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gpu getting hotter should I take it apart

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  • GPUs
  • Thermal Compound
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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October 9, 2014 10:20:57 PM

Ok so I have a Gtx 570 twin frozr iii i know its old but it still runs all the games I want to play. So my question is my gpu used to reach low 60s temp and be quiet but now its reaching 70 and is quite loud. So should I take it apart clean it out and reapply thermal paste I read thermal paste goes bad after a while and well this card is pretty old. Also if I do take it apart what are the chances of completely ruining it. thanks

More about : gpu hotter

October 9, 2014 10:32:00 PM

if you are comfortable taking the heatsink off the card by all means do it.it made a real difference with my old hd4870.all you really need to do is take the fan and heatsink off,nothing else.
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October 9, 2014 10:39:42 PM

You could replace the paste, however as long as you haven't disturbed the heatsink, the old stuff should be OK.

The cleaning however is probably what's going to get your temperatures down. Sometimes the shrouds on graphics cards make it very difficult to fully extricate all the dust from the heatsink fins. I had a 2900XT that I kept clean on a regular basis. Even though I thought I was getting all the dust, my temps still weren't coming back to their original / new level. I was using compressed air to clean it. Being desperate, I got really aggressive with the air and out popped a lint pad that was stuck to the one end of the heatsink. It looked like the lint you'd remove from your dryer lint filter. It was perfectly rectangular and about 1mm thick. It was completely blocking air from getting into the fins. Once removed my temps came right down to their original values.

Note: when using compressed air to clean around any fans, do not let them spin while hitting them with air. The air can get them spinning so fast that it can damage the bearing and thus wreck the fan. This goes for any fan. So use a pen or something to keep the fan blades from spinning.
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October 9, 2014 10:39:47 PM

You just need to clean the (HSF) heat sink and fans along with applying new thermal paste. Once you get it done, your GPU will have lower temps. With passage of time, thermal paste is dissolved and dust accumulation on the HSF makes the GPU to heat up quickly and begin throttling. Remedy is to clean the HSF and apply new thermal paste.

If you are not comfortable then get it done on any service shop nearby but they would charge their services.
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October 9, 2014 10:45:17 PM

EasyLover said:
You just need to clean the (HSF) heat sink and fans along with applying new thermal paste. Once you get it done, your GPU will have lower temps. With passage of time, thermal paste is dissolved and dust accumulation on the HSF makes the GPU to heat up quickly and begin throttling. Remedy is to clean the HSF and apply new thermal paste.

If you are not comfortable then get it done on any service shop nearby but they would charge their services.


Thanks for helping and also what are the odds of completely messing it up I have applied thermal paste to a couple of cpus so I kinda know what to do I just want to be safe
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October 9, 2014 10:46:20 PM

techgeek said:
You could replace the paste, however as long as you haven't disturbed the heatsink, the old stuff should be OK.

The cleaning however is probably what's going to get your temperatures down. Sometimes the shrouds on graphics cards make it very difficult to fully extricate all the dust from the heatsink fins. I had a 2900XT that I kept clean on a regular basis. Even though I thought I was getting all the dust, my temps still weren't coming back to their original / new level. I was using compressed air to clean it. Being desperate, I got really aggressive with the air and out popped a lint pad that was stuck to the one end of the heatsink. It looked like the lint you'd remove from your dryer lint filter. It was perfectly rectangular and about 1mm thick. It was completely blocking air from getting into the fins. Once removed my temps came right down to their original values.

Note: when using compressed air to clean around any fans, do not let them spin while hitting them with air. The air can get them spinning so fast that it can damage the bearing and thus wreck the fan. This goes for any fan. So use a pen or something to keep the fan blades from spinning.


Thanks I don't have some canned air right now is there something else that i could use
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October 9, 2014 10:46:53 PM

its pretty easy and there are countless guides to google.main trick is dont lose any parts.lol
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October 9, 2014 10:47:15 PM

aldan said:
if you are comfortable taking the heatsink off the card by all means do it.it made a real difference with my old hd4870.all you really need to do is take the fan and heatsink off,nothing else.


do you remember how much of a differece
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October 9, 2014 10:51:36 PM

k1ng0d said:
EasyLover said:
You just need to clean the (HSF) heat sink and fans along with applying new thermal paste. Once you get it done, your GPU will have lower temps. With passage of time, thermal paste is dissolved and dust accumulation on the HSF makes the GPU to heat up quickly and begin throttling. Remedy is to clean the HSF and apply new thermal paste.

