I must first qualify this thread "yes, I am stupid!". Just to get that out of the way first 
 
I have been building a new Caselabs monster PC along a similar spec to J2C Skunkworks, this included three EVGA TitanX SC cards. Due to my wife giving birth the build was put on hold for a year and the Titan sat still wrapped in cellophane for a year, until Oct 17. Blasphemy I know given what I paid new for these boards! *gulp*.
 
Anyway, im now commencing the build but I have made a major mistake which MAY have resulted in a dead board.
 
So I have 3 EK blocks and also *Conductonaut* to apply to the GPU. Taking the first card I coated the transistors (or are they smoothing capacitors?) around the GPU die with high temperature clear silicone to isolate them. (I should have used Kapton tape which I have now purchased); I then applied the Conductonaut to the Die and the Block. Fitted the block - all okay.
 
On applying the backplate I realised that I had missed a couple of screws to tighten the block. To cut a long story short I then thought I had stripped a thread of the EK block; (thankfully turned out that it was a snapped EK standoff which I was able to get out and order a spare).
 
Anyway; got the block off and had a look at the Conductonaut spread, noticed I had applied a tiny bit too much (pic below), I thought I would use TIM remover and a lint free cloth to remove. Wrong! All this did was work the Conductonaut down the sides of the silicone (between the DIE and the metal frame) and make a right mess.
 

 
Speed up to this week and I have been using a magnifier/light station with a small pick to remove the silicone. Made a right mess more exaggerated! the photos below make it look like its been under a blowtorch but its not as bad as it looks, its the clear silicone around the DIE thats making it look messy. The important thing is the red circle, I ended up knocking off what I believe is either a Transistor or Smoothing Capacitor (I dont have it). Also chipped ever so slightly the corners of the DIE.
 


 
I haven't ever powered the board. Im unsure what to do next. Either, try the card or send it off to a company that specialise in PCB repairs?
Note - The other two boards are still wrapped untouched.
 
Any ideas on next steps? (Iv already had all the puns thrown at me at work! :P)

Time to buy a new card. Next time don't use Conductonaut.

Silicone??!!!!!

Never.. ever... I mean, why?!

If you want to protect the area around the core, use clear fingernail polish. Never use silicone or anything that is going to require pulling to remove it.

Conductonaut is also not a great idea. You should be using rubbing alcohol to remove it, not Tim cleaner. Alcohol wipes work best.

Artic MX-4 gives nearly the exact same performance as conductonaut. We are taking 3-4 degrees difference. There is no reason to use conductonaut if you are not doing the shunt mod. Mx-4 is nonconductive and completely safe to pour all over your gpu if you wish.

the_Scarlet_one
Silicone??!!!!!

Never.. ever... I mean, why?!

If you want to protect the area around the core, use clear fingernail polish. Never use silicone or anything that is going to require pulling to remove it.

Conductonaut is also not a great idea. You should be using rubbing alcohol to remove it, not Tim cleaner. Alcohol wipes work best.

Artic MX-4 gives nearly the exact same performance as conductonaut. We are taking 3-4 degrees difference. There is no reason to use conductonaut if you are not doing the shunt mod. Mx-4 is nonconductive and completely safe to pour all over your gpu if you wish.

Everyone should have a 'solder sucker'.

 
 
I didn't have any issues using Conductonaut on the GPU. It just takes a bit a care and time to work in a solid thin layer across both surfaces with no excess. On the other hand, I saw pretty much the same temps from when I first installed the Hybrid with its stock TIM. So, I'd agree using it doesn't seem to make any significant performance difference from stock TIM and it has some risks.
Proper mating with the thinnest bond layer of TIM is the goal regardless of which TIM.

Hi Dave3d. Thanks for the PM. I cant reply because I haven't been a member of these forums long enough (completely daft really). Can you PM me your email? I am interested. Thanks,
 
Thanks all for the feedback on my above issue. I will be finding out after Christmas if it posts and I will update the thread with the results!
 
Merry Christmas all.

Im looking at a second hand replacement of my T-X SC. However; the model number is "EVGA geforce gtx titan x sc 12go ddr5", I think this might be a french marketed Titan X, would there be any differences on the card (i.e printed lettering - I dont mean the PCB layout) the model on card was still (12G-P4-2992-KR) and I noticed it was "packaged in Germany. Seem exactly the same as my existing 2 cards, except mine are "EVGA geforce gtx titan x sc 12gb ddr5" and packaged in Taiwan.
 
Thanks,

Update-
Well after finally getting Christmas out of the way and trying the TitanX which I had damaged, it works! It seems to POST fine/BIOS etc. I haven't put it through its paces yet in Windows but hopefully it was just a smoothing capacitor that I damaged. Will have to test it in FireStrike/Heaven.
 
I will keep you guys updated.
 
Thanks,

JimboJet
Update-
Well after finally getting Christmas out of the way and trying the TitanX which I had damaged, it works! It seems to POST fine/BIOS etc. I haven't put it through its paces yet in Windows but hopefully it was just a smoothing capacitor that I damaged. Will have to test it in FireStrike/Heaven.
 
I will keep you guys updated.
 
Thanks,

Glad to hear it's working for ya! 
 
On the chance that you discover any problems later EVGA does offer a paid-for repair service. With your photos you could probably get a quick estimate from them to repair the cap. I would suggest directly contacting EVGA support for the inquiry. 

Sweet.
Glad you got it all worked out.
Nothing worse than having issues with a card people spend so much money on.