That gpu heat spreader that everyone wanted...

Here it is on eBay. The dual ram bank heat spreader. I remember a few were looking for this one as our comes with only a single ram bank heat spreader.

Not sure if it helps with heat performance but I thought I'd share it.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alienware-N...nk-Spreader-680M-580M-Left-Side-/151054425650
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Thanks for the link. I have been waiting for the price to come down from that vendor for a good while and it does not appear that is going to happen. These did, in fact, make a minor improvement on GTX 580M cooling. They are intended for the left side GPU because the fan on the right side GPU is closer to the memory bank that is parallel to the PCI-e connection than the left side. They work on both left and right GPUs.

I do not understand why they are no longer available from Dell. They are clearly superior to the AMD brackets with no heat spreader and better than the NVIDIA brackets with only one. I have tried to purchase them from Alienware more than once. They apparently have no valid part number and it appears you may have to buy a GTX 580M GPU kit for the left side (GPU, bracket and heat sink) to get it.

I just grabbed a couple of them. I figured now that you posted this thread I had better hurry up and grab at least two before they are gone forever and stop waiting for the price to drop.

If you buy these, put some scotch tape on the adhesive gasket to prevent it from adhering to the GPU. That way you can remove it easily later on without bending it up so badly. You only need a little bit of tackiness around the screw holes to hold the bracket in place while you install the heat sink screws. There is no need for the entire bracket to be stuck tightly on the rest of the PCB. If it were new, you could leave the paper on the gasket. I have done this before and it makes removal a cinch.

 

Yeah I thought of you when I saw the listing. I remember you telling me you couldn't find it. Think there will be a marked improvement on temps for the 680s?

I wonder why they don't have these on the cards anymore from factory. To deal with it, I put a 1mm thermal pad on the ram chips on the back which are not covered by the heat spreader. I dont know if it has helped my temps or not, but I would think it would. Only difference is there isn't a metal plate covering it. But I could be wrong

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It should make a minor improvement. Having one more path for heat to be wicked away should be a good thing.

I am not sure that simply placing a thermal pad on top of the memory is helpful or not. If it is insulating the memory chips without a place to send the heat it may actually do the opposite of what you want.

 

when its covered with that heat spreader where is it channeled? all the way up to the heat sink? I don't see how it can channel the heat from down there, up through the screw holes and to the heat sink. How exactly does it work?

 

I think any changes in heat may be due to different applications of the heatsink rather than covering the memory with a small strip of metal. Nothing stopping you from using thermal tape to do the same if you like.

 

Sure it can. If all of the metal is securely connected through the screws it will wick away heat. If you set a pot on the stove and lay a metal ladle across the top of the pot will get hot from simple contact... same principle here. Heat will travel anywhere it has a path, much like electricity. To what extent it is effective is anyone's guess, but a little is better than none. If laying a pad across the memory saturates the pad with heat, creates an insulating effect and leaves it with no path of escape it's also anyone's guess whether that would be more effective than leaving the memory chips expose to air. I doubt either one is going to be a life-changing event if the modules never get hot enough to cause malfunction or damage.

 

I removed the pads to see how performance was. I was a greater swing between the two cards temps. Card 1 77c card 2 72c. 200/550 over clock stock voltage. The previous high was 77 with the pads on the bottom. Seems to have made card 2 cooler but not card 1.weird.

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