If you are not comfortable then get it done on any service shop nearby but they would charge their services.


Thanks for helping and also what are the odds of completely messing it up I have applied thermal paste to a couple of cpus so I kinda know what to do I just want to be safe


You've mentioned that you have used canned air. What are the temps now?
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October 9, 2014 10:52:19 PM

k1ng0d said:
techgeek said:
You could replace the paste, however as long as you haven't disturbed the heatsink, the old stuff should be OK.

The cleaning however is probably what's going to get your temperatures down. Sometimes the shrouds on graphics cards make it very difficult to fully extricate all the dust from the heatsink fins. I had a 2900XT that I kept clean on a regular basis. Even though I thought I was getting all the dust, my temps still weren't coming back to their original / new level. I was using compressed air to clean it. Being desperate, I got really aggressive with the air and out popped a lint pad that was stuck to the one end of the heatsink. It looked like the lint you'd remove from your dryer lint filter. It was perfectly rectangular and about 1mm thick. It was completely blocking air from getting into the fins. Once removed my temps came right down to their original values.

Note: when using compressed air to clean around any fans, do not let them spin while hitting them with air. The air can get them spinning so fast that it can damage the bearing and thus wreck the fan. This goes for any fan. So use a pen or something to keep the fan blades from spinning.


Thanks I don't have some canned air right now is there something else that i could use


Well if you are concerned about removing the heatsink (and I'm sure you can get away without it, though it is usually pretty simple), on some cards, you can remove just the shroud. Once removed you can use a toothbrush to clean the dust off between the fins on the heatsink.

As for thermal paste dissolving, that's not quite right. What happens is it dries out. It loses it's effectiveness once it's completely dry. However dried out paste still works way better than no paste at all, it's just not as efficient at transferring heat.
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October 9, 2014 10:54:07 PM

EasyLover said:
k1ng0d said:
EasyLover said:
You just need to clean the (HSF) heat sink and fans along with applying new thermal paste. Once you get it done, your GPU will have lower temps. With passage of time, thermal paste is dissolved and dust accumulation on the HSF makes the GPU to heat up quickly and begin throttling. Remedy is to clean the HSF and apply new thermal paste.

If you are not comfortable then get it done on any service shop nearby but they would charge their services.


Thanks for helping and also what are the odds of completely messing it up I have applied thermal paste to a couple of cpus so I kinda know what to do I just want to be safe


You've mentioned that you have used canned air. What are the temps now?


I am sorry where did I say that I can't find it you might have read where I said I don't have canned air right now
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October 9, 2014 11:07:27 PM

Ok so because of how many of you say it is easy and safe I have chosen to reapply thermal paste and while doing that clean out the heatsink I will post back with my results. wish me luck
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October 9, 2014 11:19:05 PM

k1ng0d said:
EasyLover said:
k1ng0d said:
EasyLover said:
You just need to clean the (HSF) heat sink and fans along with applying new thermal paste. Once you get it done, your GPU will have lower temps. With passage of time, thermal paste is dissolved and dust accumulation on the HSF makes the GPU to heat up quickly and begin throttling. Remedy is to clean the HSF and apply new thermal paste.

If you are not comfortable then get it done on any service shop nearby but they would charge their services.


Thanks for helping and also what are the odds of completely messing it up I have applied thermal paste to a couple of cpus so I kinda know what to do I just want to be safe


You've mentioned that you have used canned air. What are the temps now?


I am sorry where did I say that I can't find it you might have read where I said I don't have canned air right now


Apology, I misread it. Sorry for inconvenience.
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October 9, 2014 11:20:26 PM

k1ng0d said:
Ok so because of how many of you say it is easy and safe I have chosen to reapply thermal paste and while doing that clean out the heatsink I will post back with my results. wish me luck


You may already know this, and my apologies if you do, but make sure that you completely remove the old paste from both the die and the heatsink. Use isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) 90% or better.
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October 9, 2014 11:27:45 PM

k1ng0d said:
EasyLover said:
You just need to clean the (HSF) heat sink and fans along with applying new thermal paste. Once you get it done, your GPU will have lower temps. With passage of time, thermal paste is dissolved and dust accumulation on the HSF makes the GPU to heat up quickly and begin throttling. Remedy is to clean the HSF and apply new thermal paste.

