problems with gtx 260 after applying Arctic S 5

[roid450]

i decided to take off my stock heatsink on the 260 and apply the AS5 paste onto the nvidia chip. thats all i did, then assembled it and went to play crysis and after crysis my temps were at 85ºC :Q :Q :Q :Q

where as before it was low low 80s.

anyone know what i might have done wrong? or maybe the program i use Everest Ultimate is not reading GPU temps right now.

my idle temps right now are 62ºC and my room temp is about 80ºF. used to idle in high 50ºC before

i h ave the fan on 67% cycle since any higher is super annoying

 

[will889]

I would tend to think your HSF isn't making proper contact. Try reseating it.

 

[roid450]

im gonna have to retry it. but im almost 100% positive it was on straight and flat. everything lined up perfect though <_<

 

[Quiksilver]

Did you clean the old thermal paste off? (If yes, what did you use)
Did you give the AS5 time to cure? (it requires it iirc)
Did you put too much?
Did you put too little?
Is the heatsink making proper contact?

 

[roid450]

i used a soft paper towel to clean old paste off like ive done for years.

i know it takes time to cure the AS5 but it usually has always made a difference right away

i put a good amount of it, probably twice as thick as what its supposed to be.

the heatsink seems to be making proper contact and all.

 

[roid450]

well i feel stupid now.

it was too much paste to begin with. i took it off agian, reapplied real thin. not im idling at 55 and on crysis it went to mid 70s. on Unreal T 3 it went to 60ºC

 

[Quiksilver]

You can probably lower those temps a bit more by cleaning the old paste properly with Coffee Filters (because they're lint free) and some Isopropyl Alcohol or Arcti-Clean. Then re-applying a small dollop of the AS5.

 

[SunnyD]

Heatsink changing kit:

Several Paper Towels
Bag of Cotton Balls
Package of Q-Tips (brand name, not no-name brand)
Bottle of Isopropyl Alcohol
Heat Sink Compound of Choice



Step 1 - Take HSF off
Step 2 - Remove "excess" thermal compound from Chip and/or HSF
Step 3 - Douse cotton ball with some Isopropyl, clean chip and HSF surfaces thoroughly (repeat as many times as necessary with fresh cotton balls until no "dirt" is showing on the cotton ball)
Step 4 - Dip Q-Tip in Isopropyl and thoroughly and vigorously clean specific contact areas on the chip and/or HSF (repeat until no "dirt" shows up on the swab)
Step 5 - Dry area(s) with clean Q-Tips as necessary
Step 6 - Let chip and/or HSF sit for ~5 minutes while remaining Isopropyl evaporates
Step 7 - Apply new thermal compound to the center or core area of the chip, generally a small pea-sized blob
Step 8 - Reattach HSF to the chip, one the HSF makes contact with the thermal compound try not to remove the HSF or reseat, instead continue to apply pressure while installing.

 

[roid450]

i did just that but it seems to still be runnig fairly hot.

also the temp inside the house is pretty warm now. i basically live in desert and it was 102ºF today. prolly just as bad inside the house.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: roid450
i did just that but it seems to still be runnig fairly hot.

also the temp inside the house is pretty warm now. i basically live in desert and it was 102ºF today. prolly just as bad inside the house.

Yeah, your ambients are killing you there. Your ambient temps are what, around 40C? You're trying to dump more heat into air with less thermal delta, so it becomes far less efficient in terms of cooling. You may need to look into water cooling or something of that nature.

 

[roid450]

thanks man. its cooler now around here. the card is better off now. i might re arrange my room so that my PC is on the window. the window is about 5 feet wide. and i might put the desk in front of it so the hot air spill outside.

 

[Calculator83]

YOU guys are forgetting ACETONE,, it takes off the dirty flux that's sometimes invisible. Alcohol will take off grease only.

 

[roid450]

thanks but i was freaking out over the high temps, when i completely overlooked how hot my room was. its cooling down now here in san diego, but the past few days my rooms been in the upper 80s. its a lot cooler now and my card is idling at 55 right now. with crysis it gets to low 80s. on UT3 it gets to low-mid 70s after at least half hr of playtime.

 

[Quiksilver]

Originally posted by: Calculator83
YOU guys are forgetting ACETONE,, it takes off the dirty flux that's sometimes invisible. Alcohol will take off grease only.

Acetone will eat through silicon, so if you slip up...

 

[thilanliyan]

Originally posted by: roid450
i put a good amount of it, probably twice as thick as what its supposed to be.

You're supposed to put a very thin layer on. Putting a thick layer just means it's more distance the heat has to travel from the GPU to the heatsink. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but AS5 (although containing silver particles) isn't as conductive as the copper in most heatsinks.