Soldato
How do. After reading about the PowerColor 6700XT that still had the protective film applied to the thermal pads I fancied opening up my 6700XT Fighter. I wanted to generally just see what kind of job PowerColor did of applying pads and paste to my GPU, but also, I wanted to grab some proper measurements so that I can try replacing the pads with something better.
Hopefully others with the 6700XT Fighter find this information useful.
How To
So the card looked OK from the outside. Safe to say I don't think I'd get any surprises.
It was a pretty straight forward process. Firstly, remove the x4 small silver screws on the outside of the face plate. I found that a PH1 x 75mm screwdriver was fine for all the screws. There are x2 small black screws that then need taking out of the PCB. You might be able to wiggle a screwdriver in, but I tackled these later on, once the heatsink was removed.
Next, I unclipped the fan header. Just a set of needle nose pliers and gentle wiggling is all that is needed. I've seen some people struggle with these but mine didn't put up much of a fight. Once unclipped, I then took the x3 small silver screws out of each fan. Just move the blades and you'll see them.
Finally, there are x4 small black screws going into the side of the heatsink (one at each corner of the heatsink). These need to come out and the whole fan shroud lifts away.
The Heatsink is next. Just x8 sprung screws on the reverse of the GPU. Take time to loosen each bit by bit. Never just undo one screw fully. Same idea for when putting the GPU back together. The x4 central sprun screws are a different design to the outer ones, so don't mix them up. The outer sprung screws are for clamping across the VRMs. The inner x4 sprung screws are for clamping around the GPU.
Once all out I found standing the GPU on its bum and then prying apart at the top with the GPU stood vertically was easier than trying to wiggle the heatsink off side to side. Long ways gives a bit more leverage. Didn't take much force and it popped off without issue.
The backplate is then removed with x9 screws on the PCB.
Findings
As you can see, thankfully no mistakes here during assembly. However, I don't think it is the best. Some of the pads don't fully cover the memory modules. There, in my opinion, is far too much paste on the GPU meaning most has spilled over on the chip itself. On the bottom of the heatsink, it's all mounted up on the outer edges.
Measurements for new Thermal Pads
For the VRM area, the right hand set are slightly longer due to more chips than the left hand side. I measured that I'd need 52mm (l) x 7mm (w) for the right side and 50mm (l) x 7mm (w) for the left side. The current thermal pads appear to be 1mm in height.
For the Memory area, each chip (x6 in total) seems to be 12mm x 14mm (or 14mm x 12mm depending on orientation on the PCB). I measured the total height at just under 2mm, so I'm going to assume the chip is 1mm and the thermal pad is 1mm.
For the rear, I'd like to try what others have done and apply pads here. This isn't a reference design but the back plate does appear to be metal and so any contact would, in theory, utilise the back plate as another heatspreader. The Memory areas look to measure 50mm x 14mm (or 14mm x 50mm depending on orientation on the PCB) that is across the 3 modules. So would need two lots at that size. The VRM area, if we inc. the items stamped "R15" as well is 52mm (l) x 17mm (w) for the right side and 50mm (l) x 17mm (w) for the left side.
The gap between the PCB and the backplate is quite large due to standoffs being used. I measured this at just under 3mm. So I think I might have to layer a 0.5mm pad with a 3mm pad here. I think opting for a 3mm pad is not going to make contact. The extra 0.5mm should ensure the PCB touches the back plate.
GPU
I cleaned off the mess and used the spread method instead for the new paste. I used some Noctua NT-H1 paste. Back in Windows, idle, a few apps open and some browser tabs open I'm seeing GPU and Junction temps at ~30ºC according to AMD software.
Next Steps
Now I know the measurements I need to order up some new thermal pads. I may even get some newer thermal paste. I just applied the NT-H1 so that I could pop my GPU back in the rig and use it.
I'm thinking of getting the Gelid GP-Extreme pads. Anyone have any experience with them? They seem to not be too expensive and have a higher 12W/mK thermal conductivity.
