DIY Quick Guide: TIM replacement in 15 minutes. (excellent results)

[amenx]

Mirror finished coolers work well with tiny amounts of TIM, but you need to use a lot more with bare heatpipe coolers. I once took apart a gtx470 and was not too pleased with the over-generous stock application of the TIM. Applied much less (with Zalman STG1) and saw my temps 3-4c higher. Took it apart and applied much more and temps settled 2-3c lower than stock.

Each card will vary imo. I dont believe its so much to do with with the type of TIM as it does with how well and evenly it was applied during manufacturing.

 

[KingFatty]

Most important is to avoid air gaps.

The thermal compound should fill the micro-scratches and displace any air.

If you have a giant air gap due to heat pipes, you should fill it with thermal compound because it will transfer heat much better than any air packets. Air is technically a thermal insulator and has no reason to come between your heatsink and your chip.

 

[thilanliyan]

XFX = send them an email first iirc

XFX is fine in North America even if the stickers covering the screws are there. I've done it and RMAed with them and they didn't say anything.

 

[Termie]

Great thread, Wand3r3r!

Did your card not have any cooling interface on the VRAM chips? Is that typical of aftermarket coolers?

When I've removed reference coolers, it's always appeared to me that the thermal pads were no longer usable, as they are basically double-sided tape.

Any thoughts on handling that issue if it exists with a given cooler? If aftermarket coolers like the Asus in the OP don't directly cool the VRAM, are they at a disadvantage?

 

[wand3r3r]

Thanks!

I believe only stock cards have all of those thermal pads in addition to the GPU TIM. Actually I'm not sure about the couple highest end cards like the lightning/classified? I've done TIM replacement to a couple cards and there was not TIM/thermal pads elsewhere then on the GPU itself. There are some heatsinks but not on the VRAM imo.

The reference cooler TIM replacement would probably require some thermal pads to replace the one time use factory stuff?

I don't know about VRAM cooling, can you even measure their temps?

 

[Evilviking]

Thanks.

That's true. I've seen too little, and what the manufacturer usually puts seems like too much. In the end a picture can hardly do justice anyway.

--

I forgot I should add a disclaimer to check your GPU warranty policy.

EVGA, MSI, ASUS = GO ahead
XFX = send them an email first iirc

Gigabyte was a maybe

Everyone else will void your warranty.

Email them and tell them to change if you care.

Be careful with this. Last I read msi will void your warranty if the warranty stickers are removed or punctured from the screw heads. That's what stopping me from replacing my tim

 

[crashtech]

I know I would void a warranty if some unknown person tried to work on something I sold them. There are too many dummies in the world. I don't blame the manufacturers one bit.

 

[TerryMathews]

I know I would void a warranty if some unknown person tried to work on something I sold them. There are too many dummies in the world. I don't blame the manufacturers one bit.

Technically, you can't. Magnuson Moss warranty act.

 

[blastingcap]

Technically, you can't. Magnuson Moss warranty act.

I'd love it if it were true, but please cite to a case or regulatory proceeding where they said that applies to video cards. I am not aware of any. And I doubt the VGA companies would help you out if it's not in their policies. So what then? Are you gonna sue them?

 

[crashtech]

It's a grey area, a warranty can be voided if it can be shown that the tampering caused the failure. Basically, you have to go to court over it.

 

[TerryMathews]

I'd love it if it were true, but please cite to a case or regulatory proceeding where they said that applies to video cards. I am not aware of any. And I doubt the VGA companies would help you out if it's not in their policies. So what then? Are you gonna sue them?

The law covers all consumer products.

And yes, why wouldn't you sue? Most any computer part would fall into the purview of small claims.

 

[Jacky60]

Yes, I'm sure about MSI (USA anyway). You have to get it back to stock condition when returning it (without damage).


http://us.msi.com/service/warranty/

Then on their official forums the mods are telling people it's ok.

