does thermal paste get old / need to be replaced?

I

indokyne

2[H]4U
Joined
Jun 21, 2006
Messages
2,159
So my nVidia 5900 Ultra is starting to overheat and it hasn't really done that before. I'm using an Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 4 rev.2
I clear out the dust in my case and fins pretty often so there's no cloggage...

the only thing i could think of is that maybe I should re-apply the heatsink / fan and thermal paste...

or does it not matter once a good seal is achieved?
 
Have you done any overclocking? Remember that once you are artifacting, the damage is already done. As a last ditch effort, I would apply the paste, but I wouldn't keep your hopes up.
 
i may sound kinda newbish but i don't think it's ever artifact'ed...

I don't overclock the card but I was kinda surprised that it's spec'd at 850MHz memory

it just shuts down outta nowhere.

Speedfan shows 65+degrees C while I'm playing games - some pretty standard ones
(PoP TTT - 1024x768 normal settings / Trackmania etc).

Is there a way I can tell whether this card has reached the point of no return / fried?
 
Thermal paste dry out can make a difference. Basically, it becomes an insulator when dried out, so if it's on thick enough, it will get worse over time.

If you have something like AS5 spread very very thin (almost non-existant) it will probably not make a difference over time.
 
lloose said:
Have you done any overclocking? Remember that once you are artifacting, the damage is already done. As a last ditch effort, I would apply the paste, but I wouldn't keep your hopes up.
Click to expand...
You mean that because my card artifacted once when it was overclocked, that it's damaged now?
 
lloose said:
Have you done any overclocking? Remember that once you are artifacting, the damage is already done. As a last ditch effort, I would apply the paste, but I wouldn't keep your hopes up.
Click to expand...

What?

That's the point of overclocking, you back off 5-10mhz after you start artifacting. As long as it doesn't run too long artifacting, than it should cause no damage to the card...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top