Mounting RAMsinks on 6800GT RAM

[iamtrout]

I'm watercooling my 6800GT, which means I have to mount RAMsinks onto the 6800GT.

Here's what happened:

1. Took off retail HSF, cleaned off remaining thermal compound with acetone.
NOTE: The thermal compound touching the RAM was a thick, pink, squishy material. It felt waxy to the touch. Definitely not sticky at all.

2. Put RAMsink on RAM. This is where it gets weird: The sinks would not adhere at all. They would actually SLIDE around on the RAM surface when moved lightly with a finger. Took off RAMsink, felt the bottom, and the thermal adhesive was definitely very very sticky.

3. Tried putting sink on a second time, this time applying pressure. Still the same thing.

4. Figured that the RAM surface was either oily or the adhesive is not strong enough.

5. Cleaned RAM surface with a bit of palmolive detergent (emulsifier). Replaced adhesive with a stickier kind.

6. Mounted sinks again. This time it is a little bit stronger, but can still be knocked off quite easily.

WTF is going on? Does anyone else have this trouble? Am I going to have to resort to a nonpermanent mixture of AS and thermal epoxy? What could be covering the RAM surface? I have a MSI NX6800GT. It looks like it has the reference HSF.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Doesn't Artic Silver make a heat-spreader adhesive?

 

[BW86]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Doesn't Artic Silver make a heat-spreader adhesive?

yup, get some and mix it with as5 thats what i did with my 9800pro

 

[Creig]

What are you using for your "adhesive"?

 

[BW86]

http://www.arcticsilver.com/ar...r_thermal_adhesive.htm

 

[Luck JF]

That arctic silver is permanent and I like it but there is an alternative for you.
http://www.thermaltake.com/coolers/memory/ramsink.htm those come with heat pads already on them. In case you decide to remove them later the heat pad substance washes off with alcohol.

 

[iamtrout]

The RAMsinks I used were these with the adhesive that came on them. Very sticky. When they didn't work, I switched to some generic thermal tape that I had lying around. I don't remember where I got it.

I got some tips from a guy at procooling.com that verified that the RAM surface is very oily, but also provided a good solution, so I think I'm good.