Thermal Paste on GPU

I had a video card go bad the one in my master slot go figure, and i had to switch out my cards thus having to remove the heatsink, and my temps seem to be too high right now. Ill be getting some new paste when i get my new card shipped from my reseller.

Im wondering the best way to re-paste a card, all the way from what i use to clean the old paste off, what type of material (cotton ball and rubbing alcohol?) and application method

For application another member here told me to put a thin line down the middle of the card which seems reasonable to me, is this considered best? and do i want to go edge to edge when putting this line?

Also is there any pictures anyone has of the 6990 and exactly what area the paste needs to cover?

From what i understand i shouldnt really remove the heatsink once i have the paste pressed onto it correct? so theres no real way to see if you covered the area necessary once youve applied the heatsink?

[update] Ran SWTOR with my cooler on max, and my temps after only about 20-25 minutes (if that maybe even 15) reached:

GPU: 90C
CPU: 2 cores 70, 2 cores, 71, package 72

The GPU temp seems worrisome especially since SWTOR isnt exactly a graphically intensive game, should i purchase some paste and repaste sooner than later? im guessing i wont get the paste from Malibal until i get the card which will be weeks and im not entirely sure these temps are really acceptable, i dont dare load MW3 or Witcher 2 with these temps on swtor

Given those temps should i also consider repasting CPU or are those good enough temps there?

 

1. definitely no on the cotton ball, you'd want a lint free material (coffee filter, micro fibre cloth).

2. 90-99% alcohol so it dries up faster, 70% is fine but you just wait a little longer for it to dry.

3. technically you'd want to cover the whole chip but not to the point that it goes over, also the type of pasting done depends on the paste you'll use like for ICD 7 pea size on the middle of the die is suggested over the line method.

4. AS 5 before I use the credit card method, PK - 1 recently I used again the pea size method.

5. after you put the paste in the die let the weight of the heatsink and screws push and spread the paste, don't push the heatsink down because once it recoils or bounces up you'll get air packets in between the die and heatsink.

6. the temps on the cpu looks fine, I'd be worried if those reached 90+

 

for ICD7 is it just a very small pea size like a droplet amount adequate?

 

Small pea size is good, check out this page for full Application instructions

 

i think im going to get a tube or Dynex Silver thermal compound from my work (BB) and use it temporarily untill i get the tube in from my reseller, any tips on how to apply this?

 

your above replies should have the answers you seek.

 

just applied it, my idle temp right at startup doesnt seem to be any lower, not sure if this paste in particular requires time to cure or not but we'll see

 

seems like i hit 90 degrees faster now...i dont get it my temps before i had the issue with the other video card never broke 50 on swtor, does anyone else play this and can give me their load temps while playing?

90 degrees with my u3 full blast

 

I hit about 82c on BF3 using PK-1, If you're hitting 90 on swtor then you're running hot. I suggest using 3d mark vantage to create a controlled measurement between pastes.

there are a lot of factors to consider when pasting.
1. make sure you only used enough to fill the gaps between the heatsink and die, not to create a full layer between them.
2. make sure you screwed the heatsink down properlyto the point that there's pressure from the heatsink to the die (no gaps in between, although other users here has confirmed having a 2mm gap is ok while using ICD 7)

3. once the paste has been applied and was spread out by the heatsink, don't remove or twist the heatsink. this will create air bubbles and you'd need to clean off the paste and repaste again.

 

ya im aware of all those things, i just think maybe this paste is terrible, im gonna see if i can return it and purchase some Arctic tomorrow from radio shack

Below is an image of the last paste job, i just tried redoing it again, i used a bit more paste this time and tried to tighten the screws as much as i could im afraid of stripping them though that would be very very bad if i cant get them out at some points. The coverage on this paste job that im putting a picture up seemed like it should have been adequate, there was very little overflow except the paste does seem rather...liquidy as i can see the majority of the die on the GPU, does it seem like i used a proper amount or no? so i know when i get the arctic silver tomorrow. now as im typing this my GPU temp is 58, is that too high?

 

It really depends on the paste, ICD 7 is more "forgiving" in terms of too little/too much, I'm really not familiar with the particular brand you're using. but AS/ICD 7/ Prolimatech pk1/ Shin etsu you can't go wrong as those are used and reviewed very well.

from your pic it looks like the right amount, if your gpu temp on idle is 58c and ambient temp is below 30c then that's still a bit hot imo. (leaves less room when gaming befoe hitting 90c)

take note some tims like AS5 has curing time (50-200 hours) before it hits it's most optimal temp while AS MX4 doesn't same with ICD 7, not sure if Dynex is the same (quick google search didn't show any results.)


edit:
http://www.dynexproducts.com/products/computer-accessories/DX-STC1001.html

read some of the reviews, kinda scary that people report it tends to leak as well.

 

right thats part of why i wanted to find some IC Diamond locally but its just simply not possible one place sells thermal take something or other for 19 bucks which is just absurd, my radio shack has IC Diamond for like 13 i think ill just go pick some of that up after school today

Also Dynex is a company branded product by best buy, i did find a few good reviews but theres always the chance they changed suppliers too since the last time someone posted a review

 

I repasted with AS5 not too long ago, it seemed to help a decent amount i only got to play swtor for about 10 mins roughly. My Max temp was 86 but it seemed to hover around 80ish.

My room is 80ish Fahrenheit right now. Is there a program that will monitor temp but also keep a log of how long it stay at each degree or give a line graph or something of the sorts?

would these temp numbers be considered acceptable or am i still running hot?

 

86c on load I'd say is good enough specially if you're hovering on 80's.
for logging temps you could use Real Temp from techpowerup.

 

just played mass Effect 3 for about 30-45 mins and i dont think my temp even broke 80, so im satisfied now, thanks for all the replies everyone

will realtemp record temp on both CPU cores and GPU? also will it record loads? if not know anything that will? even if its paid

My idle temps still seem a tad high, sitting at 57 degrees right now, im not sure how to correct this :-/

Repping you Geekz for all the advice and the software advice

 

not sure on loads, but definitely cpu and gpu temps

glad you got your heating issues fixed

 

any clue why my idle temps wouldnt have reduced? perhaps fan settings in bios?

I ran 3dmark vantage and it says max was i believe 86 which still seems a tad high for my taste

I gotta learn how to use this realtemp too lol

 

86C is fine, and definitely nothing to worry about. As long as you're staying under 90C, then everything's good