Replacing thermal paste, confusion on thermal pads for the 2080TI FE

[bengilbertuk]

Hey guys, I'm wanting to replace the thermal paste on my 2080TI FE as temps are sky rocketing quickly and very frequently.

I've been looking at tear down videos and I'm confused on the thermal pad side of things. Does anyone have any experience taking apart the founders edition? Do I need to replace the pads or can they be reused? I've also noticed the small blue pads seem to just tear away, do these need replacing?

Many thanks for any suggestions.

Ben

 

[xkm1948]

Here you go.
Im sure if you searched there will be plenty of results for this topic

 

[bengilbertuk]

Hey man, thanks for the reply. I've watched this video previously and searched the forums here but i wasn't able to find anything about replacing the pads or that blue "taccy" substance

 

[Caring1]

If they are damaged or compressed too much then I'd say replace them.
Spiking temps can also be due to poor airflow through the case, make sure that is adequate.

 

[bengilbertuk]

If they are damaged or compressed too much then I'd say replace them.
Spiking temps can also be due to poor airflow through the case, make sure that is adequate.

Thanks man, any thoughts on the blue "taccy" substance pads?

 

[oinkypig]

whats better than expensive thermal pads? curing thermal paste. dont worry about buying the right sized thermal pads anymore! pk-3 is one of the best curing TM out there.

 

[kiriakost]

my 2080TI FE as temps are sky rocketing quickly and very frequently.

Ben

It is common all people to see that in the summer timer, and normality this to return at winter time.
You can get a better advice if you mention ambient temperature and post a picture of your PC case internals.
I am in denial to accept that paste and pads they were destroyed within 30 months, when they are made to survive for 20 years at least.

 

[bengilbertuk]

It is common all people to see that in the summer timer, and normality this to return at winter time.
You can get a better advice if you mention ambient temperature and post a picture of your PC case internals.
I am in denial to accept that paste and pads they were destroyed within 30 months, when they are made to survive for 20 years at least.

Thank you for the reply mate. I'm sorry if my original question is confusing. My concern is not about the durability of the thermal pads, I am more interested in replacing the thermal grease. The reason I have bought to attention the pads is because on all the videos I have watched I have noticed some smaller blue pads that appear to be basically glued on and on each video they look like they have been destroyed when the card is taken apart.

I don't believe it is to do with my airflow in the case as I'm aware of the thermals capable on this card and recently it has suddenly started to jump from idle to above 85 degrees within minutes and the fans hit 4500 RPM under load.

My case is a Fractal Design Define S2 with 3 x ML140's on the front as intake. An ML140 on the back as exhaust and a H115i at the top as exhaust. Its pretty cold over here at the mo, its been much warmer ambient wise.

Many thanks for your time

 

[Bones]

If they are damaged or compressed too much then I'd say replace them.
Spiking temps can also be due to poor airflow through the case, make sure that is adequate.

I agree - Replacing damaged pads is way cheaper than replacing the card and not difficult to do.

Just cleanup the places where the pads were with acetone to make sure all the residue from the old pads is removed and set the new pads in place.

If you have to, lightly scrape these spots to finish removal of the old stuff. Be careful not to damage the components while scraping, in fact some really fine sandpaper is probrably best for this and do not scrape/sand any more than you have to period. Use a very light amount of pressure too, the components are delicate so watch it with how hard you go at it whether you scrape or sand these components and it's all the same for the cooler side of it.

You'll have to get some thermal pad material, cut/trim it to fit each spot and set them in place.

Won't hurt if they are slightly larger once cut than the old pads, it's actually better than them being smaller than the older pads (Too small). Be aware thermal pad material comes in different thickness according to what you get.
Slightly thicker than the original pads is fine, if it's too thin it won't make good contact where it needs to when the cooler/heatsink(s) are in place.

I've done it to cards, boards, even gaming consoles and so far, so good.

 

[bengilbertuk]

I agree - Replacing damaged pads is way cheaper than replacing the card and not difficult to do.

Just cleanup the places where the pads were with acetone to make sure all the residue from the old pads is removed and set the new pads in place.

If you have to, lightly scrape these spots to finish removal of the old stuff. Be careful not to damage the components while scraping, in fact some really fine sandpaper is probrably best for this and do not scrape/sand any more than you have to period. Use a very light amount of pressure too, the components are delicate so watch it with how hard you go at it whether you scrape or sand these components and it's all the same for the cooler side of it.

