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HUGE temps after reapplying thermal paste (7970) help!

supergt

supergt

supergt

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Joined
22 Jun 2005
Posts
1,023
Hi all. I have a reference sapphire 7970 here and I have huge issues atm. I reapplied the thermal paste, cleaned the original manufacturer paste and put a pea size amount on. Ive screwed it all back together however for some reason the second I load anything GPU intensive, the temps accelerate so fast from 35 idle to 90 (in about 3 seconds) to the point where I need to quickly switch off my PC to stop any damage. I really am not sure what I have done wrong!

This is my first time reapplying paste to a GPU however I am sure its been put on correct as per guides ive followed?

The paste I am using is arctic cooling mx-2.

Any help would be great.

Thanks!
 
Fan is on, I had it on 100% before testing it again due to the massive rise in temps and it is loud!

I made sure to rescrew it so it wasnt too tight. Shall I take it apart again and post pics?
 
What I didnt do once applying the thermal paste is push the core and the heatsink physically together once I reattached them.. should I do that so that it maybe spreads out?
 
Okay I think the temps are starting to stable. Thanks for the help but I now have another issue it seems :mad::mad:

When I run anything that is GPU intense (game or 3dmark) After about 5 seconds of GPU usage and my GPU seems to just power off and my screen goes blank and crashes. Ive tried this 5 times now and its always the same. However all of the CPU fans/case fans are still running like the rest of the PC is on (power should not be issue as its connected to corsair 1200watt PSU

Any ideas??
 
I think so. I hear both click when I push them in. Just tried another card and that was fine so it seems to be specific to this card.
 
Maybe you need to use new thermal pads on the VRM areas? they might not be making very good contact now that you've removed and replaced the heatsink? or perhaps try to puff the old ones up a bit and get rid of the indents before reapplying the heatsink?
 
could still be overheating if its shutting off?

how thick is mx2? I know mx4 is decent as ive used that myself on a 7970,you want a good thick paste for gpu's,too thin and it simply will overheat
 
The mx2 is quite thin.. maybe I need to apply a bit more anyway? The core temps seem to be okay now but I have the issue of it powering off after 5 seconds or when its load
 
try this:-

remove card....run pc via onboard graphics......turn it off, refit card

if it's still there..... it's the cooler not down properly, you dont just refit the screws, you need to make sure that the 4 screw housings have gone through the board first, the cooler should suddenly click down into place, if not the cooler will not be touching the CPU...............wow :eek::eek:..... this is easy to get wrong, the 7990 is the same too
 
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I would say that temps are too high still and this is the reason for the crashing (safety feature of the card). Start again with the paste and screw opposite corners of the die are first and screw then down to a gentle fit before going over each 4 tightening up to a point of firm but not wrist wrenchingly tight. Then do all of the other screws with opposites each time.
 
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