# Should I use CPU thermal paste on my Video card?



## tkpenalty (Dec 23, 2006)

I realise that the bubble gum thermal gum that is provided with my 9550 really sucks, so would using thermal paste improve cooling at all? If so will thermal paste conduct at all? I am planning to cover the whole core with it.


----------



## DaMulta (Dec 23, 2006)

Just a DOT!


----------



## tkpenalty (Dec 23, 2006)

DaMulta said:


> Just a DOT!



Eh? Like a tiny bit of it? Cant I cover the stuff around the die?


----------



## Azn Tr14dZ (Dec 23, 2006)

DaMulta said:


> Just a DOT!



NOT A DOT!

Well, yeah put a dot, but spread it out.  If you're applying thermal paste to a CPU w/ an IHS, like current Intel or AMD CPU's, place a dot, but on a bare die like a GPU, spread it out evenly, because if you don't, that dot can squeeze out.

It even shows you on Arctic Silver's website.


----------



## Zubasa (Dec 23, 2006)

tkpenalty said:


> Eh? Like a tiny bit of it? Cant I cover the stuff around the die?



Not the stuff around the die.
And if you use a metallic thermal paste, CERTAINLY NO!!!!


----------



## zekrahminator (Dec 23, 2006)

Let's put it this way- Thermal paste is thermal paste. The only difference is between the application processes. On a CPU, a tiny dot in the middle will do fine. On a GPU, spread it evenly on top of the core (but do NOT get any around it, and DEFINITELY DO NOT use metallic paste if you're not sure what you're doing).


----------



## Azn Tr14dZ (Dec 23, 2006)

erocker said:


> lol, I put a tiny half-pea sized drop onto my r430 core and applied it to the heatsink.  Took the heatsink off and carefully cleaned up the excess paste.  Reapplied.  Has been working great for a year and a half with temps under max load at 48c.



That's the same thing as spreading it, since when you put the heatsink on, it spreads it, then your removed excess paste...same thing, but easier if you just spread it with a credit card or calling card or something.


----------



## tkpenalty (Dec 23, 2006)

I tinted the cooler then I applied a pea sized amount, its working great as far as I can tell, the heatsink is hotter by a bit (meaning more heat is being transfered).

YES!!! MORE STABILITY (Im getting way more FPS when at high clocks than usual, they began to drop recently, now its cooler than ever )


----------



## tkpenalty (Dec 23, 2006)

I followed the steps that arctic cooling told me to do and I did the same with the CPU, i cleaned every last bit of thermal paste off (eww it had some dust in it) then I tinted the copper base of my cooler... improvement of 3 degrees celcius in cooling. Time to burn in


----------



## Random Murderer (Dec 23, 2006)

tkpenalty said:


> I followed the steps that arctic cooling told me to do and I did the same with the CPU, i cleaned every last bit of thermal paste off (eww it had some dust in it) then I tinted the copper base of my cooler... improvement of 3 degrees celcius in cooling. Time to burn in



nice work!
arctic silver's website says to let it burn in for 200 hours and several thermal cycles before you should see the real performance...


----------



## tkpenalty (Dec 23, 2006)

Random Murderer said:


> nice work!
> arctic silver's website says to let it burn in for 200 hours and several thermal cycles before you should see the real performance...



By the way, im using some generic $3 tube so don't expect much. The stuff I used before costed me $10... geez thermal pastes are really variable. Im happy because my GPU core is more stable than ever. (the Heatsink burns my hand when I take off the 4 Screw mounted 80mm fan)


----------



## OOTay (Dec 23, 2006)

I always find that if i take about the size of a grain of rice of thermal paste and stick that on the gpu, then place the heatsink on it always has better temperature performance and contact area compared to spreading it out evenly on the gpu. Plus you have less of a risk of having air pockets.


----------



## tkpenalty (Dec 23, 2006)

TO MODS: Please move this thread to project logs and change the title to Thermal paste application endeavour.


----------



## W1zzard (Dec 23, 2006)

when using thermal paste on a silicon die you spread it to evenly cover the whole die area.

when using thermal paste on a heatspreader you put a dot in the middle and let the heatsink pressure spread it

See: 
http://reference.techpowerup.com/Thermal_Paste
http://reference.techpowerup.com/Thermal_Paste_and_How_to_use_it


----------



## tkpenalty (Dec 23, 2006)

This is freaky, after installing the thermal paste I tried to OC WITHOUT the 80mm fan installed. Stock passive heatsink. Guess what? The heatsinks is freaking burning hot (a good thing) I am getting nearly the same clock; its only off by around 35mhz... (Im talking about the  core speed; crappy 4.0 ns memory!!!).

Considering that most of the heat generated is removed by the fan (usually), do you guys think its time for me to voltmod?

EDIT: By the way, this was also to burn in the thermal paste, what results would I get with high grade thermal paste from arctic silver?

TO EVERYONE WHO OWNS A 9550 FROM SAPPHIRE: Change the thermal paste, the stock bubble gum paste is hindering your card from overclocking another 30%.