You'll have to get some thermal pad material, cut/trim it to fit each spot and set them in place.

Won't hurt if they are slightly larger once cut than the old pads, it's actually better than them being smaller than the older pads (Too small). Be aware thermal pad material comes in different thickness according to what you get.
Slightly thicker than the original pads is fine, if it's too thin it won't make good contact where it needs to when the cooler/heatsink(s) are in place.

I've done it to cards, boards, even gaming consoles and so far, so good.

Thanks Bones

Ill replace the pads regardless as that seems pretty straight forward.

Any idea on what to do with this blue substance?

Can normal pads be used here?

Thanks

 

[Bones]

The blue stuff is what you go after with acetone, a simple paper towel should do with the acetone.
All you need to do is make sure the surfaces they make contact with are clean once done to the components and the cooler. The acetone should dissolve the blue stuff and let you remove it, once done just make sure any residue from it where the pads will make contact is gone and it's ready for the new pads.

BTW with the component layout seen a simple strip of it that spans the entire stretch of the components is fine. You can trim out individual pads if you want but where the blue padding was a strip covering the entire span of components will do just fine as it is with the white padding.

I'll stress again, if you must use a sanding/scraping method to get things ready make sure you only do it to the extent required to get the blue stuff cleaned off, be VERY careful when doing this. Hopefully that won't be required but in some cases a really light useage is needed, also bear in mind (Esp with sandpaper) you're removing a tiny bit of the component's surface, not really enough to hurt anything if done properly but still, don't go heavy-handed about it. In this case sandpaper would be the preferred method over scraping and make sure it's a really fine sandpaper used, anything that's coarse at all is the wrong stuff to use.

Hit it again once done with the acetone to be sure the surfaces are clean, you can apply the new pads and reassemble the card once all else is ready to go. I'll also say regardless of what color the old pads are just make sure they are in good shape or replaced with new padding period. If any of the white padding is bad the same padding you use for the blue can be used there too, it all does the same thing anyway and if it has a pad you want it to be right before the card is used again.
The padding used can be a tad thicker (Just not too thick) and you shoudn't have a problem with it. The new padding will tend to squish out anyway once the cooler is torqued. After it gets warm the first time it will settle in and be good to go from there. If having to reuse some of the old padding elsewhere make sure it too is making contact where it should or just replace it anyway for the following reasons.

Only real problem to watch for is to make sure all padding is making contact with the components and cooler after the cooler is torqued.

You can simply reassemble the card as if it's to be used right away, then disassemble and check the contact pattern of the padding AND the contact/imprint of the TIM to the GPU's core and cooler. If you have a nice imprint of everything in the new padding, just double check the TIM on the GPU core itself and smooth it back out evenly, reassemble and it's ready.

Hope this helps.

 

[INSTG8R]

The blue stuff is what you go after with acetone, a simple paper towel should do with the acetone.
All you need to do is make sure the surfaces they make contact with are clean once done to the components and the cooler. The acetone should dissolve the blue stuff and let you remove it, once done just make sure any residue from it where the pads will make contact is gone and it's ready for the new pads.

BTW with the component layout seen a simple strip of it that spans the entire stretch of the components is fine. You can trim out individual pads if you want but where the blue padding was a strip covering the entire span of components will do just fine as it is with the white padding.

I'll stress again, if you must use a sanding/scraping method to get things ready make sure you only do it to the extent required to get the blue stuff cleaned off, be VERY careful when doing this. Hopefully that won't be required but in some cases a really light useage is needed, also bear in mind (Esp with sandpaper) you're removing a tiny bit of the component's surface, not really enough to hurt anything if done properly but still, don't go heavy-handed about it. In this case sandpaper would be the preferred method over scraping and make sure it's a really fine sandpaper used, anything that's coarse at all is the wrong stuff to use.

Hit it again once done with the acetone to be sure the surfaces are clean, you can apply the new pads and reassemble the card once all else is ready to go. I'll also say regardless of what color the old pads are just make sure they are in good shape or replaced with new padding period. If any of the white padding is bad the same padding you use for the blue can be used there too, it all does the same thing anyway and if it has a pad you want it to be right before the card is used again.
The padding used can be a tad thicker (Just not too thick) and you shoudn't have a problem with it. The new padding will tend to squish out anyway once the cooler is torqued. After it gets warm the first time it will settle in and be good to go from there. If having to reuse some of the old padding elsewhere make sure it too is making contact where it should or just replace it anyway for the following reasons.

