GTX 1080 VRMs not making full contact with waterblock

TechMinerUK · 19 Jul 2016 at 18:58

Hi everyone, yesterday I had an issue with my EK waterblock and GPU. I attempted to install the waterblock on the card but when checking the card to make sure each thermal pad had good contact I noticed some of the VRM pads were not fully touching the waterblock. To be safe I've ordered new paste and pads but despite refitting the block 4 times I could not get all the pads to have no gaps in between them.

Has anyone else had this issue, am I missing something obvious?

Any help is greatly appreciated as always

grumpybeard · 20 Jul 2016 at 08:33

Interested in this as I shall be fitting my EKWB block to 1080 FE next week, hope you get to the bottom of your issue. Did you send any support query to EKWB themselves?

TechMinerUK · 20 Jul 2016 at 09:10

grumpybeard said:
Interested in this as I shall be fitting my EKWB block to 1080 FE next week, hope you get to the bottom of your issue. Did you send any support query to EKWB themselves?

Not yet as I wanted to see if anyone else had the same issue

grumpybeard · 22 Jul 2016 at 18:05

Did you resolve this?

gary996 · 22 Jul 2016 at 18:23

Try thicker pads

TechMinerUK · 25 Jul 2016 at 22:18

grumpybeard said:
Did you resolve this?

Yep, I had to purchase some more pads but they were too big so I had to use a miss match of the old and new pads. I think I must have had a defective unit. However the proof will be seen when I test the GPU

gary996 said:
Try thicker pads

I ordered the same thickness and they were 2mm too large

Disco_P · 25 Jul 2016 at 23:52

Did you contact EK at all?

OLDPHART · 26 Jul 2016 at 04:14

When fitting thermal pads to a GPU l always put a tiny bit of paste on both sides. It helps to make 100% contact and keep it in place.

dreigns · 26 Jul 2016 at 07:56

Myn made contact fine on my msi aero you did screw block on as it would pull the block down and make contact also if u did you use the rite screws as some were longer then others and there instructions was not the best they seem like the same ones they have used for years.

Not saying you done any of this just exploring the possibilitys

Also which card gave you got

TechMinerUK · 26 Jul 2016 at 15:19

dreigns said:
Myn made contact fine on my msi aero you did screw block on as it would pull the block down and make contact also if u did you use the rite screws as some were longer then others and there instructions was not the best they seem like the same ones they have used for years.
Not saying you done any of this just exploring the possibilitys
Also which card gave you got

Yep, I made sure that I used all the correct screws, re-fitted the block three times and then installed the backplate. It appears to be making contact fine now. Also my card is a Palit FE GTX 1080

OLDPHART said:
When fitting thermal pads to a GPU l always put a tiny bit of paste on both sides. It helps to make 100% contact and keep it in place.

I was going to do that if the problem continued to persist with the new thermal pads however wouldn't it also act as a insulator due to the heat being carried through another medium

Disco_P said:
Did you contact EK at all?

Yep, I'm still awaiting a response

EK Luc · 26 Jul 2016 at 19:16

Disco_P said:
Did you contact EK at all?

TechMinerUK said:
Yep, I'm still awaiting a response

How long has it been since you sent your question?

TechMinerUK · 26 Jul 2016 at 20:16

EK Luc said:
How long has it been since you sent your question?

I'm not sure but at a guess 3 working days, I think I received confirmation of the email being received

EK Luc · 27 Jul 2016 at 19:26

TechMinerUK said:
I'm not sure but at a guess 3 working days, I think I received confirmation of the email being received

It's quite long....Let me know if you don't get any answer tomorrow.

TechMinerUK · 27 Jul 2016 at 20:44

EK Luc said:
It's quite long....Let me know if you don't get any answer tomorrow.

Yep, just responded to it now

Aberfala · 28 Jul 2016 at 10:45

TechMinerUK said:
Yep, just responded to it now

What was their response ?

I didn't check the thermal pad contact when I fitted mine but it's been running since the day after 1080 launch with no issues so I guess it must be OK.

OLDPHART · 29 Jul 2016 at 14:13

OLDPHART said:
When fitting thermal pads to a GPU l always put a tiny bit of paste on both sides. It helps to make 100% contact and keep it in place.

TechMinerUK said:
I was going to do that if the problem continued to persist with the new thermal pads however wouldn't it also act as a insulator due to the heat being carried through another medium.

EKWB recommened this when fitting pads to my 670 so have done this ever since has not caused any issues-

STEP 3: INSTALLING WATER BLOCK
1. PLACING THERMAL PADS ON PCB.
Place thermal pads on chips so that numbers on chips match size of thermal pads. EKWB made sure users have more than enough pads to cover all surfaces that need to be covered to make block fully functional).

EKWB recommends using small drops of electrically non-conductive(for example: Arctic Cooling MX-2 ™,MX-4 ™or GELID GC-Extreme™) thermal grease on each phase regulator (that is being covered with thermal pad“2”) in order to even further improve the thermal performance of the EK-FC670GX DCIIseries water block.

grumpybeard · 30 Jul 2016 at 22:06

TechMinerUK said:
Yep, just responded to it now

What was at fault, suggested advice from EKWB, outcome? Thanks

TechMinerUK · 31 Jul 2016 at 16:06

Mikey C said:
What was their response ?
I didn't check the thermal pad contact when I fitted mine but it's been running since the day after 1080 launch with no issues so I guess it must be OK.

grumpybeard said:
What was at fault, suggested advice from EKWB, outcome? Thanks

I sent them a reply a few days ago but I'm still waiting for another response via email, the speed of the replies isn't a big issue as I'm away at the moment so I can't do much about it currently

OLDPHART said:
EKWB recommened this when fitting pads to my 670 so have done this ever since has not caused any issues-

Hmm, if when I get back the card doesn't work (Fingers crossed when I left it they all appeared to make contact) I will try this, thank you for the suggestion