Why does my paste keep failing on my r9 290

Phil2008 · 17 Aug 2019 at 20:58

Hi guys, I keep on having to redo the paste on my gpu every 6-12months as the temps slowly creep up from the low 80s into the 90's when running furmark, why is this? I use the good old trusty AS5 and I make sure that the screws are nice and tight when putting the cooler back on the card, but its like the seal keeps breaking or something. When I remove the old AS5 from the gpu, its still wet.

gpuerrilla · 17 Aug 2019 at 21:59

How much are you applying?

Phil2008 · 18 Aug 2019 at 00:07

Th0nt said:
How much are you applying?

I spreed a thin layer so it doesnt ooze(as you need to be careful with AS5) but thick enough so you cant see the gpu surface. Basically the same way as I do my cpu's and the paste lasts the life time of the cpu normally

Finners · 18 Aug 2019 at 00:33

What you are experiencing is called the pump-out effect. From a quick Google it seems AS-5 is actually one of the better ones with pastes like mx-4 failing after a couple of weeks,!

It seems that more viscosity the better for this application

Admetos · 18 Aug 2019 at 00:40

I use IC Diamond 24, that paste is fit and forget, one of my computers is coming up to 7 years on it. It's just incredible durable paste but unfortunately it's out of fashion or something, but I won't use anything else.

Phil2008 · 18 Aug 2019 at 01:30

Finners said:
What you are experiencing is called the pump-out effect. From a quick Google it seems AS-5 is actually one of the better ones with pastes like mx-4 failing after a couple of weeks,!

It seems that more viscosity the better for this application

Ah right, Im guess its because gpu's get much hotter then cpus? but saying that when I am gaming the temps are in the 60s, low 70s and thats not bad for a r9 290 as they run hot anyway. So what paste do you recommend I should use in the future for gpu's

JasonM said:
I use IC Diamond 24, that paste is fit and forget, one of my computers is coming up to 7 years on it. It's just incredible durable paste but unfortunately it's out of fashion or something, but I won't use anything else.

Like me, I have never used anything else then AS5 since building PC's about 15-20yrs ago and always used the spreed technique with the finger in a food bag to spreed it

.

Admetos · 18 Aug 2019 at 02:49

Phil2008 said:
Ah right, Im guess its because gpu's get much hotter then cpus? but saying that when I am gaming the temps are in the 60s, low 70s and thats not bad for a r9 290 as they run hot anyway. So what paste do you recommend I should use in the future for gpu's

Like me, I have never used anything else then AS5 since building PC's about 15-20yrs ago and always used the spreed technique with the finger in a food bag to spreed it.

I have some AS5 in a drawer but never used it, when I looked at performance charts it did not look that great.

IC Diamond drys and creates a seal and helps secure the heat sink, always have just used a blob in the centre and let the paste spread. IC Diamond is very good for server applications, where computers will be running unattended and for reduced downtime.

The performance on IC Diamond it's at least as good as MX4, however even after years it never degrades, been using it since around 2011.

Rroff · 18 Aug 2019 at 03:59

Have you checked the GPU core and heatsink geometry?

Hand spreading AS5 on a GPU generally isn't the most effective way to use it either

LeMson · 18 Aug 2019 at 08:00

The screws might be tight but that doesn't mean great contact between die and heatsink - see navi reference card fixs.

It's prolly good practice to redo your TIM each year tho, you could also buy a carbon TIM sheet that should last forever.

andybird123 · 18 Aug 2019 at 09:26

Obvious thing would be to try a different paste, thermal grizzly seems to be all the rage right now

pastymuncher · 18 Aug 2019 at 11:20

I use Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut on my cpu and gpu. It's been on my GTX1070 since a couple of months after they launched and have had no change in temps. It's quite expensive but it's a really good thermal paste.

Admetos · 18 Aug 2019 at 16:22

Just picking up on comments where people say replace paste often, I know i'm repeating from my previous past, but IC Diamond does not go off.

I've got computers that are running as home servers, these machines are running AI software often they run near 100% for extended periods, some machines are 7 years old with the original paste application.

I have no connection to IC Diamond, just i'm telling you the real truth of how reliable I have found this paste. I say the same about Seasonic, Weston Digital, Kingston memory, Honda Type R reliability... Don't understand why IC diamond is not popular here, but believe me I've been building PC's since 1995, and never found a paste even remotely close to the reliability of IC Diamond.

RedDeangelo · 18 Aug 2019 at 17:25

Phil2008 said:
I spreed a thin layer so it doesnt ooze(as you need to be careful with AS5) but thick enough so you cant see the gpu surface. Basically the same way as I do my cpu's and the paste lasts the life time of the cpu normally

That sounds like no where near enough, CPU has a lots more pressure to work with, gpu's dont.

Put more thermal paste. Like at least two peas worth

eeii · 18 Aug 2019 at 17:35

pastymuncher said:
I use Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut on my cpu and gpu. It's been on my GTX1070 since a couple of months after they launched and have had no change in temps. It's quite expensive but it's a really good thermal paste.

This

I've used it on CPU's and my Vega64 (That gets hot) and I've never needed to replace it.

Phil2008 · 18 Aug 2019 at 23:47

RedDeangelo said:
That sounds like no where near enough, CPU has a lots more pressure to work with, gpu's dont.

Put more thermal paste. Like at least two peas worth

Im very wary of putting too much on because I dont want a fireworks show if it oozes onto the contacts around the gpu.

eeii said:
This I've used it on CPU's and my Vega64 (That gets hot) and I've never needed to replace it.

I might try grrzzly paste if it fails again..

Dirk Diggler · 19 Aug 2019 at 00:54

You are wasting your time as there's nothing wrong with the paste. Why on earth are you using Furmark? If the GPU is sitting 60s to low 70s during gaming then all is fine.

Incidentally, I wouldn't spread AS5 on a CPU or GPU; a single blob in the centre about the size of a grain of rice for the GPU is all you need. Slightly more, say the size of a pea for a CPU like Ryzen.

an0nym0us · 19 Aug 2019 at 07:40

Phil2008 said:
Hi guys, I keep on having to redo the paste on my gpu every 6-12months as the temps slowly creep up from the low 80s into the 90's when running furmark, why is this? I use the good old trusty AS5 and I make sure that the screws are nice and tight when putting the cooler back on the card, but its like the seal keeps breaking or something. When I remove the old AS5 from the gpu, its still wet.

As @Finners said, sounds like you're experiencing the "pump-out effect":
https://youtube.com/watch?t=8m22s&v=CCqxE-5Ct3w
Der8auer recommends changing the paste every year if you're using these less viscous thermal pastes.

Higher viscosity thermal pastes are supposedly less susceptible to the pump-out effect.

Zernath · 19 Aug 2019 at 10:15

You could always try a thermal pad. Obviously not as good as paste, but at least it won't ooze out!

3t3P · 19 Aug 2019 at 10:57

I always found AS5 can look like you originally hardly put any on a few months down the line!

On cryonaut currently without any problems.

Not that I especially had any problems with AS5 either.

gpuerrilla · 19 Aug 2019 at 12:34

My digestion of the point in thermal paste was it was to fill in the minor flaws and cracks between the two surfaces assisting contact. The metals need to transfer that heat so I dont get why people assume a layer of jam like in a spongecake is needed? If the temps are reasonable then leave it. If they creep up too high then investigate but you shouldn't need to do this that often.