Pointless graphics card rant

[manveruppd]

Trying to replace the borked had on my HIS Radeon HD6870 and it seems like the tiny screws holding down the backplate are the most tightly screwed screws in the history of screwing!



I've been trying to unscrew them for an hour and I've actually chipped my screwdriver from the effort! I'm gonna have to borrow a friend's power tools to do this, though as you can see from the photo they require the smallest cross head screwdriver In the universe and it might be tricky to find an electric screwdriver attachment small enough.

No point to this, just wanted to vent. I'm also replacing the psu and a hard drive in this machine and everything about it had been going wrong from the start. Was supposed to be done hours ago and instead I'm spending Saturday night surrounded by dismantled computer bits.

 

[manveruppd]

Yeah that's what I'm worried about, that a power drill won't work. And all the diy shops will be closed till Tuesday now too...

I'll try the wd40 trick, I think I have a can of it somewhere...

 

[manveruppd]

Be careful. Watch you don't strip the screw heads

That's pretty much why I've given up for now.

 

[manveruppd]

Thanks for the advice all, I've given up for tonight but I'll tryto your suggestions tomorrow When I'm hopefully have power tools too. If it's seriously glued tight someone at HIS is gonna get the whole graphics card and hsf combo inserted up their pci-e slot!

 

[manveruppd]

Luckily it was NOT glued in! I borrowed a friend's toolkit and he has a screwdriver with a nice chunky handle and replaceable heads, so I was able to get an exact fit and a large enough handle to be able to leverage it. It was still too tight to budge unassisted but I dabbed it with some WD40 and warmed it with a blowdryer for a few minutes and then they came out like butter!

The heatsink on top of the voltage regulators, however, IS glued on! I don't understand why, it was held down by screws (which, unlike the backplate screws, came off pretty easily), so it didn't need glue as well. But yeah, I can't get that heatsink off. Luckily it's not large so it won't interfere with the aftermarket cooler I got (which actually came with little heatsinks for the voltage regulators in the box, I just won't use trhem I guess), so it won't be a problem.

I do actually have another problem though: the Accelero also came with ramsinks in the box, and a 2-part thermal glue I had to mix to stick them on. Well, after thorough mixing for 5 minutes as per the instructions, careful application on the ram chips and applied pressure on the ramsinks for a minimum of 10" to ensure they stay on, the glue still hasn't congealed! It said cure time 5 hours, I've left them for almost 12 hours now and the ramsinks still aren't stuck on.

The ramsinks aren't falling off, but I reckon that's more due to suction than to adhesive effect (because i must've forced all the air out when I pushed down on it). They do move about when nudged though! So clearly no glueing has happened!

I'm not gonna let this stop me right now because the main HSF is screwed on so if I need to take the ramsinks off I can always do that easily. I'm also hoping that maybe the heat when the card runs will make the glue congeal... But I'll order some of that Zalman adhesive tape or something (ocuk don't seem to stock it anymore, but I'm sure I can get hold of it somewhere) in preparation for if and when the ramsinks fall off during a gaming session and I need to glue them back on more securely!


EDIT to post a photo of the ramsinks:



As you can see I also got some of that glue on the card and couldn't clean it all off. I don't think it's gonna be a problem though as it doesn't have metal bits in it like Arctic Silver 5 so I don't think it's conductive.

 

[manveruppd]

The glue doesn't cure to a solid, so there will still be slight movement on the ramsinks if you touch them. Been a few years since I did my Accelero, but even though I they weren't solid after 10 hours+, I put the cooler on and none of the heatsinks came off. Although it does say "glue" it is more of a thermal paste with adhesive properties from what I gather.

Unless they have changed the recipe since I did my 7970 Xtreme.

Oh good! I suspected it might need heat but I wasn't sure... It's still a massive pain though, cause now I have to screw on the heatsink while being EXTRA CAREFUL not to nudge the ramsinks! What happened to good old fashione stickers?