If you are not comfortable then get it done on any service shop nearby but they would charge their services.


Thanks for helping and also what are the odds of completely messing it up I have applied thermal paste to a couple of cpus so I kinda know what to do I just want to be safe


Carefully removing the HSF without touching the PCB of the card will see you through.
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October 9, 2014 11:41:23 PM

k1ng0d said:
aldan said:
if you are comfortable taking the heatsink off the card by all means do it.it made a real difference with my old hd4870.all you really need to do is take the fan and heatsink off,nothing else.


do you remember how much of a differece

6-8c

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October 9, 2014 11:59:20 PM

Well i'm back and for the most part it was successful. It turns on it plays games but at the same temps is there anything else that could contribute to the increase in heat
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October 10, 2014 12:38:39 AM

What was the previous reading and what is the current reading? Which software you are using to read temps?
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October 10, 2014 12:56:03 AM

EasyLover said:
What was the previous reading and what is the current reading? Which software you are using to read temps?


ok previous reading after about a half an hour on far cry 3 was 68 degrees now it is stil 68 degrees after a half an hour and I am using msi afterburner. But however when I use the default fan curve it used to go up to 75 now it goes to 71.
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October 10, 2014 1:00:58 AM

Adjust the speed of the fan manually then and see if it works. Also, this could be possible that your HSF is dying on you.
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October 10, 2014 1:04:55 AM

techgeek said:
k1ng0d said:
techgeek said:
You could replace the paste, however as long as you haven't disturbed the heatsink, the old stuff should be OK.

The cleaning however is probably what's going to get your temperatures down. Sometimes the shrouds on graphics cards make it very difficult to fully extricate all the dust from the heatsink fins. I had a 2900XT that I kept clean on a regular basis. Even though I thought I was getting all the dust, my temps still weren't coming back to their original / new level. I was using compressed air to clean it. Being desperate, I got really aggressive with the air and out popped a lint pad that was stuck to the one end of the heatsink. It looked like the lint you'd remove from your dryer lint filter. It was perfectly rectangular and about 1mm thick. It was completely blocking air from getting into the fins. Once removed my temps came right down to their original values.

Note: when using compressed air to clean around any fans, do not let them spin while hitting them with air. The air can get them spinning so fast that it can damage the bearing and thus wreck the fan. This goes for any fan. So use a pen or something to keep the fan blades from spinning.


Thanks I don't have some canned air right now is there something else that i could use


Well if you are concerned about removing the heatsink (and I'm sure you can get away without it, though it is usually pretty simple), on some cards, you can remove just the shroud. Once removed you can use a toothbrush to clean the dust off between the fins on the heatsink.

As for thermal paste dissolving, that's not quite right. What happens is it dries out. It loses it's effectiveness once it's completely dry. However dried out paste still works way better than no paste at all, it's just not as efficient at transferring heat.


To be fair, I have been seeing a lot of Fermi cards running hot now due to the paste going dry due to old age (they were quite hot running chips too which doesnt help).



Change the thermal paste OP, should sort it. Arctic MX-4 works well with GPUs.
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October 10, 2014 1:05:58 AM

EasyLover said:
Adjust the speed of the fan manually then and see if it works. Also, this could be possible that your HSF is dying on you.


Ok thanks and what would be my options if the hsf was dying should I just get a new video card
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October 10, 2014 1:09:11 AM

k1ng0d said:
EasyLover said:
Adjust the speed of the fan manually then and see if it works. Also, this could be possible that your HSF is dying on you.


Ok thanks and what would be my options if the hsf was dying should I just get a new video card


Change the paste, I can pretty much guarantee that it will be that.

