GFX Ram Chips - Cleaning Super Glue and reseating.

[stormy]

Hi,

At the moment I have an Accelero S1 which I have taken off my Radeon X1900XT because it gets pretty hot without some additional cooling and the only fans I have are noisy Panaflo ones.

I am going to buy a Turbo Module for it:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=627856

But while waiting for stock I have put the retail HIS cooler back on although it doesn't seem to perform as well as it did. (ie I seem to get some artifacts in 3DMark 2006).

Anyway when putting the S1 on the RAM sinks had crappy adhesive on them which didn't really work so I used super glue (dabs in the corners of each chip) as a temporary measure.

So when I come to put the S1 back on with the RAM sinks would using something like

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=635996 Work ok?

Also, I have some Akasa TIM cleaner but it doesn't seem to remove the super glue residue. Is there something I can do to remove the super glue first which wont damage the ram chips?

Thanks,

Mike

[Fraz]

Also, I have some Akasa TIM cleaner but it doesn't seem to remove the super glue residue. Is there something I can do to remove the super glue first which wont damage the ram chips?

Acetone is the solvent you need, but I have no idea what affect it'll have on the IC package of the RAM...

Easiest way to get hold of some acetone is to buy some nail polish remover. Prob best to test what affect it has on some chips on some junk/old bits of electronics first though...

[stormy]

Thanks Fraz, I did think about that or cellulose thinners but not sure if it will as you say affect the IC.

Any one tried nail polish remover or such?

ta,

Mike

[peterb]

Some nail varnish removers do not contain acetone - those that do may contain impurities.

http://www.mistralni.co.uk/products.php?type=solvent has acetone for sale in small quantities. Use it very sparingly and apply it with a cotton bud.

By the way, I suspect superglue has lousy thermal properties, better to use proper thermal adhesive.

[stormy]

Thanks. Yes, Super Glue was a temp measure. I want to use something like this to attach the RAM Heat Sinks?

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=635996

But want to clean the superglue first.

[peterb]

Your link didn't work - did you mean this?

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=635996

If so that would work or this seems similar

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?...source=15&SD=Y

[Pob255]

The chip it's self shouldn't be hurt by acetone, there ceramic caseings are pritty resilient to almost any chemical.

The contacts of the chip would be more likely to be damaged.

I'd try to chip the majority off first using something plastic for prefrence (shouldn't damage the chip) then use the acetone to clean off the rest.
if you just tried to clean a blob off with acetone & cotten buds you more than likely just end up smearing a thin layer of superglue all over the surface.

[peterb]

The chip it's self shouldn't be hurt by acetone, there ceramic caseings are pritty resilient to almost any chemical.

The contacts of the chip would be more likely to be damaged.

I'd try to chip the majority off first using something plastic for prefrence (shouldn't damage the chip) then use the acetone to clean off the rest.
if you just tried to clean a blob off with acetone & cotten buds you more than likely just end up smearing a thin layer of superglue all over the surface.

The contacts won't be damaged by acetone. I don't think acetone disolves the glue, it weakens the bond so the blob of glue should just come off more easily. Having removed it, wipe the chips over with Iso-propyl Alcohol (IPA) or Alaska TIM. Trying to chip off the glue could cause shock damage to the solder connection of these surface mount components.

[vaughan]

no wonder you had performance problems using super-glue..

super-glue offers no reliable heat transfer to the heatsink. which is probably why it wasn't as good when you put it back on.

the heatsink has to be in contact with the chip surface, and super glue is insulating the heatsink basically reducing the heat transfer/dissipation.

always use thermal compound..

i would recommend Arctic-Silver thermal compound..

[stormy]

I realise super glue is not ideal. I only used it as a temporary last resort because I could not attach the ram sinks and I only used superglue on the Ram sinks, not the main GPU cooler. The Accelero S1 Ram sinks were useless in sticking on with the supplied tape.

Anyway, I managed to use a stanley blade to scrape the super glue off, then buffed them up with Akasa TIM Clean and then used Akasa Thermal Tape/paper to put them back on, that seemed to work a treat. I used Arctic Silver 5 on the GPU.

Also with the Turbo Module now fitted the GPU and VRM is much cooler, GPU on the X1900XT idles around 39c and tops out at about 60c. The VRM is a bit warmer, idling at around 54c and topping about 74c.

So I am happy with that. Its also dropped my Mobo and CPU temps a little as I suppose the P180 is getting a boost in airflow.

Cheers,

Mike

[Pob255]

Ok chip was the wrong choise of word, scrape would of been better.

As as great as AS is it will not "stick" a heatsink to a chip by it's self.

[stormy]

Ok chip was the wrong choise of word, scrape would of been better.

As as great as AS is it will not "stick" a heatsink to a chip by it's self.

AS is used on the GPU, its got screw mountings for the sink so no adhesive was/is neccesary, I only needed the adhesive tape for the ram sinks but I can recommend the Akasa stuff Scan sell, worked a treat.

I never put the Super Glue anywhere *near* the GPU. Only on the RAM chips, its a mute point anyway now as the new stuff is installed.

Stanley blade was the weapon of choice to clear the glue off the chips, light scraping was fine and then a bit of Akasa TIM Clean to get anything else off.

Cheers,

Mike