Does any have any recommendations on what software I can use to do a before / after for temperatures? What do people use and where should I be looking?
Thanks for reading.
Hopefully others with the 6700XT Fighter find this information useful.
How To
So the card looked OK from the outside. Safe to say I don't think I'd get any surprises.
It was a pretty straight forward process. Firstly, remove the x4 small silver screws on the outside of the face plate. I found that a PH1 x 75mm screwdriver was fine for all the screws. There are x2 small black screws that then need taking out of the PCB. You might be able to wiggle a screwdriver in, but I tackled these later on, once the heatsink was removed.
Next, I unclipped the fan header. Just a set of needle nose pliers and gentle wiggling is all that is needed. I've seen some people struggle with these but mine didn't put up much of a fight. Once unclipped, I then took the x3 small silver screws out of each fan. Just move the blades and you'll see them.
Finally, there are x4 small black screws going into the side of the heatsink (one at each corner of the heatsink). These need to come out and the whole fan shroud lifts away.
The Heatsink is next. Just x8 sprung screws on the reverse of the GPU. Take time to loosen each bit by bit. Never just undo one screw fully. Same idea for when putting the GPU back together. The x4 central sprun screws are a different design to the outer ones, so don't mix them up. The outer sprung screws are for clamping across the VRMs. The inner x4 sprung screws are for clamping around the GPU.
Once all out I found standing the GPU on its bum and then prying apart at the top with the GPU stood vertically was easier than trying to wiggle the heatsink off side to side. Long ways gives a bit more leverage. Didn't take much force and it popped off without issue.
The backplate is then removed with x9 screws on the PCB.
Findings
As you can see, thankfully no mistakes here during assembly. However, I don't think it is the best. Some of the pads don't fully cover the memory modules. There, in my opinion, is far too much paste on the GPU meaning most has spilled over on the chip itself. On the bottom of the heatsink, it's all mounted up on the outer edges.
Measurements for new Thermal Pads
For the VRM area, the right hand set are slightly longer due to more chips than the left hand side. I measured that I'd need 52mm (l) x 7mm (w) for the right side and 50mm (l) x 7mm (w) for the left side. The current thermal pads appear to be 1mm in height.
For the Memory area, each chip (x6 in total) seems to be 12mm x 14mm (or 14mm x 12mm depending on orientation on the PCB). I measured the total height at just under 2mm, so I'm going to assume the chip is 1mm and the thermal pad is 1mm.
For the rear, I'd like to try what others have done and apply pads here. This isn't a reference design but the back plate does appear to be metal and so any contact would, in theory, utilise the back plate as another heatspreader. The Memory areas look to measure 50mm x 14mm (or 14mm x 50mm depending on orientation on the PCB) that is across the 3 modules. So would need two lots at that size. The VRM area, if we inc. the items stamped "R15" as well is 52mm (l) x 17mm (w) for the right side and 50mm (l) x 17mm (w) for the left side.
The gap between the PCB and the backplate is quite large due to standoffs being used. I measured this at just under 3mm. So I think I might have to layer a 0.5mm pad with a 3mm pad here. I think opting for a 3mm pad is not going to make contact. The extra 0.5mm should ensure the PCB touches the back plate.
GPU
I cleaned off the mess and used the spread method instead for the new paste. I used some Noctua NT-H1 paste. Back in Windows, idle, a few apps open and some browser tabs open I'm seeing GPU and Junction temps at ~30ºC according to AMD software.
Next Steps
Now I know the measurements I need to order up some new thermal pads. I may even get some newer thermal paste. I just applied the NT-H1 so that I could pop my GPU back in the rig and use it.
I'm thinking of getting the Gelid GP-Extreme pads. Anyone have any experience with them? They seem to not be too expensive and have a higher 12W/mK thermal conductivity.
Does any have any recommendations on what software I can use to do a before / after for temperatures? What do people use and where should I be looking?
Thanks for reading.
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But I think I will replace the NT-H1 with something else, like the Kryonaut, so at least we should see something tangible when I next crack it open to do the pads. 
