question about VGA cooler

[essdeeay]

Originally posted by: dsj
What should I use to wipe the thermal paste with? How much should apply?

You can clean the CPU and heatsink with a cotton bud and some isopropanol (or similar residue-less substance), or just buy the proper CPU/heatsink cleaner in a bottle, it dosn't cost much.

As a rough guide, use a 'pea-sized' amount and no more. With a small piece of card or similar, gently smooth out the paste from the centre to each outside edge of the processor die. Try to brush out any trapped air and make it as smooth as possible.

Once you apply the heatsink, do not move it, as this will create little air cavities. Use Arctic Silver 5 or something (whatever their latest is). Actually I'm sure their site gives you a how-to on this.

Hey, I'm feeling generous tonight:
http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm

Hope it goes well,
Steve

 

[dsj]

What if I applied more than that? I have a pretty thick layer here. And my paste is pretty solid and doesn't bubble. And My paste isn't "perfectly" even. It's pretty even but not completely even because I have a pretty thick layer. The guy on nvnews.net said that I can have a thick layer.

 

[mwmorph]

more should be fine as long as it's less than 1mm which is usally the rule of thumb for silicone based goop. too much will actually make it run hotter.

 

[dsj]

And When I placed on the heatsink and taken it off there are some on the heatsink but not as large as the area of the die. Is that good enough as contact? And I think I have around 1mm so it's ok if it's a bit more right? Like a micro amount more that I can't tell. And it's not perfectly evenly spread. There are some small areas on the side of the die that doesn't have such a sick paste so they might not be touching the heatsink. So if it's not that perfect is it also ok?

 

[dsj]

I removed the heatsink after I installed because I was afraid that I might have lefted a sticker in there. There's a large square of pastes on the heatsink and I reattached the heatsink without doing anything like adding more paste. Is that ok?

 

[dsj]

And I think that the top of the capacitor's heatsink is touching the case of the arctic cooler. What can I do there?

 

[dsj]

Should I plug it in now and try it out?

 

[dsj]

I'm still trying it. I'll watch the temps. Hope it's good. How hot should it be?

 

[dsj]

How come my ambient temperature is 41 degrees? And I still have the case open. The core temperature fluctuates between 54 and 55. When you said 57 degrees do you mean when playing games or when on the desktop?

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: dsj
And I think that the top of the capacitor's heatsink is touching the case of the arctic cooler. What can I do there?

There's your problem! If a capacitor or any other thing is in the way, it will not allow a good contact. You can use a Dremel tool to grind the heat sink to give more room to the capacitor as long as it only needs a little bit of room.
You should not need a lot of thermal paste on the GPU.

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: dsj
How come my ambient temperature is 41 degrees? And I still have the case open. The core temperature fluctuates between 54 and 55. When you said 57 degrees do you mean when playing games or when on the desktop?

cases should be closed. open actually screws up the airflow properties and increases temp in many cases.
when i said 57, i meant normal use. games should go up to around 70 some* which is normal for any card on any cooler(except watercooling and phase cooling and dry co2/liquid nitrogen cooling).
obviously i dont know wat conditions are like n your home so i cant guess exactly. give or take a couple of degrees.(humidity, room temp, air density all effect the temp)

 

[dsj]

Since the video card is sucking out air should I turn around all of my 3 casefans to suck in air? And what is the ambient temp? Is that the case temp? And is the problem with the capicator heatsink really a problem? The guys from your nvnews link didn't say that they have caused any problems.

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: dsj
Since the video card is sucking out air should I turn around all of my 3 casefans to suck in air? And what is the ambient temp? Is that the case temp? And is the problem with the capicator heatsink really a problem? The guys from your nvnews link didn't say that they have caused any problems.

Don't change the direction of your case fans.
What ambient temp? The ambient temp shown by RivaTuner is the temperature sensed by a sensor on the video card printed circuit board.

It depends. If the capacitor does not allow the sink to make a good contact with the GPU, your GPU temperature will not go as low as it could since it cannot transfer as much heat to the sink.

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: dsj
Since the video card is sucking out air should I turn around all of my 3 casefans to suck in air? And what is the ambient temp? Is that the case temp? And is the problem with the capicator heatsink really a problem? The guys from your nvnews link didn't say that they have caused any problems.

Ambient temp is the temp of air in your case. Anyway, i recommend 2 fans in and 1 fan out. just mke sure the highest flow fan is exhausting.

 

[dsj]

And the heatsink on the video card is ok to touch the fancase right? And I played dawn of war for half an hour and quit and immediately checked the temp and it was 59 degrees for the GPU.

 

[dsj]

And you said that the fans will die after a year. How long will this one last? What about the thermal paste? Do i have to replace that every half a year?

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: dsj
And you said that the fans will die after a year. How long will this one last? What about the thermal paste? Do i have to replace that every half a year?

no. silicone thermal paste does not seperate or degrade like some silver pastes do.

not all fans will not die after a year, its really just wear and tear. It's like a engine no way to tell but the NV silencer 5 has Ceramic bearings so it should last quite a while.

good temp. you must have great airflow.

 

[dsj]

So for better airflow I need to close the case right?

 

[mwmorph]

yes. open sides mess up aorflow.

 

[dsj]

I have 3 fans. right now I have one on the back and 2 in the front. But the ones in the front are blocked by the front cover of the case. Is that still ok? And which way should the fans blow? And should I rearrange them?

 

[mwmorph]

front blows in. back blosw out.

 

[dsj]

But the front one is blocked by the front cover. Is that still ok? And right now I have the back one blowing in. I should switch it right?

 

[dsj]

I need some help here. I can't tell which one is blowing in and out. There are wind currents on both side of the fan. I can't distinctively tell which one is stronger.

 

[w00t]

Originally posted by: mwmorph
front blows in. back blosw out.

nub way of saying it but right.

front intake back exhaust.

 

[w00t]

Originally posted by: dsj
I need some help here. I can't tell which one is blowing in and out. There are wind currents on both side of the fan. I can't distinctively tell which one is stronger.

look for an arrow on side of fan that is the way its blowing if you can find one than the place with the guard on fan is blowing.