xTemon

Great thread!! ..nice little guide and how-to; though I'm more interested in the details.
 
I'm happy to see they've improved on the assembly of the cards; I remember trying to take apart my 260 core 216, and what an incredible nightmare it was. ..actually had to break down, and drill out the screws; after I got halfway through, as they were stripped and stuck. ..might have been better; if I hadn't waited till well after use, before stripping it down. I think the repeated heating of the plastic, siezed the screws in place; hence, my problem with taking it apart.
 
Better design, and very impressive strip-down; no screws mounting the shroud in place, is a very big plus I'm not certain, the 470 will be so simple; but I rather have a preference for the 480 anyway

tano22

Zaruchen

am i suppose to use a thin layer then add more to fill in? i am not understanding . also where can i purchase good thermal paste locally?

Have you ever put thermal paste on a CPU? It's very similar. Put as much as you need to cover the GPU in a thin layer. Do NOT add more in, as the layer should be sufficient. As OP stated, when you apply a pea sized amount, go ahead and use a credit card or similar object to spread it along the sync like you're buttering your bread. try and cover every area of the GPU with an even amount of paste. Try not to let it spill over. A GPU, being larger in area, may need more than a pea sized amount, so apply in increments until you're able to apply the thin layer throughout.
 
As far as purchasing a good thermal paste locally, you need to find yourself a specialty shop. Depends on where you live. Your local Best Buy or COMPUSA or whatever the heck you have where you live probably won't have anything worth purchasing, and possibly not anything at all.
 
If I knew where you live, I could probably find something.

snip931

tano22

Zaruchen

am i suppose to use a thin layer then add more to fill in? i am not understanding . also where can i purchase good thermal paste locally?

Have you ever put thermal paste on a CPU? It's very similar. Put as much as you need to cover the GPU in a thin layer. Do NOT add more in, as the layer should be sufficient. As OP stated, when you apply a pea sized amount, go ahead and use a credit card or similar object to spread it along the sync like you're buttering your bread. try and cover every area of the GPU with an even amount of paste. Try not to let it spill over. A GPU, being larger in area, may need more than a pea sized amount, so apply in increments until you're able to apply the thin layer throughout.

As far as purchasing a good thermal paste locally, you need to find yourself a specialty shop. Depends on where you live. Your local Best Buy or COMPUSA or whatever the heck you have where you live probably won't have anything worth purchasing, and possibly not anything at all.

If I knew where you live, I could probably find something.

My radio shack sells Artic silver 5 so you can possibly check there.

tano22

Oh and make sure that you screw it back nice and tight, you want to make sure that the heatsink makes good contact with the gpu. That's quite important.

jjarrette

I'm real familiar with taking apart these GTX 480's now.  Everyone says that you should put a real thin layer of paste.  Well i put a real thin layer of MX-3 and my temps were at 100*C when running Haven 2.0.  Took the card apart again and put a nice thick layer of this and my temps went down to 90*C immediately.  I suspect you're better off going thick than thin, doesn't seem to me that these heat sinks are very level.  When I took my heat sink off after I applied MX-3 the first time, I could clearly see spots on the heat sink where the grease wasn't even touching.

If your temps are higher after applying your compound, re-do with a thicker spread.

jjarrette

I'm real familiar with taking apart these GTX 480's now.  Everyone says that you should put a real thin layer of paste.  Well i put a real thin layer of MX-3 and my temps were at 100*C when running Haven 2.0.  Took the card apart again and put a nice thick layer of this and my temps went down to 90*C immediately.  I suspect you're better off going thick than thin, doesn't seem to me that these heat sinks are very level.  When I took my heat sink off after I applied MX-3 the first time, I could clearly see spots on the heat sink where the grease wasn't even touching.

If your temps are higher after applying your compound, re-do with a thicker spread.