Best $3 I've ever spent

M

MetalX

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Oct 6, 2003
Messages
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Ever since I bought my 4850 back in October it has always bothered me how loud it was. So I saw this thread about Shin-Etsu G-751 thermal compound for $3: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1409734

I just removed my reference cooler and applied this to the core after removing all the factory nonsense. Before my GPU would idle at 85+ C with the fan at 33%! Now it idles at 70C with the fan at 0%. Running Furmark for 5 minutes the fan only spins to 66% when before it would run at 100% (although it was stable, never had any stability issues with this card).

So like I said, best $3 and 5 mins I've ever spent. My card is a Diamond and my brother has a Visiontek 4850 with the same reference heat sink and his also idles at 85C with fan at 33% so I'm going to apply it to his this weekend.
 
Thats a good idea man... I'm always afraid to mess with "whats working" because complications come up, but this gives me confidence...

Now if I only had more time...
 
Ordering some of that stuff now to try out on my HD 4890. Thanks for the idea!
 
somewhat sceptical here...
I know that the compounds and TIM stuff that comes from the factory isn't as good as some of the aftermarket products, but a drop in temps with no fans????
 
VolvoR said:
somewhat sceptical here...
I know that the compounds and TIM stuff that comes from the factory isn't as good as some of the aftermarket products, but a drop in temps with no fans????
Click to expand...

I think it's less the quality of what TIM he used and more likely than not that the factory application of TIM (and seating of the hs&f) was subpar. I would bet had he reapplied the same time (stir it with a toothpick) that was provided by the factory, and did a PROPER job of seating the hsf he would have seen similar results.

Of course..
If you're taking the hsf off.. it's probably best to clean it and put new goop on.
 
I wouldn't be surprised at all from those temp drops on a simple thermal compound replacement on a vid card with stock cooling.

I also did the same on my ASUS 4850 with non-reference cooling. The stock stuff was applied so poorly that there were visible air pockets where the thermal compound had never filled in... and the application was way too thick.

Used some AS5, and it did drop my temps on my vid card like 5c idle and about 10c load when overclocked. And this is with a vid card where the fan control doesn't work.. and hasn't ever worked.
 
VolvoR said:
somewhat sceptical here...
I know that the compounds and TIM stuff that comes from the factory isn't as good as some of the aftermarket products, but a drop in temps with no fans????
Click to expand...

I have to agree with you here. Sounds like a quality control issue where the TIM was incorrectly applied from the factory. I bet if he bought another card from a different or same manufacturer his results would have been different after applying that new TIM.

Any TIM is not going to account for a 15C drop. I have tried about every Artic Silver, Antec Silver, regular paste and the difference is maybe 2-3 C.
 
VolvoR said:
somewhat sceptical here...
I know that the compounds and TIM stuff that comes from the factory isn't as good as some of the aftermarket products, but a drop in temps with no fans????
Click to expand...

It could be one of those TIM pads that are too thick and conduct like garbage to the point that they actually keep some heat in as opposed to conduct it to the HSF. We've all seen enough of those around.

Think about the advice you give somebody about TIM application "it should be so thin that you can almost see through it" and then look at the 1/8" of Silly Putty that some companies use. If that's the scenario it makes perfect sense to me.

PS-Since I only turn on my gaming PC for....gaming and since I game with headphones on, RivaTuner cranks my dual 9600GT's at 100% and keeps temps in the 60's under load. (Proposing an alternative for those who don't want to pull out their cards).
 
superkdogg said:
It could be one of those TIM pads that are too thick and conduct like garbage to the point that they actually keep some heat in as opposed to conduct it to the HSF. We've all seen enough of those around.

Think about the advice you give somebody about TIM application "it should be so thin that you can almost see through it" and then look at the 1/8" of Silly Putty that some companies use. If that's the scenario it makes perfect sense to me.

PS-Since I only turn on my gaming PC for....gaming and since I game with headphones on, RivaTuner cranks my dual 9600GT's at 100% and keeps temps in the 60's under load. (Proposing an alternative for those who don't want to pull out their cards).
Click to expand...

Why not let them self manage and run at 80-90C? They are designed to run that hot and are within safe operating limits. Running them at 100 percent all the time is just asking for an earlier fan failure, but then again fans are cheap.

