P
psistormyamato
I have a Radeon X700 PCIe card with a old, noisy fan that desperately
needs to be replaced. I have always hated the high-pitched screen that
this little bugger emits, so I was thinking about replacing the stock
heatsink/fan with a lone heatsink on the GPU and a larger diameter PCI
fan in the adjacent PCI slot. I imagine that this setup will
sufficiently cool the GPU and, at the same time, reduce noise by
allowing the same amount of air to be moved by the larger fan that can
do the same job at lower RPMs.
When I removed the stock heatsink/fan, I noticed that the thermal
interface consisted of what looked like 2 thermal pads that were
joined with some kind of "fluffy" gray substance. I also noticed that
there are about a dozen little transistor looking things sticking out
of the top of the GPU in various places.
So, what would you suggest that I use for a thermal interface?
It seemed that the thermal pads were, perhaps intentionally, keeping
the heatsink/fan serveral millimeters above the "little transistor
looking things", so that they did not make contact with each other.
Is it important that my new heatsink should not come in contact with
these "transistors"? If so, then should I simply leave the pre-
existing thermal pad on the GPU side, remove all the old, gray fluffy
material on it, put a thermal pad on the new heatsink, and use a drop
of some kind of thermal grease to mate the two surfaces with?
If it weren't for those little "transistors" sticking out, preventing
a flat mating of the two surfaces, then I would just use some of that
Arctic Silver that everyone keeps orgasmicly referring to. But I am
uncertain what the best course of action would be, considering that
these "transistors" are in the way.
needs to be replaced. I have always hated the high-pitched screen that
this little bugger emits, so I was thinking about replacing the stock
heatsink/fan with a lone heatsink on the GPU and a larger diameter PCI
fan in the adjacent PCI slot. I imagine that this setup will
sufficiently cool the GPU and, at the same time, reduce noise by
allowing the same amount of air to be moved by the larger fan that can
do the same job at lower RPMs.
When I removed the stock heatsink/fan, I noticed that the thermal
interface consisted of what looked like 2 thermal pads that were
joined with some kind of "fluffy" gray substance. I also noticed that
there are about a dozen little transistor looking things sticking out
of the top of the GPU in various places.
So, what would you suggest that I use for a thermal interface?
It seemed that the thermal pads were, perhaps intentionally, keeping
the heatsink/fan serveral millimeters above the "little transistor
looking things", so that they did not make contact with each other.
Is it important that my new heatsink should not come in contact with
these "transistors"? If so, then should I simply leave the pre-
existing thermal pad on the GPU side, remove all the old, gray fluffy
material on it, put a thermal pad on the new heatsink, and use a drop
of some kind of thermal grease to mate the two surfaces with?
If it weren't for those little "transistors" sticking out, preventing
a flat mating of the two surfaces, then I would just use some of that
Arctic Silver that everyone keeps orgasmicly referring to. But I am
uncertain what the best course of action would be, considering that
these "transistors" are in the way.
