about a week ago my video card(GTX 560 ti) started to have this ungodly rattling coming from it. I let it be for a day or two because I was afraid to use the pc. Finally on my day off I got around to taking the card out. I found that one of two fans was loose because the screw mount literally broke away from the fan shroud and was letting the fan hit the wires inside of it. So, after watching some of your GPU disassembly videos I got the courage to take my GPU apart. (Thanks a bunch BTW for the awesome information I learned LMG.) After taking the fan shroud off my card I cleaned everything very gently with some wipes and 99.9% Isopropyl. I mixed up a quick epoxy and fixed the mounting back correctly to fix the rattling. So after fixing that I unmounted the rest of the card and deep cleaned everything. God it was disgusting. Applied new thermal paste. AS5 i believe I used. and put everything back together. Now after installing everything back together I booted up my PC no problems posting or anything. And that god awful rattle was fixed. I opened up MSI afterburner and monitored my temps just in case I didn't use enough thermal paste and had to shut it down again.  Everything was GREAT! My temps were ten degrees below what they used to be at idle while under load. It was too good to be true. And yes...sadly it was. Now about 4 days later or so my temps aren't spiking however after playing an extended session today My Temps are at 90 - 100c(under load). I'm not sure if I might have done something wrong. Or maybe I don't have enough fans in my case or meh. (I've blue screened a few times over the last six months. Maybe twice.) Could that be related to my GPU getting too hot and causing memory management problems? 

 

    As for the entry level card, would it be worth just buying a 200$ AMD card (since they're not half bad right now!) or even a low cost nvidia card until I build my new rig maybe in the next 6 months....Or just I just try and wait it out? Any thoughts would be much much. Thanks. I've included a picture of what my card looked like before cleaning so you guys can laugh at me.

 

PC SPECS:

intel i5 2500k (Never OC'd.)

8gigs Hyper x fury DDR3(unsure of latency)

nvidia GTX 560 ti (An EVGA model.)

samsung 850 EVO ssd

1tb WD green

Micro atx Gigabyte board

 

[-rascal-]

3 minutes ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

Holy shit... Sounds like you broke something.

Maybe....have a look at the choke (?) with the white "R60" numbering on it; seems too out of place.

 

Also, how much thermal paste did you put on?

GPU dies typically need more thermal paste coverage compared to CPUs, but you don't need to drown it in thermal paste either.

AS5 has a curing / break-in time, AND could be electrically conductive.

[mepwm]

1 minute ago, -rascal- said:

Maybe....have a look at the choke (?) with the white "R60" numbering on it; seems too out of place.

 

Also, how much thermal paste did you put on?

AS5 has a curing / break-in time.

I would say i was a bit more than I would be with a CPU I used a very light X method. I didn't like drown the GPU but i used more than "A grain of rice."

[-rascal-]

5 minutes ago, mepwm said:

I would say i was a bit more than I would be with a CPU I used a very light X method. I didn't like drown the GPU but i used more than "A grain of rice."

 

The "grain of rice" method won't be enough -- especially for the HUGE GF114 chip.

The "X' method should be okay.

 

Double-check your mounting screws / bracket. Make sure they are not loose -- the screws around the GPU core itself should be gradually tightened in a cross pattern for even force/pressure.

 

Old MS Paint reference picture that I had for some dual-GPU card (Radeon HD 6990?) but still useful:

 

[mepwm]

That's almost exactly what I did. At least I'm on the right thinking path heh. Taking the card apart will have to wait until tomorrow however. Thanks for the insight. 

[Howitz]

Keep it under water while you play so it stay cool. Distilled water that is.

[mepwm]

26 minutes ago, Howitz said:

Keep it under water while you play so it stay cool. Distilled water that is.

I never thought of that! I'll do it tomorrow.

 

[Howitz]

23 minutes ago, mepwm said:

I never thought of that! I'll do it tomorrow.

 

Lol if you are to throw it in the garbage it might be worth a try, distilled water is non-ionized and doesnt conduct electricity, might actually work for a while and it's a fun experience.

 

O_o spray it with a thin coating that makes it waterproof but make sure the coating conduct heat well.