Just seems like a lot of unwanted noise.
 
Yeah I didn't want to give the impression it was all the compound, most of the improvement is mostly likely poor contact from the factory as mentioned above along with a better compound for an added boost.
 
Besides from that compound, does any one know a good compound to replace these anoying fuzzy hair ball pads ??? I am looking for the rubber like compound to replace the hairFuzz things.

-Pearl
 
roaf85 said:
Why not let them self manage and run at 80-90C? They are designed to run that hot and are within safe operating limits. Running them at 100 percent all the time is just asking for an earlier fan failure, but then again fans are cheap.

Just seems like a lot of unwanted noise.
Click to expand...

Just different strokes I guess. Yeah, the fans will wear out sooner, but if they wear out before the video cards are outdated I'll be mad either way. The fan on my Geforce3 still works....

As for the noise, I play with headphones on.

If a different person lets their things run hot because it doesn't hurt them to do that, that's fine too.

I guess I'm kinda like an old man who used to drive a diesel and still doesn't want to see the RPM's over 3k even though my new car is a 4-cyl.
 
That's a good idea to check the thermal compound on the GPU....I think I'll have to check the desktop vid card and see if I can make it run a little cooler with some AS5 I have......:D
 
sweet thanks for the heads up I am going to have to try this on my evga 260s
 
well my cpu dropped a good amount but i think it was because before i applied too much paste
 
LOL i just did the same exact thing yesterday. Saw my Shin Etsu sitting around I decided I would apply this to my 4870. I was actually pretty impressed with the factory installation... it wasn't bad but there was a little too much. I applied the Shin Etsu and noticed a good 3-4c drop in both idle and load.

Its pretty good stuff. Can't wait to use it on my CPU (waiting till my new PSU comes).
 
Took apart my HD 4890...was pleasantly suprised to see a very nice thin near perfect application of factory tim both on the die and heatsink.

Cleaned it all of and tried to apply Shin-Etsu X23-7783D which I already warmed up in a cup of boiling water. Tried to make a nice thin spread 2-3 times but it wasnt go. So I just threw the syringe with ShinE into the microwave for 15 secs. Worked pretty good, I could get a nice thing spread all over the die right away.

Put everything back together, booted up and did a couple of furmark runs to get the ShinE cured.
So far I've got a noticeable 3-4C drop in idle and gaming temps.
 
Thats awesome if you don't care about your warranty. I have yet to find a company that lets you mod your card and still have a warranty.....yet I don't know xfx ati warranty policy, anyone?
 
bandit390 said:
Thats awesome if you don't care about your warranty. I have yet to find a company that lets you mod your card and still have a warranty.....yet I don't know xfx ati warranty policy, anyone?
Click to expand...

Replacing the TIM is modding the card?
 
Well, I tend to be pessimistic when its me vs big company. I see them looking for any reason to deny your claim to save them money. Maybe even denying a claim because of a sticker on the card...?

Example of sapphire...



Product Warranty will not be valid even if returned after purchased for the following cases:

Products that are defaced or physically damaged and modified by customer.

Products that become non-functional due to customer improper use.

Products that cannot be verified as Sapphire products.

Products that do not have a matching serial number between the product and the original receipt.

Products not sold from our official distributors or resellers.


P.S. I'm talking more about ati partners(xfx might be different?)
 
DeadSkull said:
Tried to make a nice thin spread 2-3 times but it wasnt go. So I just threw the syringe with ShinE into the microwave for 15 secs. Worked pretty good, I could get a nice thing spread all over the die right away.
Click to expand...
Is it safe to do that? :eek: Shin Etsu is really thick I also tried the boiling water trick to try to soften it up and also still had trouble spreading it. I'm afraid if I try the microwave it might cook it lol.
 
RADEoN said:
I'm curious how this thread has nearly 1600 views...
Click to expand...

1600 people thought that maybe there was a deal on a video card for $3.00. that is what I was thinking when I came in here, and as I was clicking the link I was thinking about fan coolers too.
 
I think it depends on your MFG. Some MFGs, like XFX actually send you HSFs to replace on your own.
 
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