Stand off screws for GPU

Rowan88

Rowan88

Rowan88

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Hi,

I was putting some new thermal paste on my old XFX3D Radeon HD7870 Black Edition and I noticed that two of the screws that hold the heatsink in place has snapped (with literally no pressure).

The ends of the screws are stuck into the stand offs so they are impossible to remove I assume.

Does anyone know where I can buy some spare stand offs?

I thought they would be the same as the motherboard ones but they have a small lip on the end for it to fit through the GPU.

At the moment I am going to go to my local B&Q and buy M3 machine screws (16mm length) and hopefully that will work.

Is it safe for the end of the screw to touch the pcb?

Thanks
 
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Might be safe, depends if there’s components or traces here, usually isn’t.

Just get some nylon washers.
 
Thanks ill pick some up too then.

Just because the stand off only had a spring between the head and the board and because that was steel I assumed it be fine. On closer inspection though it does look like the PCB has a washer fitted onto it.

Cross fingers this works!

Will be buying a new GPU anyway but Mrs thinks I done this intentionally to get a new one early ;)
 
Just remember the stand off and spring are probably designed for rapid assembly and no overtightening, go easy or you’ll definitely be getting a new card :D
 
The screws were metal with a metal spring.

I put the new machine screws on to hold the heat sink in place but something is definitely not right since doing it. At first I was getting weird coloured blocks all over the screen and random crashing.

I then took it apart and re-done it but although I have it running just now, I ran tests which passed fine and done a bit of gaming, but I do notice every now and again some flickering or crashing.

Just as I was typing up this post the screen flickered loads of white boxes then a full white screen. Had to force restart.

What could be causing this? I have the thermal paste covered in the chip and heatsink down tight against it.
(done it 4 times now) :(
 
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Maybe you have tightened the screws to much. If you over do it with a CPU cooler it can cause problems, so try undoing them a touch.

What thermal paste did you use? If it is conductive it may have got on the pins around the GPU core.
 
You could be putting too much pressure on it, or you could have damaged it.

Like I said before, the stand offs stop you from putting too much pressure, you have to go easy.

What thermal paste?
 
I am going to buy some Artic Silver but I am just using the stuff that came with my PC at the moment.

I had been checking the temperatures and they are fine. They sit idle around 30 and 79 max during benchmark gaming. So I don't think that was the issue.

I am putting it back together as we speak and hopefully this time I can keep the same height used that the standoffs had to see if that fixes it, maybe when I do it I have it too tight.
 
Ok I re apllied the stock paste I got with computer and it so far has been fine. I have ran Heaven benchmark which passed fine.

It done this yesterday thought were it worked so long then stopped.

I have ordered some Artic Silver to use just incase that paste isnt great.

Is there anything you recommend I do or buy to replace the stand off gap inbetween heatsink and board. So when I tighten them the board doesnt flex? Would these work : https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/222578957032
 
After reading up I got told to get Arctic MX 4.. it isn't conductive so should be safe.

I may even try the motherboard stand offs. Do they need to be stainless steel or can you use nylon? Or could I buy brass??
 
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I have ordered some MX4 and I purchased some brass M3 x 6mm x 6mm stand offs.

Hopefully of I use the stand offs that will fix any issues I had.

I think the gpu sag might be pulling the pcb down and because there is no stand offs it isnt making a proper connection to heatsink. Or maybe even the motherboard slot is getting bent.

Is brass safe to use for a stand off??
 
Brass will tarnish but should be fine, it depends on the setup. Dissimilar metals can cause long term corrosion issues. Can you post a picture of both sides of the board around the mounts?

Are the new standoff’s the same height as the existing ones?
 
Here is how it looks:
front.jpg

back.jpg


I just assumed the nylon ones would melt.

Yeah the stand offs are 6mm in height, the screw into the heatsink might be a few mm longer but I can always file it down.
 
Rowan88 said:
Here is how it looks:
front.jpg

back.jpg


I just assumed the nylon ones would melt.

Yeah the stand offs are 6mm in height, the screw into the heatsink might be a few mm longer but I can always file it down.
Click to expand...

Yes exactly. A decent quality nylon shouldn’t melt, we use them in 100kw thyristors :)

Looks like the mounts are insulated, if the stand offs are the same height then you should be golden.

Good luck!
 
Thanks. Will let u know how I get on.

What I did notice earlier when I wiggled the card around some colourful boxes appeared on screen. This is why it made me think it could be the PCI slot.. but adding on standoffs can only help the card anyway.

Also are the zinc plated screws safe to use??
 
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