Use a little more than you would on a CPU as the heatspreader is larger on the 570. I suggest MX-4 as it is quite thin and doesn't dry out easy.
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October 10, 2014 2:32:17 AM

All good info, just butting in to say since its your first time, don't use conductive paste.
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October 10, 2014 2:50:40 AM

mouse24 said:
All good info, just butting in to say since its your first time, don't use conductive paste.


I agree. Hardly any of the pastes are conductive any more though,so should be fine.
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October 10, 2014 3:32:25 AM

RobCrezz said:
mouse24 said:
All good info, just butting in to say since its your first time, don't use conductive paste.


I agree. Hardly any of the pastes are conductive any more though,so should be fine.


Really why shouldn't i use conductive paste and is Antec formula 7 conductive
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October 10, 2014 3:39:27 AM

k1ng0d said:
RobCrezz said:
mouse24 said:
All good info, just butting in to say since its your first time, don't use conductive paste.


I agree. Hardly any of the pastes are conductive any more though,so should be fine.


Really why shouldn't i use conductive paste and is Antec formula 7 conductive


That paste is fine.

Conductive pastes can short out components if spilled, but hardly anyone uses conductive pastes any more.
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October 10, 2014 3:49:57 AM

k1ng0d said:
EasyLover said:
Adjust the speed of the fan manually then and see if it works. Also, this could be possible that your HSF is dying on you.


Ok thanks and what would be my options if the hsf was dying should I just get a new video card


RobCrezz said:
k1ng0d said:
RobCrezz said:
mouse24 said:
All good info, just butting in to say since its your first time, don't use conductive paste.


I agree. Hardly any of the pastes are conductive any more though,so should be fine.


Really why shouldn't i use conductive paste and is Antec formula 7 conductive


That paste is fine.

Conductive pastes can short out components if spilled, but hardly anyone uses conductive pastes any more.

Sweet almost had me scared because I already did it with that paste thanks

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October 10, 2014 4:25:47 AM

And the results?
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October 10, 2014 5:31:09 AM

Well disappointing they were the same as before
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October 10, 2014 5:36:01 AM

Like I mentioned. Consider changing the fan speed at high side.
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October 10, 2014 5:46:33 AM

EasyLover said:
Like I mentioned. Consider changing the fan speed at high side.


I did I was just explaining it to RobCrezz thanks though
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October 10, 2014 6:06:54 AM

Here is some new info Normally my fan speed would be like 70% and temp would be well 68 I just changed it to run at 100% and it only went down to 64 what could this be
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October 10, 2014 8:23:22 AM

You could have an air flow problem in your case. Do any of your intake fans have filters? If so, have you cleaned them out? This could keep your case fans from drawing in cool air. Also can you tell us what case you have and how you have your case fan arranged (ie intake fans position / exhaust fan position / how many of each).
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October 10, 2014 8:33:10 AM

techgeek said:
You could have an air flow problem in your case. Do any of your intake fans have filters? If so, have you cleaned them out? This could keep your case fans from drawing in cool air. Also can you tell us what case you have and how you have your case fan arranged (ie intake fans position / exhaust fan position / how many of each).


Ok so I have a Silverstone temjin tj07 and I have 2 92mm exhaust fans in back and 2 120mm intake top. I know it is not the best setup but I am hoping on getting a better air cooling case like a rosewill blackhawk.
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October 10, 2014 8:42:24 AM

According to NewEgg that case has the 2 92mm fans at the back as intake fans and the 2 120mm top fans as exhaust. Did you switch them around?

The reason I ask is its odd to have rear fans as intake fans. Particularly since a lot of people put there cases under a desk. This has a tendency to build up heat because the air under your desk tends to stagnate. Also since your graphics card exhausts its hot air out the back, this warm air would be drawn back into your case.

Now switching them around from the above configuration also has its drawbacks as well. Especially if it's under a desk. Hot air rises and it would tend to sit right under your desk. If the top are intakes the same scenario would occur except this time it would be your top fans drawing the hot air back in.

Does that case have any fan mounting spots up front?
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October 10, 2014 8:46:01 AM

I looked at your case a little closer, it appears you have a spot to mount two 120mm fans at the side of your case. Could you move your two top 120mm fans to the side and use them as intake, and change your 92mm fans to be exhaust?

