WTF: 6600GT at 94C

[deepred98]

i just put in a soundcard and tvtuner underneath my vid card and now it has gone from ~80C under load to ~90C

i have a micro-ATX mobo but a big case so i was thinking about getting more fans or something, ut then i looked on my mobo and i can't find any more fan power things.
also i probably can't fit a vid card cooler without it touching my tv tuner

i guess i could remove the tv tuner cuz i rarely use it but 'd rather not, and it still runs at 80-82C underload before i added any pci cards

you guys have any ideas?

oh yeah and is around 80 under load and high 50s idle bad for the card?

 

[v8envy]

90c is awful for your card. Every 10C temperature increase halves the expected life span of the silicon. I'm going to pull numbers out of my butt, and guess NVidia designed these bad boys to last about 10000 hours at 60C. You're looking at a likely lifespan of 1200 hours at 90C. If not less.

Time to strap a walmart 20" box fan to your case, or figure out why your heatsink is acting like an insulator. Your choice.

 

[secretanchitman]

can you move your other pci cards further down? maybe that will drop the temps a little.

or just put a silencer or zalman cooler on your 6600GT. that'll lower it for sure.

 

[ottothecow]

How is the rest of the airflow in the case?

 

[lifeguard1999]

6600GTs heatsinks do not make very good contact. That is likely the reason for your high temps. I reseated my heaksink on my 6600GT and temps dropped from the 90s to the 60s when under load.

 

[deepred98]

Originally posted by: lifeguard1999
6600GTs heatsinks do not make very good contact. That is likely the reason for your high temps. I reseated my heaksink on my 6600GT and temps dropped from the 90s to the 60s when under load.

how do you reseal it?
i looked at it the other day and the heatsink is secured with little plastic things not screws so i couldn't tighten them that way

also i've decided to take out one of the pci cards (tv tuner) but i really want it to hit about 70C at full load not 80-90C

 

[zagood]

Originally posted by: deepred98

how do you reseal it?
i looked at it the other day and the heatsink is secured with little plastic things not screws so i couldn't tighten them that way

also i've decided to take out one of the pci cards (tv tuner) but i really want it to hit about 70C at full load not 80-90C

Most 6600GT heatsinks are mounted with plastic pins with arrow shaped -> ends that hold them onto the PCB. Squeeze the arrow parts together and push through. They may require a little pressure but don't force them, you could break them. Also do it against your other hand or the wall 'cause they can really jump out of there.

Remove heatsink, clean off existing thermal grease or pad, apply new thermal paste and re-attach.

Regardless of that, if you've got the cash you should pick up a full ATX motherboard. More PCI slots, fan plugs, etc.

If you don't have the cash, a lot of fans these days come with 4-pin connectors so you can plug them directly into your power supply.

-z

 

[deepred98]

Originally posted by: zagood

Originally posted by: deepred98

how do you reseal it?
i looked at it the other day and the heatsink is secured with little plastic things not screws so i couldn't tighten them that way

also i've decided to take out one of the pci cards (tv tuner) but i really want it to hit about 70C at full load not 80-90C

Most 6600GT heatsinks are mounted with plastic pins with arrow shaped -> ends that hold them onto the PCB. Squeeze the arrow parts together and push through. They may require a little pressure but don't force them, you could break them. Also do it against your other hand or the wall 'cause they can really jump out of there.

Remove heatsink, clean off existing thermal grease or pad, apply new thermal paste and re-attach.

Regardless of that, if you've got the cash you should pick up a full ATX motherboard. More PCI slots, fan plugs, etc.

If you don't have the cash, a lot of fans these days come with 4-pin connectors so you can plug them directly into your power supply.

-z

they sell thermal paste at best buy or fry's right?
a pad?
is there any way i can just make the heatsink clamp on tighter or something cuz i don't want to drive all the way to frys for some paste

 

[deepred98]

Originally posted by: deepred98

Originally posted by: zagood

Originally posted by: deepred98

how do you reseal it?
i looked at it the other day and the heatsink is secured with little plastic things not screws so i couldn't tighten them that way

also i've decided to take out one of the pci cards (tv tuner) but i really want it to hit about 70C at full load not 80-90C

Most 6600GT heatsinks are mounted with plastic pins with arrow shaped -> ends that hold them onto the PCB. Squeeze the arrow parts together and push through. They may require a little pressure but don't force them, you could break them. Also do it against your other hand or the wall 'cause they can really jump out of there.

Remove heatsink, clean off existing thermal grease or pad, apply new thermal paste and re-attach.

Regardless of that, if you've got the cash you should pick up a full ATX motherboard. More PCI slots, fan plugs, etc.

If you don't have the cash, a lot of fans these days come with 4-pin connectors so you can plug them directly into your power supply.

-z

they sell thermal paste at best buy or fry's right?
a pad?
is there any way i can just make the heatsink clamp on tighter or something cuz i don't want to drive all the way to frys for some paste

yeah i'm not going to get a new mobo cuz i'm probably just going to build a new rig before i head off to colledge or get a super-sweet laptop

EDIT: wtf i was trying to edit my previous message srry

 

[zagood]

Originally posted by: deepred98
they sell thermal paste at best buy or fry's right?
a pad?
is there any way i can just make the heatsink clamp on tighter or something cuz i don't want to drive all the way to frys for some paste

You can't make it "tighter" since they're plastic plugs that hold it on, but sometimes they're not even, hence the suggestion to take it off and put it back on (reseat).