User

Mod

https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=174490.0

My UK bought 290s have warranty void if removed stickers over the screws attaching the heatsink so pretty sure I can't replace my TIM.

 

[Tristor]

I've never understood why people are so concerned with the warranty. When dealing with solid state components (which everything but the fan on the graphics card is), usually they either fail during or prior to assembly and you have them DOA as a consumer, or they fail within days of using it. If you've had your card for 2-3 months and you're not having issues, then you should be pretty well assured that you'll never need the warranty claim. And if you card dies in 3 years, who cares, you were probably about ready for an upgrade anyway... If you can do something that'll significantly drop your temperatures and it voids the warranty, it's probably a better deal anyway since the temperature drop will probably reduce the wear and tear on the card enough to guarantee a longer lifespan.

 

[wand3r3r]

It's not very clear about what the gains will be. Some people are only getting a degree or two. Why void a warranty if you may not even gain anything.

My personal thought is (as long as you bought new so you have a point of reference) to either buy a brand which allows it, or wait until you notice a temperature change or degrade. Once something is a couple years old it's probably a good choice anyway (although a lot of new cards could benefit as well due to the sloppy application of TIM by the manufacturers).

As Termie mentioned though, reference cards are a different animal altogether with the Thermal pads which are basically shot after you remove the cover.

 

[Silverforce11]

I make it a habit to always replace the TIM on gpus asap, because it never surprises me how poorly they are applied and of such low quality.

The difference has always been massive.

 

[Keysplayr]

Is it really that much of an undertaking for a manufacturer to put a decent quality and quantity of TIM on a GPU? I say no, of course it isn't. Charge an extra buck or two and incorporate it into the MSRP. But wait. Light bulb!! We can make money here. Lets put the poorest cheapest quality TIM on our products so enthusiast overclockers and gamers will be exasperated enough to buy aftermarket "Arctic Silver" for 7 dollars or more!! Lets also put BS coolers on that cool "just enough". But, I also say there is a market for aftermarket cooling products. There is money to be made there, so you'll never see a change.

I hate being this cynical, but you know I'm right. Unfortunately.

 

[KaRLiToS]

I'm not a big fan of this method of cleaning or applying paste.

I would never do any steps in this guide, especially not the plastic bag spreading method or removing the paste with paper towel full of particles or dust. I would just put a dot in the middle or a line. There are some tools to spread the paste if ever you want to do this type of application.

And if I remove the cooler, I would take the time to clean the whole PCB from all the dust.

Isotropic alcohol with a lint free cloth is the best in my opinion. Since its lint free, it won't leave some deposit.

This is how a clean die is suppose to look like.

 

[KingFatty]

Exacerbating the situation is how hard to detect and reward good application of thermal compound. It's just not mentioned that often, and so buyers aren't asking that question and demanding good thermal paste application. I mean that, as a company, there is not a pressing incentive to ensure that the assembly line workers are trained in the art of thermal paste application, so you get big variation in quality. The manufacturer can just blame that worker for being sloppy, and point to the golden sample given to a review site that was perfectly applied by a professional cake icing artist. I guess it's just that they can say the hardware is *capable* of cooling if only the thermal paste were applied properly.

 

[crashtech]

I'm not a big fan of this method of cleaning or applying paste.

I would never do any steps in this guide, especially not the plastic bag spreading method or removing the paste with paper towel full of particles or dust. I would just put a dot in the middle or a line. There are some tools to spread the paste if ever you want to do this type of application.

And if I remove the cooler, I would take the time to clean the whole PCB from all the dust.

Isotropic alcohol with a lint free cloth is the best in my opinion. Since its lint free, it won't leave some deposit.

This is how a clean die is suppose to look like.

<snip>

It's great to be meticulous about cleanliness, but the truth is it won't make any difference in temps, and even the strongest isopropyl alcohol has a water component, so applying it to a circuit board is not devoid of risk.