Only real problem to watch for is to make sure all padding is making contact with the components and cooler after the cooler is torqued.

You can simply reassemble the card as if it's to be used right away, then disassemble and check the contact pattern of the padding AND the contact/imprint of the TIM to the GPU's core and cooler. If you have a nice imprint of everything in the new padding, just double check the TIM on the GPU core itself and smooth it back out evenly, reassemble and it's ready.

Hope this helps.

Really your Acetone suggestion is more than sufficient to remove any residue. Shouldn’t have to resort to abrasives. Also I recommend coffee filters over paper towels. Cheapest lint free cloth there is.

 

[Bones]

In most cases it is, I have ran into such before that the padding/stuff/whatever didn't want to come off clean and used sandpaper to get it all off.
It really depends on how the acetone removes the blue stuff but I agree, it should be fine with just that used.

A coffee filter is a good suggestion too.

 

[bengilbertuk]

Thank you very much Ill order some 0.5m 1.0m and 1.5m pads and give it a go! Many thanks

 

[Bones]

Let us know how things turn out and results afterwards.
Good luck!

 

[John Naylor]

1. We use Indigo Xtreme cleaner but the next best thing is 99% isoprophyly alcohol ... you can get 100s of opinions on what % is good enough but the fact remains a) 99% is available at Walmart and for $2.99, why bother with anything less and b) 91% had 9 times the impurities that 99% does. I'm anxious to give these a try as they will fit nicely in my toolbox

(4 Pack) Florida Laboratories 99% Isopropyl Alcohol Spray - Walmart.com

Buy (4 Pack) Florida Laboratories 99% Isopropyl Alcohol Spray at Walmart.com

www.walmart.com

I don't recommend acetone

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Acetone is not safe for most electronics such as circuit boards. While you may get away with it, it's not recommended.

keyboardkings.com

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So my local dollar store doesn't sell rubbing alcohol, but does sell acetone. Can I use acetone instead of rubbing alcohol on electronics? I know acetone does attack some plastics but rubbing alc...

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Can I use acetone to clean the PCB from flux residue after soldering?

Answer (1 of 3): Acetone is a much more aggressive solvent than isopropyl alcohol, and is not a good option for removing flux residue from PCB assemblies unless you are certain that the PCB soldermask and silkscreening AND all other components on the assembly are compatible with acetone. Many pla...

www.quora.com

2. I use a heat gun (Bought it for bending acrylic tube in water cooling builds) to warn up the surface temps a bit and loosen the gooey stuff> Remember these get up to 80C when under gaming usage ... but since you will be often holding the card probably wanna keep it under 110F or so. With a handful of foam swabs to add a bit of roughness you can get the goop to come off rather easily.

foam swabs

www.walmart.com

3 Before reassembly, the difficulty here is in determining the correct thickness of the thermal pads Looking at the attached files, you can see that the pad thickness is 0.5mm for both memory and VRM areas (as well as the backplate) for the EK Water blocks on Asus 780 .... Pads are available in various thicknesses as well as heat transfer rate (HTR) . The HTR tells you how good it is at transferring heat . common HTRs are 1.5, 6.0, 11.0 and 17.0 W/mK. We use FujiPoly pads

FrozenCPU Product Catalog

Welcome to FrozenCPU, support PC builders since 1999. Check out the latest and greatest PC water and air cooling components for your next build. EKWB, Mayhems, Aquacomputer, Watercool HEATKILLER, Bitspower, and more. We offer same day shipping, rewards with cash back for your next purchase, and...

