Radeon HD 6970 TIM problems...

erek

[H]F Junkie
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so i have been bitcoin mining for awhile, and i decided to change the TIM on one of my 6970s to see how it would turn out...

i applied arctic silver ceramique to the GPU core (not a lot) and i noticed a few ram thermal pads were damaged, but left them go...
anyways...

the temps actually rose instead of decreased.... ~7-15C

i re-applied multiple different times with various methods...

i tried applying the thinnest layer i could using a business card and this was the worst scenario... it would seem fine idle at 45C, but make a massive jump to 69 and then to 101C


the middle route provided the result of 7-15C higher temps than stock, but i also replaced the thermal pads (all of the ram ones) with thermal paste.. had to make the globs a little bigger to make contact...

anyways... i ordered some MX-4 to hope that this problem will be fixed


h03.png



seems like maybe there's a problem with contact? do you guys really think i should invest in new thermal pads for the ram? it's quite expensive... fujipoly 6.0 w/ for 1/4th sheet is $20
 
unfortunatelly i did the same with the thermal pads and put some mx4 instead
which made the temps same to the original ones.
if you want to put new thermal pads don't buy them 1mm thick.
it makes the cooler stand away from the vrms and gpu core.
use something like 0,5mm.
 
depends on how flexible and squizable they are, but i think anything above 0.7 - 0.8mm
would give bad results in temps and cooler sitting.
 
can the thickness of this fujipoly stuff be trimmed?
 
unfortunatelly i did the same with the thermal pads and put some mx4 instead
which made the temps same to the original ones.
if you want to put new thermal pads don't buy them 1mm thick.
it makes the cooler stand away from the vrms and gpu core.
use something like 0,5mm.

how did you apply and how much did you apply to the GPU/ram to make good contact to the HSF?

i may just end up applying MX-4 like you did...
 
i put a drop of mx4 the size of a grain of rice at each ram chip and one
drop a little bit bigger at the center of the gpu core.
 
you didn't have a problem with the ram and or gpu making contact with the heatsink with just those sizes? [i will give your method a shot, but i have a stock heatsink/fan (reference)]
 
mine is a sapphire reference too.
don't spread the mx4 or else the cooler
won't make any contact with the ram.
just put one drop on the ram chips.
 
g70.png


wow. stock cooler sucks ass. i just put a shaman on my 6970 and temps are amazing.

also, i need a new PSU.. old 650W Enermax isn't gonna keep up with this beast.
 
just one 6970 and you're thinking of upgrading from a 650W psu?
 
i have heard that GPU 2 is a sensor near the top of RAM chips, and that GPU 3 is the VRMs

[but i haven't confirmed this personally]
 
gpuz2.png


these are my temps.why don't i have some readings like yours and there is a vreg temp?
 
it's the same and i just downloaded the 5.4 version.
shouldn't your core clock be 880?
 
Last edited:
it's the same and i just downloaded the 5.4 version.
shouldn't your core clock be 880?

core clock will only jump to 880 under load. if you're idle at a single monitor desktop your clocks will drop significantly to reduce power and thermal output.

just one 6970 and you're thinking of upgrading from a 650W psu?

well, i'm not real happy with dropping below 12vdc when my gpu is loaded. i should also sit at a solid 120A , but it dips into the 110's.
 
i know that mate:rolleyes: but if you see the 1st post his clock is 841,5 while gpu load at 99%.
that is what i'm asking about.
 
i know that mate:rolleyes: but if you see the 1st post his clock is 841,5 while gpu load at 99%.
that is what i'm asking about.

Yea, mine does that as well under full load - it'll bounce around in the top thresholds. I think it has something to do with power/thermal load balancing.
 
yesterday i fitted 0,5mm phobya thermal pads which have the right thickness:).
 
does anyone know what are the gpu 2 and 3 temps in gpuz???

AMD has never given any hint as to what sensor is where. Even W1zzard, the creator of GPU-Z, admits he has no idea and he is in constant contact with AMD and Nvidia.
 
i got those 1.5mm fujipoly sheet in... it's pretty thick... do you think it would be worth trying them?

[they couldn't cancel the order because it already shipped]
 
i got those 1.5mm fujipoly sheet in... it's pretty thick... do you think it would be worth trying them?

[they couldn't cancel the order because it already shipped]

maybe if it is soft enough, it could be squized as much as needed.
 
mJ0u4.jpg


2iiAO.jpg


it's essentially way too thick... caused the PCB to bow in spots when i tightened down the bolts
 
:eek:it's waaay too thick:(.
you need the 0.5mm and a cleaner for the
thermal paste like the akasa tim clean asap.
 
AXcj7.jpg



that's my MX-4 right there.. it did work a lot better than the ceramique... and i plan to purchase some phobya 0.5mm like you did...


is there a reason why you weren't going to keep using the mx-4 applied to you ram permanently?
 
i believe that if the manufacturer uses pads then that is what i should use too.
i used the mx4 just for as long as the pads would take to ship.
btw the mx4 is even better than the as5 so i'll use it on my cpu as well.
 
with the arctic silver ceramique there was greater than a 10C difference between my GPUs...

now look at the MX-4,

VskmO.png
 
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