----------



## OOTay (Dec 24, 2006)

W1zzard said:


> when using thermal paste on a silicon die you spread it to evenly cover the whole die area.
> 
> when using thermal paste on a heatspreader you put a dot in the middle and let the heatsink pressure spread it
> 
> ...



thanks w1zz for clearin it up, ill try it that way next time.


----------



## tkpenalty (Dec 24, 2006)

Is the Die even made of silicon? It seems far too "shiny" to be. (I had to rub off the bubblegumm crap). Why do GPU manufacturers use the shittest (and the easiest to apply) type of thermal paste? Its got so much thermal resistance that it isnt funny. Some info on the thermal paste:

Balance Stars Thermal Paste: Stars-200

Thermal conductivity: >0.95W/m-k (kelvin)
Thermal Resistance <0.229*C-inch squared/W
Its a ceramic medium apparently, I was surprised it came in a syringe tube.

EDIT:  http://www.made-in-china.com/import-export/KEQJazRoInMFprofile1/Balance-Stars-Co-Ltd.html
hmm... whats your say? Im going to buy another 4 tubes!!! Its so cheap


----------



## OOTay (Dec 24, 2006)

tkpenalty said:


> Is the Die even made of silicon? It seems far too "shiny" to be. (I had to rub off the bubblegumm crap). Why do GPU manufacturers use the shittest (and the easiest to apply) type of thermal paste? Its got so much thermal resistance that it isnt funny. Some info on the thermal paste:
> 
> Balance Stars Thermal Paste: Stars-200
> 
> ...



Because its too expensive to put higher quality paste on.


----------



## Taz100420 (Dec 24, 2006)

tkpenalty said:


> TO EVERYONE WHO OWNS A 9550 FROM SAPPHIRE: Change the thermal paste, the stock bubble gum paste is hindering your card from overclocking another 30%.





yes he is right 100% when i changed the thermal grease, it OC'ed much better and got more frames in almost all my games


----------



## DOM (Dec 24, 2006)

so can i use Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound on my X800XL well it make my temps alot lower or just a tad lower?


----------



## OOTay (Dec 24, 2006)

DOM_ATI_X800XL_PCI-E said:


> so can i use Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound on my X800XL well it make my temps alot lower or just a tad lower?



around 5C or 10C lower


----------



## DOM (Dec 24, 2006)

but i need to make sure to only get it on the core right? then i would get a better OC cuz the highest i got it was 475 i think but it was very cold when i did it but its been benched at 465/570


----------



## Taz100420 (Dec 24, 2006)

I couldnt get mine past 445 before my PSU blew and it was up to 125F! I think the guy I bought it off of used the grease from the AC5 package


----------



## DOM (Dec 24, 2006)

the AC5 comes with it on it all ready, so whats 125F in C cuz mine gets no higher then >48


----------



## tkpenalty (Dec 24, 2006)

Weird... who has ever clocked their 9550 up to 510 mhz using the stock cooler???


----------



## Taz100420 (Dec 24, 2006)

51.6 C......man I guess thats not TOO bad, prolly too much juice getting sucked out of the PSU


----------



## Taz100420 (Dec 24, 2006)

tkpenalty said:


> Weird... who has ever clocked their 9550 up to 510 mhz using the stock cooler???



most I got mine up to was like 350 and that was a Sapphire fansink


edit: then I flashed the bios over to a 9600 PRO and got up to 500 MHZ.....


----------



## Random Murderer (Dec 24, 2006)

tkpenalty said:


> Weird... who has ever clocked their 9550 up to 510 mhz using the stock cooler???



KEEP GOING


----------



## tkpenalty (Dec 24, 2006)

Random Murderer said:


> KEEP GOING



gg... lets get the best thermal paste and apply it to the stock cooler. I highly doubt I would be able to get past 535mhz... even right now im getting the same exact results with the fan on or with the fan off; voltage problem. I think I should buy epoxy and attach P3 heatsink bits (haha P3 coolers are always the victims of chop up projects  ) to the mofsets. 

80mm fan with the motor positioned over the space between the Ramsinks and the Core's Heatsink. I reckon this is absolutely the cheapest way to cool your GPU even more, guys with passive heatsinks; this is the most dirt cheap way to cool your GPU! Its much better than a fan integrated to onto a piece of metal! (Stock HS+F)  
(absolutely shit thing is it takes up three slots if you have a standard 80mm fan, I might change to a thinner 60mm fan with a higher RPM)






(Doesn't it look normal; not ghetto?)

EDIT: Is it recommended that I change the spring loaded retention pins? Because they arent very tight, so if I knock the bulky cooler it sort of angles off... Uh would screws shortout the card?


----------



## Random Murderer (Dec 24, 2006)

not if you use rubber washers...


----------



## tkpenalty (Dec 24, 2006)

Random Murderer said:


> not if you use rubber washers...



I have plastic washers  Thanks for reminding me.


----------



## Random Murderer (Dec 24, 2006)

so did you end up using the thermal paste or not?


