Need help with VRM Heatsink, installing cooler 290

A

a3venom

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I was trying to install a GELID ICY VISION on a 290 and i pretty much fucked it up, two screws got stripped had to drill and break em, one of them was of my original reference cooler (ouch) other one in the bottom of the GELID heatsink contact point, that one shouldnt matter.
That aside, i managed to install everything, i had these blue colored thermal pads i got from somewhere and the heatsinks kept falling off, so my question is do i really need thermal tape for this ( the reallly thin one) or are my pads bogus?
Also, can i use thermal pads instead of thermal paste on the GPU chip and heatsink ( i put some thermal paste and put the whole thing together and installed it. Idle was 40 Degrees but within 1 second of anything 3d it went upto 100C so that is pretty insane)

I have never installed a GPU cooler before and it was a huge PITA for me, i will probably put my reference one back on for now but please suggest me for the heatsink pads/tape and to use thermal paste or pads...
I want to use this because it is really silent compared to reference and i followed this guide - http://www.overclock.net/t/1437634/installation-guide-tips-of-rev-2-icy-vision-on-r9-290x
 
Paste on GPU, tape on VRMs. Not all sticky sinks for VRMs are created equal. You need to clean the chips with isopropyl, and put some pressure on the chips when installing. Give them a little wriggle on the down press. If you continue to have issues, try these. 8 out of 10 sticked for me
 
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What i have looks something like this, so am i using the wrong thing altogether?

100-PCS-LOT-Blue10x10x1mm-font-b-GPU-b-font-CPU-SMD-DIP-IC-Compound-Conductive-Mini.jpg
 
Are you ever going to want to put the reference heat sink/ cooler back on?

If the Gelid cooler has separate heatsinks for the VRM, those generally are glued on with a permanent epoxy.

Arctic makes a thermal epoxy for this exact purpose......

http://www.performance-pcs.com/arctic-silver-tim/arctic-alumina-thermal-adhesive-5-0-grams.html

You will never be able to remove the sinks once you cement them.
Those pads are not made to fix a copper heatsink, the sinks will fall off.

YouTube video of GeLid Icy Vision install on R290:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeFTnUgQJLc
 
Last edited:
magoo said:
Are you ever going to want to put the reference heat sink/ cooler back on?

If the Gelid cooler has separate heatsinks for the VRM, those generally are glued on with a permanent epoxy.

Arctic makes a thermal epoxy for this exact purpose......

http://www.performance-pcs.com/arctic-silver-tim/arctic-alumina-thermal-adhesive-5-0-grams.html

You will never be able to remove the sinks once you cement them.
Those pads are not made to fix a copper heatsink, the sinks will fall off.
Click to expand...

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/20pcs-3M-881...506894?hash=item1c5dc8860e:g:8FkAAMXQDnpTYpd0
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/SEKISUI-5760...683534?hash=item27d71c580e:g:Ng4AAOSwEetV~g9z
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/EC-360-Therm...731505?hash=item19ec7bfeb1:g:uWQAAOxyOalTYjQe

will something like this do the job well? i don't wanna perma epoxy it, that sounds scary to me
 
a3venom said:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/20pcs-3M-881...506894?hash=item1c5dc8860e:g:8FkAAMXQDnpTYpd0
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/SEKISUI-5760...683534?hash=item27d71c580e:g:Ng4AAOSwEetV~g9z
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/EC-360-Therm...731505?hash=item19ec7bfeb1:g:uWQAAOxyOalTYjQe

will something like this do the job well? i don't wanna perma epoxy it, that sounds scary to me
Click to expand...

What adhesive came with the kit?

Some of those peel and stick things are permanent as well.

Don't be afraid of epoxy, once you put it on, you leav it be overnight and then you're GTG.

Again, if you are going to put the stock cooler on ever again, epoxy is not what you want.
 
I would like to have the option of putting stock back on, i have 1 year in store warranty left on that card, opening the cooler didn't tear any sticker on a HIS card thankfully so it isn't void.
It came with really shitty thin double sided tape which has been destroyed already by me, i would rather get a good qty from Ebay, just need to know which one will be non permanent but good adhesive solution for those sinks.
I am not buynig the additional kit, it is not really needed when you have tools in the house to modify a couple of heatsinks that came with it.
 
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should be fine.

use a qtip and rubbing alcohol to clean the grease off the chips.

then use a pencil eraser after to denature the surface.

its not that even the tape that came with the kit are bad (gelid makes some of the best thermal grease on the market), it just that the stock pads leave a greasy surface that needs to be cleaned up or the tape wont stick.

The fujipoly pads should be quite a bit better though, more like the stock pads but stickyer.
 
Last edited:
The Mac said:
the upgrade has a much beefier sink for vrm1, and a combo single sink for vrm2.

Anything fujipoly pads will be top of the line as far as pads go.

http://www.amazon.com/Fujipoly-Extreme-System-Builder-Thermal/dp/B00MPZXYQK

DO NOT use any form of glue/epoxy.
Click to expand...

There is absolutely nothing wrong with thermal epoxy, just as long as you don't plan to
change the cooler, sell it, or need to return it.
Nothing will hold heatsinks better.
But like I said at the outset, it's permanent.

For this application, the guy doesn't want to make it permanent, I get that.

Any good, thin, double sided tape will work.

I agree with the fujipoly, most top of the line waterblocks use that brand, but they are not adhesive, they are just pads.
 
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