One way to check if it's an airflow issue before changing this around is to take the side off your case and direct a small room fan or something into the open side of the case. If you see an improvement like this, you know you aren't getting enough cool fresh air into your case.
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October 10, 2014 9:06:05 AM

techgeek said:
I looked at your case a little closer, it appears you have a spot to mount two 120mm fans at the side of your case. Could you move your two top 120mm fans to the side and use them as intake, and change your 92mm fans to be exhaust?

One way to check if it's an airflow issue before changing this around is to take the side off your case and direct a small room fan or something into the open side of the case. If you see an improvement like this, you know you aren't getting enough cool fresh air into your case.


Ok so could you show me the picture where you see I could put the two 120mm on the side and the 92mm are already exhaust. I will however try the putting fan next to computer idea.
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October 10, 2014 9:48:59 AM

Here is the link for what I believe is your case at NewEgg:

TJ07

In the specifications it says 2 X 120mm side fans. From the picture it looks like they are at the bottom front on the side panel or in the side panel anyway.

Let me know if this isn't your case. It looks as if the case was sold with these two fans.
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October 10, 2014 11:14:11 AM

Side fans are actually for HDD cooling purpose. They won't throw fresh air on the GPU. I've used GTX 660 without any front intake fan and one exhaust fan only and it never gave me any such issue. Anyhow, checking air flow is a good idea.
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October 10, 2014 11:24:20 AM

techgeek said:
Here is the link for what I believe is your case at NewEgg:

TJ07

In the specifications it says 2 X 120mm side fans. From the picture it looks like they are at the bottom front on the side panel or in the side panel anyway.

Let me know if this isn't your case. It looks as if the case was sold with these two fans.


Ya those are just for my hdd there is a metal piece between them and the actual components. would be nice if I could preposition them to be intakes for my motherboard area.

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October 10, 2014 11:28:22 AM

I might have figured it out though recently I have been playing a lot of far cry 3 then I switched and played some call of duty ghosts and I noticed it was quieter and my temps were back to freaking normal and what not. Then I played some watch dogs and my temps went right back up. Could it be demanding open world games. Is that a known issue and if it turns out that it was just the game I am sorry for wasting time on this.
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October 10, 2014 11:28:45 AM

Yes, any option under which you get to throw fresh air on gpu would be beneficial.
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October 10, 2014 12:06:18 PM

Temperatures are definitely game dependent. Older / less intense graphical games will obviously not stress your GPU as much. Games like Watch Dogs, Far Cry 3, BF4, Crysis 3, etc fall in the category of graphically intense. COD's tend to be rehash's with very few improvement graphics wise.

Sorry, couldn't tell that's where the HDD's were from the picture. However unless that section is completely sealed of from the top, it should migrate up. The HDD's won't warm that air much as they probably aren't too hot to begin with. That said, I would still want those 92 mm fans as exhaust and probably the top ones as well. This will create a negative pressure situation (and there has been much debate on whether positive or negative is better) since you'll have 2 fans as intake with 4 as exhaust.

Have you tried the room fan idea. Of course try with the games that you were most concerned about FC3 and Watch Dogs. It doesn't hurt to see if there are improvements that can be made.
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October 10, 2014 12:22:38 PM

techgeek said:
Temperatures are definitely game dependent. Older / less intense graphical games will obviously not stress your GPU as much. Games like Watch Dogs, Far Cry 3, BF4, Crysis 3, etc fall in the category of graphically intense. COD's tend to be rehash's with very few improvement graphics wise.

Sorry, couldn't tell that's where the HDD's were from the picture. However unless that section is completely sealed of from the top, it should migrate up. The HDD's won't warm that air much as they probably aren't too hot to begin with. That said, I would still want those 92 mm fans as exhaust and probably the top ones as well. This will create a negative pressure situation (and there has been much debate on whether positive or negative is better) since you'll have 2 fans as intake with 4 as exhaust. Thanks for all the info and its not completely sealed of there is some room for air but not a lot so I don't think they would be contributing enough that I could switch the top fans around I think I will just try and play games like far cry 3 to a minimum until I can get a better air cooling case.

Have you tried the room fan idea. Of course try with the games that you were most concerned about FC3 and Watch Dogs. It doesn't hurt to see if there are improvements that can be made.


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