Blowing the board off with canned 'air' after removing the old TIM with the least expensive and invasive method possible (a paper towel) gives all the temp reducing benefits with none of the risks associated with liquid solvents.

But in regards to spreading the new TIM around, I never do that either.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I'll be changing the paste on my 270x soon.

Just changed it. No change in temps yet

 

[MrK6]

And if I remove the cooler, I would take the time to clean the whole PCB from all the dust.

Isotropic alcohol with a lint free cloth is the best in my opinion. Since its lint free, it won't leave some deposit.

This is how a clean die is suppose to look like.

You don't need to clean to whole PCB with isopropyl alcohol (you can if you want, it isn't necessary though).

However, Karlitos brings up an excellent point: you must clean the GPU and heatsink mating surfaces perfectly. This is computer building 101 and this guide is incomplete without this information. Also paper towels/tissues/etc. are all poor materials to use for cleaning, use lens papers or eyeglass cleaning clothes (both are very cheap). Packing lint, body oils, dead skin, and everything else between the GPU and the heatsink because you weren't clean defeat the purpose of this entirely. If you're going to do a job, do it properly.

It's great to be meticulous about cleanliness, but the truth is it won't make any difference in temps,

The difference between a clean GPU surface and not makes a significant difference in temps.

and even the strongest isopropyl alcohol has a water component, so applying it to a circuit board is not devoid of risk.

This is ludicrous, I have no idea where you got that from.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Done this on a reference gtx670 before,its when i found out just how poor and cheap some of the parts were on the card.

This 770 might be fun to clean up and take apart, my case collects much dust so perhaps its time to clean this up and repaste.

 

[Schmide]

It contains heavy metals. Bad for your health and bad for the environment.

Heavy Metal is not equal to toxic dude. Yes there are Heavy Metals that are toxic but their properties don't really lead (Pb pun) to good TIMs. There are plenty of heavy metals that we need to survive and are naturally occurring in the environment. Zinc for example is very common in TIMs and is fine for consumption and the environment.

I think you're very wrong here. If you make such a claim, please site the materials you're referring to.

I'm not saying go out and eat it, just don't fear it.

 

[geokilla]

Do you need special tools to open up the XFX 7950 DD coolers? I haven't taken a look at my GPU yet but I'm interested in replacing the TIM. The cooler is terrible and I want to lower VRM, along with core temperatures if possible. Even mining at 1.1VDCC (undervolted) gives core temperatures of 87C. 87C! WHAT THE HELL?! If I take it out of the table it goes to around 78C. But then it's very inconvenient having a huge computer blocking the "road."

 

[wand3r3r]

I've taken apart CPU heatsinks many times and I've tried beads vs. lines vs. spreading it out, after reading a lot of articles about it and seeing the results. Personally I prefer to spread it out on the CPU since I usually put a very thin layer which will just be enough to suffice without being excessive. I've opened my CPUs and GPUs after to confirm the spread and I'm just doing what I've personally figured out how to do it. Everyone has an opinion, go read some articles and form your own.

I think cleaning it is important, but it was very clean and shiny when I was done.

The GPU has bottoming out screws, you cannot put the cooler on as tight as you want. If you plan to squeeze the drop in the middle all the way to all the edges, you have to apply it liberally. I prefer to ensure it makes it everywhere and is sufficient. I have opened GPUs up after applying it to see what's happening, I suggest you do too when you are doing this for the first time(s).

When I put the GPU heatsink back on I line up the screw holes carefully and put it directly on. If you only use a grain of rice style you have to ensure it spreads (whether you twist it a little or try roll it etc.). Having opened up grain of rice type applications and seeing portions of the heatsink cover missing TIM has made me wary. To each their own.

Everyone has a point, and everyone has an opinion. It's best to try make the most informed decision possible since you can potentially wreck something. This was just one way to do it and a demonstration of how easy it can be.