Thermal pads?

[dr13zehn]

What kind of thermal pads can I use to replace the ones on a Nvidia (8800/9800) stock cooler?
All I seem to be able to find is thermal tape and it seems to be much too thin.
Plus I'd rather not use a tape with a strong (or any) adhesive on it.


Thanks,

13

 

[Technophobe]

I would say that the thinner, the better as far as heat transfer goes. Are you looking to mount the same (stock?) cooler again? My suggestion would be to go for a after-market cooler which maybe come with ramsinks for the memory as well.

 

[jws2346]

Being a little temp "anal" one of the first things I do is replace all the heat pads on the mobo chips (NB, SB, moffit heat sinks, etc), graphics card chip HS(s) and, of course, cpu HSF's with a TIM like AS5, Shitzu(?) , OCZ or whatever "top notch" TIM you prefer (I still use AS5). I don't like the thickness of most factory installed heat pads

I agee with the previous poster that the thinner the filler between the HS and chip (heat pad or TIM of some kind) the better for the heat transfer, at least that's my impression.

Only my humble opinions and it is a little on the excessive side replacing the TIM on all those chips

 

[dr13zehn]

OK,

Thanks for the input. I do agree about "the thinner the better". However, I was asking, since I didn't know how far the contact surface on a stock sink is from the ram chips. Does it touch even without a pad on it? If that's the case I won't have to worry about the pad being thick enough.
Is it close enough to just use thermal compound?

 

[Specialist[X]]

i would like to know this as well. i was a fool to throw away the stock thermal padding on my g92, and guess what? after applying as5 and putting it back together, theres a noticeable gap in between the ram and the heatsink. its running right now with the gaps in between and i want to fill them back as soon as i can. would the gap be an issue? so far it seems to be running ok, but its on stock settings during gaming. im not having very good luck finding the right stuff for the card. this is what i ended up with...


http://www.frozencpu.com/products/5...etalPad_Thermal_Interface_GPU_Pad_501248.html

dont know if thats going to work or not. let me know if u find anything for our 8800s...

 

[Old Hippie]

The reason thermal pads are used, is to ensure good contact between poorly constructed surfaces.

It's just a thermal interface material like any other, but it's thicker to take up the gap between badly mated pieces and parts.

TIM is supposed to fill the minute gaps in flat surfaces. The thinner the better.

But if the gaps get soo big that a paste won't fill the gap, then we move to a pad.

Most motherboard HSs and assembliess can be bent by hand to better mate with their associated parts and maybe use a thinner TIM than the origional in the process.

You want the parts as close as you can get them, then fill the gaps with TIM.

All it takes is a little common sense

 

[Zero82z]

i would like to know this as well. i was a fool to throw away the stock thermal padding on my g92, and guess what? after applying as5 and putting it back together, theres a noticeable gap in between the ram and the heatsink. its running right now with the gaps in between and i want to fill them back as soon as i can. would the gap be an issue? so far it seems to be running ok, but its on stock settings during gaming. im not having very good luck finding the right stuff for the card. this is what i ended up with...


http://www.frozencpu.com/products/5...etalPad_Thermal_Interface_GPU_Pad_501248.html

dont know if thats going to work or not. let me know if u find anything for our 8800s...

That's not a thermal pad. It's similar to aluminum foil in consistency, although it's a bit thinner. It's meant to replace thermal paste and it melts to create a bond between the two mating surfaces. However, if they're far apart like in your case, it won't help you.

 

[Specialist[X]]

The reason thermal pads are used, is to ensure good contact between poorly constructed surfaces.

It's just a thermal interface material like any other, but it's thicker to take up the gap between badly mated pieces and parts.

TIM is supposed to fill the minute gaps in flat surfaces. The thinner the better.

But if the gaps get soo big that a paste won't fill the gap, then we move to a pad.

Most motherboard HSs and assembliess can be bent by hand to better mate with their associated parts and maybe use a thinner TIM than the origional in the process.

You want the parts as close as you can get them, then fill the gaps with TIM.

All it takes is a little common sense

yes i have taken this into account. i have tried to actually screw them on tighter hoping to get better contact. instead, i suspect that the design is flawed to a point in which the TIM by itself will never make contact with the HS without pouring the whole thing over it. the gap is SIGNIFICANT. seems it was designed to be padded up from the factory and never meant to have anything else better/thinner for heat transfer.

 

[Zero82z]

yes i have taken this into account. i have tried to actually screw them on tighter hoping to get better contact. instead, i suspect that the design is flawed to a point in which the TIM by itself will never make contact with the HS without pouring the whole thing over it. the gap is SIGNIFICANT. seems it was designed to be padded up from the factory and never meant to have anything else better/thinner for heat transfer.

Yes. Most of the time, graphics card manufacturers design the heatsinks to be spaced away from the RAM so they can use thick thermal pads, because it reduces manufacturing costs.

 

[Specialist[X]]

anyone know where to find these "thick" thermal pads yet? is it even safe to be running the g92 without thermal padding?

 

[Istealfrombums]

Some dealer on ebay had some, I did the same thing to my g92 and just found the thermal pad I threw out and put it on some.

 

[Nafets]

...

 

[Sniper_Merc]

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=58&products_id=1141

http://www.petrastechshop.com/ekrevoretimp.html

 

[Specialist[X]]

13x13x2.8mm (8pcs) $1.00
13x13x1.4mm (4pcs) $0.50
15x12x2.8mm (8pcs) $1.50

thanks for the links, but are there any differences other than the sizing of each of them? i notice the 3rd one has a different surface color. thanks again.