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Need new thermal pads for ATI 3870 x2

Tags:
  • 3870
  • Graphics
  • thermal pads
  • ATI
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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September 7, 2014 1:37:50 PM

Hi guys, I've had an old 3870 laying around for ages now and want to get it back to working order. The only problem is it doesn't have any of the original thermal pads, but I'm not sure which thickness I need, e.g. 1mm, 2mm or whatever.

Do any of you guys know the thickness needed? I think I heard somewhere that there are different thicknesses as well which complicates it more, but this might not be true.

Cheers!

P.s. sorry if anything is wrong, it's my first post.

More about : thermal pads ati 3870

September 8, 2014 5:39:31 PM

did you mean thermal pads for VRM?
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September 9, 2014 10:23:29 AM

renz496 said:
did you mean thermal pads for VRM?

Yes, sorry for any confusion. I know that certain cards need different thicknesses.
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September 10, 2014 7:34:44 AM

hmm not sure about that. can't use some generic thermal pad for it?
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September 10, 2014 11:02:54 AM

renz496 said:
hmm not sure about that. can't use some generic thermal pad for it?

Well thats what I was thinking, but I'm not sure what the 'generic' is. I just know that different cards require different sizes. I might just try 2mm out and monitor the temps.
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September 10, 2014 11:18:18 AM

I can't see for certain from the photos available but could you not assemble the cooler and use a set of feeler gages to measure the gap? Looks like you should be able to slide them between the cooler and memory chips.
Another trick is to use epoxy putty, grease the VRM, memory and cooler contact points, place small rolls of putty between them and press the cooler on firmly, remove it, let the putty cure then measure its thickness.
final way: Put a little TIM on the GPU die and spread it out very thin, place several pads (thickest first) on the VRM/memory and pop the cooler on, press it down then remove, if there's no TIM on the coldplate, they're too thick, move down a size, you'll have the correct thickness when you get TIM marking the cooler coldplate. with firm pressure used.
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