Thermal paste help

[plunger]

Should I stick thermal paste on the memory portion of this card? The card is an EVGA 8800GT. It currently has some pink pads cushioning it to the heatsink. Should I remove the pads and apply thermal paste or leave it alone?

I was having issues with the card and it was resolved fixed after I removed the heatsink and vacuumed out all of the dust. It is much more clean than in the photo now.

 

[CruisD64]

I'm not entirely sure, but I believe that the reason for the pads is because there would be a gap between the heatsink and the ram if removed. I swear this was the case with my 7800gtx a few years ago. Anyone?

 

[StewieTheGreat]

No you do not need to apply thermal paste to the memory modules,that is what the thermal pads are for,they help transfer the heat to the heat sink.

Do you see how thick they are,imagine squeezing that much thermal paste onto those chips then applying the heat sink,you would have one hell of a mess if you had to take it apart again.

now,if some of them are falling off the heat sink using a tiny bit to stick them back on is what I do when I don't have extra thermal pads.


*edit*

Holy shit,have you ever taken that thing apart before,cause that is a metric shit ton of thermal paste on the GPU itself,if you did that,that is way to much,jesus christ.

 

[BostonHXC]

*edit*

Holy shit,have you ever taken that thing apart before,cause that is a metric shit ton of thermal paste on the GPU itself,if you did that,that is way to much,jesus christ.[/QUOTE]


AHAHAHAHAHA! I laughed my ass of at this! 1 Metric Shit Ton is my new favorite unit of measurement!

 

[plunger]

This was the first time I've taken it out. So everything was done by the factory.

The pads look thicker than they actually are. There is a thin thermal paste looking material under the sticker touching the cooler.

Here are some photos of other 8800gt cards I found online. I don't know if it was stock or self added paste.

 

[pgaster]

No you do not need to apply thermal paste to the memory modules,that is what the thermal pads are for,they help transfer the heat to the heat sink.

Do you see how thick they are,imagine squeezing that much thermal paste onto those chips then applying the heat sink,you would have one hell of a mess if you had to take it apart again.

now,if some of them are falling off the heat sink using a tiny bit to stick them back on is what I do when I don't have extra thermal pads.


*edit*

Holy shit,have you ever taken that thing apart before,cause that is a metric shit ton of thermal paste on the GPU itself,if you did that,that is way to much,jesus christ.

This is all correct. Never replace the thermal pads with thermal paste. As stated the gaps are too big for paste. It will go all over the place, and won't conduct heat properly anyway even if it did stay in place.

Also, never use Arctic Silver on a video card. Never. They say it does not conduct, but I think that's BS. They do tell you not to use it near traces on boards and other similar areas.

I bought an 8800 GTS 640 MB from ebay a while back and the previous owner replaced all the thermal pads with Arctic Silver. It literally blew up when I plugged it in and turned on the computer. I am not joking. A component in the VRM area blew up and started on fire, and there was a decent amount of smoke. And guess what...that part that blew up had Arctic Silver all over it and the surrounding area.

Arctic Silver Ceramique is OK, since that one doesn't use silver, and other pastes should be OK too.

So for your card, replace the paste, but leave those pads in place.

 

[rendereason]

You may use thermal paste to cover anything with thermal pads, given that it's snugly fit and there's no air pockets. a pad works but has less thermal conductivity. the original arctic silver is hard to work with because you cannot smear on the electronic parts, as it will short circuit any circuits it touches.

 

[BostonHXC]

arctic silver is conductive. you blew it up not because of the thermal properties, but because you were stupid enough to let it touch circuitry. You shorted something with the paste.

WOW! You need to chill out there! Read before you make such a statement.

He clearly stated that "THE PREVIOUS OWNER" put that AS on there.

 

[pgaster]

arctic silver is conductive. you blew it up not because of the thermal properties, but because you were stupid enough to let it touch circuitry. You shorted something with the paste.

??? You fail at reading comprehension. It's also not very nice to insult people and call them stupid. Try reading what I said again. None of your response makes any sense and shows you can't understand what you read.

I bought the card and it already had Arctic Silver on it. I stated this clearly.
I know it blew up because it conducted. I stated that they say Arctic Silver does not conduct, and I think that's BS.
I never said anything about thermal properties being the reason for that component blowing up. I did say how Artic Silver, or any paste, cannot fill large gaps and work correctly in place of thermal pads.

 

[plunger]

Thanks guys. The only tube of thermal paste I have at the moment came included with my Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus heatsink. They don't say what the material is so I will order a tube to be on the safe side and leave the pads alone.

Will Diamond Thermal Compound be ok or should I go with ceramic?

 

[rendereason]

diamond is ok. it's non conductive. google the thermal conductivity yourself. there are many reviews. afaik diamond is the best and it's not electrically conductive. but dont take my word for it.

 

[rendereason]

you should learn to google it and figure out yourself.

 

[plunger]

I did google it but I wanted a second opinion. This is the whole point of a forum.

 

[Oldie]

you should learn to google it and figure out yourself.

Getting information on your specific issue from people on a forum like this can rarely be substituted by a simple Google search. You are no longer allowed to post in this thread.