If you want to try, you can reseat it with the same thermal grease that's already on there. Do it immediately though, it dries up really quickly. Never really a good idea because when you take it off it's going to move it around, and without any new grease you can't fill in any spaces that might have lost grease.

I'd highly recommend you pick some new grease up. Fry's, Radio Shack, CompUsa, sometimes BB and Circuit City. Don't worry too much on the brand, Ceramique is great for video cards though. Make sure you clean off the old grease first, don't go mixing. 99% rubbing alcohol works very well.

Some companies (very few on VGAs) use thermal "pads", basically an extremely thin pad with sticky surfaces on each side, instead of grease. If you find that the heatsink is a little stuck on and when you remove it you see black, tacky gunk, that's the remnants of a thermal pad. Much harder to clean. Scrape with plastic and finish off with rubbing alcohol. You may need to heat it with a hair dryer.

-z

 

[deepred98]

Originally posted by: zagood

Originally posted by: deepred98
they sell thermal paste at best buy or fry's right?
a pad?
is there any way i can just make the heatsink clamp on tighter or something cuz i don't want to drive all the way to frys for some paste

You can't make it "tighter" since they're plastic plugs that hold it on, but sometimes they're not even, hence the suggestion to take it off and put it back on (reseat).

If you want to try, you can reseat it with the same thermal grease that's already on there. Do it immediately though, it dries up really quickly. Never really a good idea because when you take it off it's going to move it around, and without any new grease you can't fill in any spaces that might have lost grease.

I'd highly recommend you pick some new grease up. Fry's, Radio Shack, CompUsa, sometimes BB and Circuit City. Don't worry too much on the brand, Ceramique is great for video cards though. Make sure you clean off the old grease first, don't go mixing. 99% rubbing alcohol works very well.

Some companies (very few on VGAs) use thermal "pads", basically an extremely thin pad with sticky surfaces on each side, instead of grease. If you find that the heatsink is a little stuck on and when you remove it you see black, tacky gunk, that's the remnants of a thermal pad. Much harder to clean. Scrape with plastic and finish off with rubbing alcohol. You may need to heat it with a hair dryer.

-z

holy fvck i hope i don't have a pad then cuz i'd be too lazy to do all that work

ill probably try just "reseating" it then once i have some time (AP World History is a b!tch) i'll probably get some paste

but you guys are sure that there is absolutely no way i can just make the heatsink tighter?

thanks guys

 

[zagood]

Pretty doubtful you've got a pad, I was just throwing that in there to get you ready for worst case scenario.

Don't worry about making it tighter. Those pins have little springs on them so you can't get them tighter than they need to be. That's for a reason...you can actually crush the chip. I've heard horror stories of people applying aftermarket heatsinks, not reading the directions and using tools to tighten the screws, then they hear a "CRUNCH!" sound.

All that being said, just reaseating the heatsink MAY give you a big temperature difference, but you're really going to need to keep your case cooler. Pick up some 4-pin fans while you're picking up the thermal grease, that'll help the most.

-z

EDIT: Also good for your situation if the ones you want are 3-pin:
http://shop3.outpost.com/product/3416413

 

[deepred98]

thanks guys for the help

but i got my computer taken away because i had bad grades :| (stupid french class)

i'll prob get it back next week then i'll try reseating it

yeah and thanks zngood for the headsup on not tightening the heatsink you probably saved my card

 

[potato28]

Originally posted by: zagood

Originally posted by: deepred98
they sell thermal paste at best buy or fry's right?
a pad?
is there any way i can just make the heatsink clamp on tighter or something cuz i don't want to drive all the way to frys for some paste

You can't make it "tighter" since they're plastic plugs that hold it on, but sometimes they're not even, hence the suggestion to take it off and put it back on (reseat).

If you want to try, you can reseat it with the same thermal grease that's already on there. Do it immediately though, it dries up really quickly. Never really a good idea because when you take it off it's going to move it around, and without any new grease you can't fill in any spaces that might have lost grease.

I'd highly recommend you pick some new grease up. Fry's, Radio Shack, CompUsa, sometimes BB and Circuit City. Don't worry too much on the brand, Ceramique is great for video cards though. Make sure you clean off the old grease first, don't go mixing. 99% rubbing alcohol works very well.

Some companies (very few on VGAs) use thermal "pads", basically an extremely thin pad with sticky surfaces on each side, instead of grease. If you find that the heatsink is a little stuck on and when you remove it you see black, tacky gunk, that's the remnants of a thermal pad. Much harder to clean. Scrape with plastic and finish off with rubbing alcohol. You may need to heat it with a hair dryer.

-z

Acctutally, theres a way to make more pressure on the cooler. Find the nut size, and place the nuts over the springs on the heatsink. I rememeber trying this a few days ago... couldn't find right size nuts, but I saw it somewheres before. Can't remember the link, but it decreased the load temperature from 85C to somewheres in the llow 70's to high 60's. Another good question is which 6600GT do u have? Reason being is that XFX had a card that oced like a mad pig. Try this later once u get ur pc back.