----------



## tkpenalty (Dec 24, 2006)

Random Murderer said:


> so did you end up using the thermal paste or not?



Of course why not?!


----------



## Zubasa (Dec 24, 2006)

Sure you can as long as you know what you are doing.


----------



## tkpenalty (Dec 25, 2006)

I tried reapplying it the way w1zzard told me to... (testing) now the performance is WORSE than before... time to reapply; the CPU way :/

EDIT: ... forgot I had to burn in first. Time for some more gaming.


----------



## ARTOSOFT (Dec 25, 2006)

www.thermaltake.com

Regards,
Arto.


----------



## tkpenalty (Dec 25, 2006)

ARTOSOFT said:


> www.thermaltake.com
> 
> Regards,
> Arto.



No needs... I just figured that I turned Antiso and AA to 16x and 6x respectively.. 

Stop adding Regards,
Arto. (its freaking me out...)


----------



## Vario (Jan 5, 2007)

I have a BFG card.  I would like to put a zalman cooler on it, but replacing the stock cooler voids the warrenty.  Do you think I can be stealthy about it and if the card has any problems, put the stock cooler fan back on and be none the wiser, or will it be obvious based on thermal paste application and so on?


----------



## AsphyxiA (Jan 5, 2007)

Vario said:


> I have a BFG card.  I would like to put a zalman cooler on it, but replacing the stock cooler voids the warrenty.  Do you think I can be stealthy about it and if the card has any problems, put the stock cooler fan back on and be none the wiser, or will it be obvious based on thermal paste application and so on?


when i replaced the the stock cooler on my cousins X1900XT, it crapped out about a week later!  We threw the stock heatsink on and sent it back to newegg.com. they sent a new one no questions asked.


----------



## Random Murderer (Jan 5, 2007)

AsphyxiA said:


> when i replaced the the stock cooler on my cousins X1900XT, it crapped out about a week later!  We threw the stock heatsink on and sent it back to newegg.com. they sent a new one no questions asked.



yea, i've done the same thing twice. they never know the difference. just to be safe i use thermal pase the same color as the original when i send it back though(usually white, and the absolute shittiest mixture they can get), so i use paste that came with my zalman cnps9500, cuz i sure as hell am not gonna waste as5 on a defective card thats gonna get sent back anyway...


----------



## tkpenalty (Jan 5, 2007)

Random Murderer said:


> yea, i've done the same thing twice. they never know the difference. just to be safe i use thermal pase the same color as the original when i send it back though(usually white, and the absolute shittiest mixture they can get), so i use paste that came with my zalman cnps9500, cuz i sure as hell am not gonna waste as5 on a defective card thats gonna get sent back anyway...



Should I use the thermal paste that came with the zalman CNPS7700CU or use generic (in a syringe thingy)?


----------



## Random Murderer (Jan 5, 2007)

for what? rma?
if youre returning the card, use the crappiest stuff you have.
if youre gonna use the card, use the best you have.


----------



## tkpenalty (Jan 5, 2007)

Random Murderer said:


> for what? rma?
> if youre returning the card, use the crappiest stuff you have.
> if youre gonna use the card, use the best you have.



I'm using generic Thermal paste right now,





tkpenalty said:


> Is the Die even made of silicon? It seems far too "shiny" to be. (I had to rub off the bubblegumm crap). Why do GPU manufacturers use the shittest (and the easiest to apply) type of thermal paste? Its got so much thermal resistance that it isnt funny. Some info on the thermal paste:
> 
> Balance Stars Thermal Paste: Stars-200
> 
> ...



[/B]


----------



## Random Murderer (Jan 5, 2007)

if you really wanna cool it, you should use as5. i use it for EVERYTHING. i've never seen or heard of the stuff youre using now...
Specifications: 

Thermal Conductance:
>350,000W/m2 °C (0.001 inch layer) 

Thermal Resistance:
<0.0045°C-in2/Watt (0.001 inch layer) 

Average Particle Size:
<0.49 microns <0.000020 inch 

Extended Temperature Limits:
Peak: –50°C to >180°C Long-Term: –50°C to 130°C 

Performance:
3 to 12 degrees centigrade lower CPU full load core temperatures than standard thermal compounds or thermal pads when measured with a calibrated thermal diode imbedded in the CPU core.

Coverage Area:
Arctic Silver 5 is sold in 3.5 gram and 12 gram tubes. The 3.5 gram tube contains enough compound to cover at least 15 to 25 small CPU cores, or 6 to 10 large CPU cores, or 2 to 5 heat plates. At a layer 0.003" thick, the 3.5 gram tube will cover approximately 16 square inches.


----------



## tkpenalty (Jan 5, 2007)

Random Murderer said:


> if you really wanna cool it, you should use as5. i use it for EVERYTHING. i've never seen or heard of the stuff youre using now...
> Specifications:
> 
> Thermal Conductance:
> ...



Im asking, Zalman or Generic?


----------



## Random Murderer (Jan 5, 2007)

i would probably use zalman. even though it basically is generic, if theres a problem you can blame zalman


----------

