Thermal paste

[Zyte]

So i recently noticed my graphics card is running a little hotter than it should (84C ) So im planning on re-applying thermal paste to it to see if it will resolve the problem.

Problem i have reached is i cant remember for the life of me what to use to remove the old paste from the GPU.

Thanks in advance.

[moogle]

what graphics card is that? and i think most graphics cards use thermal pads, although the paste is used on the GPU most of the time.

[Max Tractor]

TIM cleaner or iso alcohol

I would also clean the dust from the cards hsf

[Zyte]

Its a 9800XT with an arctic cooler.
Ive got a can of compressed air to clean out the HSF so thats no problem.
I think i may have used surgical spirit last time but im not sure -.-

[moogle]

wow thats hot, tim cleaner is the thing to use and alcohol. although i prefer to use the tim cleaner. its only a fiver for a akasa one.

[vinnyT]

This stuff, Akasa TIM-Clean CPU and Heat Sink (Pad/Grease) Cleaning Solution, is what I use, it lasts for ages, and is only £3.75 (plus p&p) - http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=130264

[moogle]

there u go, under a fiver now and yea it lasts long when i bought it, it was £5 and that was 4 years ago , still like half of it left.

[Pob255]

I just want to point out Zak33's post from here

I use Gin. Always have.

If the thermal goo that's on there is really sticky & thick, use a bit of flat plastic to scrape most of it off before trying to clean it perfectly.
I use the edge of a tupperware lid, or a toothbrush handle...anything plastic and not harder than the cpu core.

I'll add, that many stock HS&F's use thermal cement not paste, to form a hard solid bridge between chip and HS
The Arctic coolers come with a tube of paste if I remember correctly.
So scarpe off any excess with soft plastic or a bit of card (rail ticket cards work well for this) then use some clean* alcohol and cotten bud to clean off remaining.

*You want a neat, non-sugar spirit, eg gin

[moogle]

thermal cement

thermal cement? damn must be rock solid stuff that
dont you mean thermal epoxy? thats the usual stuff that never comes off, usually on ramsinks and such.

[Zyte]

right just completed the task and its now running at 62, still a bit hot but nothing dangerous. the fact my room acts like a greenhouse most of the time doesnt help, but bleh nothing i can do about it.

[Davion]

If you have a 9800XT with reference cooler the temperature of 84C is nothing to worry about, during summer mine got around 90C for hours every day and it worked perfectly when i sold it so that's normal, R360 where HOT cores!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I bought the TIM Cleaner for under 4 quid at my local PC World if I remember right!! Perhaps it maybe a good idea to check your local store if it is nearby??

[Pob255]

thermal cement? damn must be rock solid stuff that
dont you mean thermal epoxy? thats the usual stuff that never comes off, usually on ramsinks and such.

That's the stuff I ment, I've also heard it refured to as thermal cement as the stuff sets hard.

I've come across it is a few differnt laptops now, on the cpu heatsink, it's useally yellow and a utter bugger to get off.
I've found a bit of Foamclene (made by Automation Facilities) sprayed on and left for 20min sofens it slightly and makes it slightly easier to scrape off, but it's still evil stuff to shift.

[therover]

It is not a good idea to spray Foamclene onto a graphics card or any other electrical circuit. It does not evaporate like an alcohol based cleaner or tim clean and can cause serious damage to your graphics card.

It is also not good to use Gin or any other alcohic drink. These contain sugar which is corrosive. In the short term you may not notice any side effects but give it a few months.

A better idea is to let your PC run hot and drink the Gin :-)

[Pob255]

Umm perhapse I didn't make myself clear there, I use the foamclene to soften the stuff, then scrape it off, then clean with alcohol to remove residue from foamclene.
Bit of a long winded process but I found alcohol has absolutly no effect on that yellow gunk and without softening the only way to shift it is to chissle it off with a screwdriver.

As to gin containing sugar . . .

[daveham]

visit your local chemist and ask for some isopropyl alcohol.

Costs me £1.50 for a huge bottle