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MSI 390 Thermal Paste causing Heat Issues. Replaced

That's a very nice temperature drop:eek:

I had something similar recently with one of my cards having way too much thermal paste applied, after cleaning and applying some Thermal Grizzly Hyrdonaught I had on hand, saw a 5 degree drop at like for like conditions. Was applied so messily IMO, but not removed many coolers in my time to know if its normal or not.

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setter said:
Good results, not a bad idea to contact them regarding this. A bit less paste per card will save them a few quid. Companies love anything that saves money.:D
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Part of the original problem is over-application (poor staff training / discipline) and part is due to low quality TIM.

The problem is that more reliable staff and more expensive TIM (even if half is used) means a higher cost.

If they used an OEM version of IC Diamond or better still Liquid Metal Ultra, even on cards where the original toothpaste was applied correctly, you'd still probably be looking at a minimum of 10C better.

Still, at least it doesn't literally look like (and perform similarly to) toothpaste as the TIM on Ivy and Haswell did (not familiar with how it is on Skylake).

I'm guessing if I used CL LMU on my Fury Nano the thing would for all intents and purposes be totally silent .. can't be arsed though as it's already extremely quiet.
 
Good job with the temp drop, but I would have had to get all the TIM off those little resistors around the gpu core. :eek:
 
pmc25 said:
Part of the original problem is over-application (poor staff training / discipline) and part is due to low quality TIM.

The problem is that more reliable staff and more expensive TIM (even if half is used) means a higher cost.

If they used an OEM version of IC Diamond or better still Liquid Metal Ultra, even on cards where the original toothpaste was applied correctly, you'd still probably be looking at a minimum of 10C better.

Still, at least it doesn't literally look like (and perform similarly to) toothpaste as the TIM on Ivy and Haswell did (not familiar with how it is on Skylake).

I'm guessing if I used CL LMU on my Fury Nano the thing would for all intents and purposes be totally silent .. can't be arsed though as it's already extremely quiet.
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I've yet to see much of a difference in temps while reapplying thermal paste regardless of the card. Maybe a couple of c tops, but id say getting anywhere close to 10c would be in pretty rare instances where the stock thermal paste is really overdone. The op obviously being an example of this, some cards it makes zero difference.
 
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The ironic thing is that by removing the heatsink to replace poorly applied thermal paste, they could claim that you invalidated the warranty should your card ever need repair !

My 7950 had a similarly "generous" amount of thermal paste applied at the factory.
 
Dervious said:
The ironic thing is that by removing the heatsink to replace poorly applied thermal paste, they could claim that you invalidated the warranty should your card ever need repair !

My 7950 had a similarly "generous" amount of thermal paste applied at the factory.
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Yup which is laughable, but some companies will do their damnedest to try to avoid actually applying their warranty and will look for things like this.
 
ltron said:
This is surprising from MSI. My Sapphire tri-x 390X is cooler on the core usually low 70s high 60s, but the VRM temps can get hot sometimes with up to 90C VRM1 temp with VSync off, I have heard that MSI's VRM temps are much better.
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You could most likely see large temp drops on your VRMs if you replaced the stock thermal pads with high grades ones (fujipoly etc)

Having said that, 90c is just about acceptable anyway, so its probably not worth the £10 or so outlay.
 
Gerard said:
Yup which is laughable, but some companies will do their damnedest to try to avoid actually applying their warranty and will look for things like this.
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Hence why im tempted to link this to MSI's email and say this is performing much better however i guess i have void my warrenty, however if the sticker is missing on the screw i could always ask for photo evidence that one was on it at point on manufacturer. If it was damages caused by me then i would have no issue with them voiding the warrenty . However if it was somthing that failed with the card then i would fight to the death including their facebook page etc. Too many companies try to worm their way out of their warrenty.

I would not call replacing thermal paste especially with this result "damaging" to the card.

However look at EVGA they allow removal of their heatsinks. I will email them and see what they come back with.
 
I had the exact same issue with my MSI 290X. Was hitting almost 90C in Witcher 3 at 90% fan speed but when I unscrewed it, cleaned it up and put new paste on which then made it drop to 82C with 60-70% fan speed in Witcher 3.

I think the screws were slightly loose on the back too - which probably contributed to the high temperature.
 
Smoogels said:
I had the exact same issue with my MSI 290X. Was hitting almost 90C in Witcher 3 at 90% fan speed but when I unscrewed it, cleaned it up and put new paste on which then made it drop to 82C with 60-70% fan speed in Witcher 3.

I think the screws were slightly loose on the back too - which probably contributed to the high temperature.
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You've reduced the chances of a warranty claim slightly, but increased the chances of a warranty claim being rejected ! :D
 
Dervious said:
You've reduced the chances of a warranty claim slightly, but increased the chances of a warranty claim being rejected ! :D
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TBH unless it goes in the first year i CBA with RMA stuff its so painful i always end up just buying a new part, then if its worth it sending the card /item back and selling it upon return.

tbh i RMA'd a gigabyte card that had a broken "warranty void" sticker as i replaced the thermal paste for decent stuff on my old 480 years ago. Nothing was ever said they just sent me a new card.
 
I had a similar issue when I bought a MSI 7950 (still use it today lol). It would quickly hit 80+ degrees within the first few minutes of gameplay with the fans going at 100%. I used some Arctic Silver paste on it and it doesnt go past 65 degrees and maxes out at around 55 - 60 % fan usage so well happy with it
 
I did the same with my MSI 390X recently but with thermal Grizzly Kryonaught. It knocked off a good 10*C at max load. I used a small blob in the middle of the gpu core.

MSI do allow re pasting, the sticker is there to deter the inexperienced.
 
My MSI 680 had far to little thermal paste applied. I changed it and temps dropped about 20C.

If the warranty void screw bothers you then use pliers to turn the screw without breaking the seal. Was told to do this over the phone by Ocuk CS. Did this on all my 4 MSI cards - 2 of them were sent back and accepted.
 
My MSI 390X was also swimming in TIM much like the Op's picture, maybe worse.

I saw a roughly 20DC difference after applying MX2.

I tried to clean off the extra TIM that was all over those small resistors, though it was so stubborn that I was afraid of knocking one off by accident, so left well alone on those. Tried isopropyl alcohol wipes also, though would have had to apply too much pressure to clean it up safely imo.

Worth noting that the actual cooler/heatsink is really amazing on the MSI card, the temperatures it runs the 390/390X at are fantastic, considering how much heat these cards pump out!
 
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