Brown stuff around GPU Die?! GTX 1070 MXM CLEVO

The gpu was reaching 90c in heaven benchmark without no issues or freezes but decided to change to thermal paste as it hadn’t been changed since it’s been bought from pc specialist but I only had the cheap thermal paste called hy510 so I went ahead with it but noticed a issue after I changed the thermal paste the gpu would reach around 60c to 70 maybe even 80c in seconds then crash the benchmark or freeze at a black screen then resume to the benchmark with lower temps then it would repeat with the same issue. But now I tried to change thermal paste to grizzly thermal paste that I ordered but notice something brown around the gpu die which makes me suspect that this gpu is dying slowly but I think it was the hy510 that killed it because before I changed the paste it would only reach 90c without no issues.

 

Looks like its around the whole of the GPU die?

 

Have you cleaned the die and area with alcohol? Does the residue wipe away?

I have seen, mostly of copper heatsinks, some amount of tarnish build-up. Especially if the thermal paste you are using is evaporative, you may get tarnish or staining depending on the metal/surface.

90C is not typical of GPU and nearing failure point. NVidia set some GTX cards to 94C failure temp. The black screen is most likely overheating, 90C is quite hot for a GPU. Additionally, VRM overheating commonly manifests in random screen blackouts. I'd say it's a safe bet if the GPU die is at 90C everything else is toasty as well.

 

This are burn marks from seriously overheated gpu. Gpu is not making good contact with cooling. Try to use better paste, undervolt, change thermal pads for better connection. For checking thickness for thermalpads you can use plasticine.

 

It's standard glue, used by manufacturers to mechanically support die on contact plate. However it should be gray - like Aerokski said, the brown glue indicates serious overheating, or card after BGA repair (I currently own GTX970M with the same color of glue, which had GPU chip replaced two times).

 

Based on my own personal experience how many times I have torn apart laptops delidding and die sanding... and tried custom IHS blocks and exotic cooling from china. (if the card is good) I 100% guarantee its one of the following or combo of both.

• Improperly applied TM: not enough paste, or not clean enough surface
  • With TGC you must (IMHO) paste both the die and the heat sink with the lightest coat of material. As if you ONLY paste the die. the LM TM will not work itself into the copper heatsink nor make "good" contact. If you only do the die and try it you will get horrible temps. open it up and you will notice it has not fully adhered to the copper HS.
  • Not clean enough. It took me 30 minutes to TRULY clean both the GPU and the heatsink. That old material gets extremely hard and caked in the micro imperfections. I will typically, clean as well as i can with 90+% isopropyl alcohol. switching between a terry cloth and new flat plastic wedge about 3/8" wide to scrap the old TM off. I use plastic so I can't scratch the Copper. then I will use a very small cube of wood with a piece of sticky velcro on it and a cut piece of 6,000 (six-thousand) grit wet sandpaper (usually used to remove runs in the clear coat of automotive paint) to further clean and hone the surface, both to remove the old crap and to remove imperfections in the manufacturing process and from extended heat stress) Then i will sand for about 15 seconds. clean it, rinse the sand paper in alcohol to remove the dust and repeat.

• If you choose to go "full on" like this. just remember do NOT press hard. (no harder then washing a newborns eyelids) let the tool do the work. it is mind numbingly time consuming but worth it) and try your best to not cross center every stroke. the goal is as close to true flat as possible.

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• Inconsistent mounting pressure (which is very easy to do in a laptop as the large cooling solutions can bow over time due to extreme temp fluctuations). or something as simple as a wire ran the wrong way putting a slight amount of upward pressure on the heatsink...keeping the die from sitting flush
  • Make sure when you put the heatsink back on. Take your time and put it exactly where it should sit.
  • You do not want to move it. "help" it out in any way by putting pressure on it. As That only squished the TM out of the sides and creates a tiny air gap when you stop pressing down.
  • Use the same pattern as the lug nuts on a car when tightening the screws (some laptops don't have them marked ideally. the goal is complete die contact. A circle pattern will over torque one side and cause an air gap and squeeze the tm out the opposite side.

Note about the Glue. You should be ok as long as its not cracked, peeling or malformed, Like other said, the glue is there to support the die, but ALSO (on some chips, ie. maybe not this specific one...but) to protect the solder and pins from dust, debris (esp useful with Liquid Metal paste)

 

The stuff around the core is underfil to protect the die from moving.