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4. Be aware that in addition to heat transfer, there are other characteristics associated with TIMs ... For example, among the leading products:

AS5 is capacitive .... heed the warning on AS5 site ... "the compound is very slightly capacitive and could potentially cause problems if it bridges two close-proximity electrical paths."
IC Diamond recommends warming up the compound in warm water before opening the tube , it tends to lose workability over time, so no "dilly dallying"

We always use Shin Etsi G751 for CPUs and MoBo VRMS, RAM Heat sinks (back in the day, no longer needed for RAM anymore) because it matched AS5s thermal abilities, was not capacitive, had decent workability and it was under $4. Bow that just about everything costs $8, we use Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut .. On GPUs .. as well as GPU Memory, and VRM surfaces when warranted, we have used Gelid Extreme as it remains workable for a longer period of time. You also can use a heat gun / hair dryer to warm up the PCB components but only use from the underside while adding TIM to the top side. You don't want to get it hotter than is comfortable to the touch and you don't want to blow hot air over the TIM.

 

[kiriakost]

Can normal pads be used here?

Thanks

Unfortunately and in most cases, you will never find at open market equal in quality and performance paste or pads as the ones supplied by Top Brands as is cards made by ASUS.
But you will be less unfortunate if the VGA card was assembled by a less famous brand, Chinese they are in denial (internal politics) those days so to import quality parts from other countries.
If you for example, replace everything with chemistry and pads made in Japan, this is a true upgrade.

 

[mtcn77]

I know much is well meaning, but for the love of god please remove that thermal glue recommendation. This is no joke, there is zero aftermarket service for ripped bga devices. You cannot just tack glue on inductors and take the cooler out again. Have you any foresight as to what will happen in case you forgot to follow a step?
Sand paper and IC diamond are both scratching.
You shouldn't need anything other than Artic Cleaner kit to do a full reassembly, however good luck with that on a stock card with thermal putty.

If you need putty, go for fujipoly.

 

[Bones]

I know much is well meaning, but for the love of god please remove that thermal glue recommendation. This is no joke, there is zero aftermarket service for ripped bga devices. You cannot just tack glue on inductors and take the cooler out again. Have you any foresight as to what will happen in case you forgot to follow a step?
Sand paper and IC diamond are both scratching.
You shouldn't need anything other than Artic Cleaner kit to do a full reassembly, however good luck with that on a stock card with thermal putty.

If you need putty, go for fujipoly.

I also realize the same with your post (Well meaning) applies so no prob, however do note how I said to go about using sandpaper IF you must.

I'd only use it if there is residue that doesn't want to come off the surfaces the old pad was on. You must have a clean surface or the pad will not have proper contact with the component surface for heat transfer. Only use it as much as you'd need to and no more with a VERY light amount of pressure to minimize any actual removal of the component/cooler material. Usually the actual stiffness of the sandpaper itself is sufficient to get these stubborn spots removed TBH and to not do at it any further than required to get these stubborn spots removed.

I've done this many times when required and I've never had a problem because of it (So far) and using the really fine sandpaper is in fact "Safe" as long as you do it properly and you use the right stuff, in this case the finer the sandpaper the better and anything coarse is just right out.

Best use of it of course is not to but if you must that's how it's done and BTW there are many documented uses of it with things such as with a chipset surface that's been done before to flatten out the surface for better contact with the cooler itself.

However any thermal glue/adhesive IS a bad move (A real No-No), I too agree that you will literally destroy a component if you ever have to take it back apart since that stuff doesn't give at all.

 

[mtcn77]

I also realize the same with your post (Well meaning) applies so no prob, however do note how I said to go about using sandpaper IF you must.

No qualms. I will not detest however do note that I lost an hd4890 due to innocious overpressured bolt at the vrm heatsink component. I just don't think there is any room to play. I didn't even feel the threads locking, it happened so fast. I just hope it is warranted how delicate they are. I would treat a bread crumb more harshly than vrms, so there I said it.

 

[Bones]

Oh yeah, in a case of torquing that's more than just understandable.
Caution should always be used when doing any kind of work - There are a thousand ways to break it but very few ways to fix it.

 

[mtcn77]

PS: final word, don't fly too close to the Sun. Have it done professionally. "They won't help", but at least they will point out what won't work. Expertise does not come cheap.

 

[kiriakost]

Expertise does not come cheap.

Yes because you have to sacrifice money , time , and to combine patience among with a portion of true intelligence of your own, and the third ingredient this is you to be a good character, so one more worthy expert than you, him to accept to transfer a portion of his own expertise to you.

I do laugh when I read youth this complaining ..... why you are not helping ? .. internet is about helping its other free of charge.
And I will respond.
Give back something also valuable to me.
Over the Internet the balance between the words GET and GIVE this is always LOST.