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.

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

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

.

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..

Phil2008 · 19 Aug 2019 at 22:36

String said:
What are you talking about? The heat sink compresses against the die just like with a CPU, and a small blob in the middle is all that is required.

It takes a little longer spreeding it, but I like to know that my cpu or gpu is all covered

String said:
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.

The temps are 10c hotter when gaming aswel,, so when the paste has failed the temps are in the high 70's low 80's when gaming.

Phil2008 · 10 Nov 2019 at 10:57

Well that didnt last long, the temps are back up, so Im going to try some Thermal Grizzly Kryonat and see if that will do any better, I just dont get why it keeps failing.

Phil2008 · 11 Nov 2019 at 00:48

I like using AS5 as it spreads quite easy and I haven't had problems, temp wise.

3t3P said:
I will warm it up next time I apply. For GPUs ek recommend a union flag pattern on the GPU die i.e a lot of paste compared to a CPU.

The GPU on the r9 290 is quite small so a pea size is ample amount of paste... I think I will warm the paste up if its a pain to spread, thanks for the tip.

Phil2008 · 12 Nov 2019 at 21:20

Well that hasn't worked, I applied the Grizzly paste twice today,, once onto gpu and heatsink and once just on the the gpu. Both times were shockly bad, temps were 90+ running furmark and they should be in the high 70s, low 80s.

So tomorrow I'll go back to the artic silver 5 and try it on the gpu and heatsink like Ive done with the grizzly paste today.

I really dont know whats going wrong, because when I redo the paste, it should start off in the high 70s, low 80 and then increase over the weeks and months? I think the heatsink isnt making contact with the gpu properly, but the screws wont go any tighter?

Phil2008 · 14 Nov 2019 at 11:30

3rd time lucky..... I have use the good old Arctic Silver 5 this time, spreaded it on both the gpu and heatsink, but this time I havent done the screws as tight as possible.. Hey presto the temps are sitting at 78c running furmark. So see now if the temps stay put or if they increase over time again.

Phil2008 · 14 Nov 2019 at 18:10

b00merang69 said:
BTW do not run those apps, modern GPU simply throttle to save themselves.

You can run similar but official in MSI Afterburner.

My gpu throttles back when it gets to 94c

Phil2008 · 14 Nov 2019 at 22:53

Furmark is handy for me because I know that game temps should be roughly 10-15c lower then furmark and you know if theres a problem with your gfx card within a few mins running furmark. I have been using it for yrs, to get the best possible temps from my cards.

Phil2008 · 14 Nov 2019 at 23:07

Well I give up,, the low temps hasnt lasted a day,, the card is throttling back at 94c running furmark now. So games will be ruuning in the 80's instead of the 60s. I guess I will have to put up with it :mad:

Phil2008 · 15 Nov 2019 at 01:34

JasonM said:
I have a theory. Are you loading the graphics card before the paste has cured? What I personally do is apply paste, but I won't load the CPU/GPU for at least 24 hours. I will run the computer in that time, but not load it to limits like your doing.

I was thinking that and if I didnt need help from other people, I would keep on fighting and try to work out what's wrong but have to make it worth it with people having to help me.

I really dont know what else would make things better.. I have tried putting the paste on both the heatsink and gpu, putting the paste on just the gpu and tried with the AS5 and the Grizzly paste. Im out of ideas?

Phil2008 · 15 Nov 2019 at 03:36

Probably not how it works but, if the temps can go up like that, they can go down like that aswel. Because its not like the paste has gone anywhere is it?........ Wishful thinking.

Phil2008 · 15 Nov 2019 at 16:31

I always use the spread technique with my finger in a food bag, it works really nicely and then your 100% sure all of the cpu/gpu is covered, plus you dont get any oozing off the cpu/gpu if spread thinly enough.

Phil2008 · 15 Nov 2019 at 17:06

Armageus said:
Which if you have inadequate clamping pressure for any reason, you won't know but will be spreading it too thin. A blob would at least spread a minimum amount and still make decent contact.

I have put the paste on both the gpu and heatsink, so double the thickness. So I would have thought it would have evened it out if the heatsink wasn't making good contact with the gpu?

Phil2008 · 15 Nov 2019 at 21:21

mmj_uk said:
I'm probably about the tenth person to say this since I'm late to the thread and can't be bothered to read but you need to use the blob method that way air gets pushed out the sides when you apply the heatsink, when you spread and then put the heatsink down it creates pockets of air which expand when heated (hence performance gets gradually worse). I used to spread all of the time and had the same problem it's basically bad application. It's better to have excess TIM hanging over the sides (providing that it's non conductive) than to have air pockets between core and heatsink but even so if you judge the amount needed right there shouldn't be too much excess anyway.

It doesn't explain why I get good temps for a few hrs after I have applied the paste, then the temps go down hill....Im thinking about buying a different cooler for the 290?

Phil2008 · 28 Nov 2019 at 14:54

Well I have given it another go today and I have taken it further apart but Im still none the wiser, but the heatsink is definitely not sitting right on the gpu, because everytime I remove the cooler the gpu has a patch with no paste on.

Anyway I have just got the pc up and running and just like last time the temps are in the high 70s(nice and cool for a r9 290) but I can almost guarantee it will increase as the day goes on. If temps do increase again, Im going to buy a gtx 1060 as I haven't really got £300 to buy a nice rx 5700. But saying that a 1060 is still about a 10fps increase over my r9 290

Phil2008 · 29 Nov 2019 at 09:11

Well the temps are still ok, but I have been thrashing it too hard on furmark, been given it 10-15 mins runs. As Im thinking the paste might need a few days to bed in. Famous last words.

Phil2008 · 29 Nov 2019 at 20:59

b00merang69 said:
You need to stop using that is as it is pointless as the card will throttle when they detect such apps and have down for generations now.

If you are intent on using such apps use the one that is an add-on to EVGA Precision or MSI Afterburner.

My advise though you seem to have not listened to any so far is to use Heaven and valley and normal games.

It only throttles at 94c and I did run valley and heaven ages ago and the temps were near enough the same as furmark. Games such as dirt rally gets the temps into the high 60s, low 70s when the paste is working properly, if not, they increase into the low 80's.