GPU stopped working after I put on thermal paste

Herrick_1 · Jun 18, 2016

I took out my msi twin frozr 580 OC to clean out the dust. I also removed the thermal paste and since I didn't have thermal paste handy. I underclocked the GPU both the clock speed and memory speed. It was totally fine. I got my thermal paste today and then when I put back on. I cannot get pass the windows loading screen and it just blacks out. Some high pitching sound is heard particularly when the screen goes all dark.

What's the reason? I tried uninstalling the driver and it does show the screen but as far as I reinstalled the nvidia driver. The same problem comes up again.

Please help!!!

ddferrari · Jun 19, 2016

Are you sure you put it back together properly?
Have you made sure the power connector is seated properly?
Have you tried re-seating the card in the pci slot?
Were you properly grounded while working on the card?

Herrick_1 · Jun 19, 2016

ddferrari :

Yes they are properly put back in order. I just took out the heatsink and put back in. And that happened

bishopi5 · Jun 19, 2016

are you saying you removed the thermal paste, didn't have more, so put it back together and used it? with NO THERMAL PASTE??????????

Herrick_1 · Jun 19, 2016

I had no thermal paste but then i turned down the clock and it was running at 45C....so I thot it was ok. I only turned on the computer for few minutes then I turned it off again. The next day I got some new paste and put back on it didnt work anymore... The graphics card stop sending signals once it loads to windows.

bishopi5 · Jun 20, 2016

thermal paste is needed no matter what temp..... running the card without it is bad, and is probably the cause of the new issues, pull it back apart, remove the thermal paste, and then add just a tiny amount of new paste, you might have put to might, little is more in this case

Herrick_1 · Jun 20, 2016

When the temperature didnt reach high and remained low, theoretically it should not damage the card no? The card is designed to run at 85C+ anyways

Qualtrox · Jun 20, 2016

See if your cooler is connected to your gpu/ whatever power source it uses properly

Had that happen to me once when i replaced the thermal paste but i immediately noticed that my cooler isnt moving shut the pc down turns out that the connector is connected the opposite way

However you took a big risk by running a gpu without termal paste, so if you damaged it pretty much nothing will help you.

Herrick_1 · Jun 20, 2016

Qualtrox :

The fans do turn, so they are working...
because its not like i ran the computer for so long, I pretty much just turned on for few minutes and turn it back off...
so its a mystery......maybe its time for rx 480

Qualtrox · Jun 20, 2016

Well since it get's to the windows loading my guess is that your gpu is still ok

So if you're not lazy maybe it's time to do startup repair through the windows setup media or if that fails back up and reformat

Herrick_1 · Jun 20, 2016

the problem is it everytime the windows 10 loading screen finish, the gpu stop sending signals and i hear some coil whine.
If I delete the driver, it gets me into windows but whenever i reinstall the driver, the same thing happens again...
I tried using another OS with another SSD its still the same...
During the time without thermal paste I underclocked the core speed and memory speed to make sure the temperature wont go up...i thought that would be ok.
After application of thermal paste, just stopped working...isnt this weird

Qualtrox · Jun 20, 2016

Herrick_1 :

Well i haven't heard of this happening before nor have i experienced it

It's definitely weird thermal paste does not have any effect on the driver so maybe improper thermal paste aplication.
Anyway how can windows boot without the driver, is it using integrated graphics or?

Herrick_1 · Jun 20, 2016

Qualtrox :

Herrick_1 :

Well i haven't heard of this happening before nor have i experienced it

It's definitely weird thermal paste does not have any effect on the driver so maybe improper thermal paste aplication.
Anyway how can windows boot without the driver, is it using integrated graphics or?

i used the coolermaster mastergel nano.....that isnt some weird thermal paste for sure.
i used safe mode....

bishopi5 · Jun 20, 2016

Uhm yes thermal paste can cause driver problems.... Anything damaged on the card will cause the drivers to act funny or the driver to not install at all, and by running the card without ANY thermal paste, the card might be damaged, weather it was 2c or 100c when you were using it, but since the problem only happened AFTER you applied new thermal paste, im guessing you just did something silly along the way, or put to much paste ! (fingers crossed)

Herrick_1 · Jun 20, 2016

but thats such a mystery....i just used the pea method

Qualtrox · Jun 20, 2016

bishopi5 :

I ment to say thermal paste doesnt have to do anything to do with the driver as long as it's applied correctly but i split it in 2 posts

Herrick_1 · Jun 20, 2016

Qualtrox :

bishopi5 :

I ment to say thermal paste doesnt have to do anything to do with the driver as long as it's applied correctly but i split it in 2 posts

This kind of crash is just unbelievable....

Qualtrox · Jun 20, 2016

Herrick_1 :

The pea method could possibly be a prob since you got a much smaller area to work with on a gpu than on a cpu

pete_101 · Jun 20, 2016

Too much thermal paste doesn't harm anything as long as it's non-electrically conductive.....see here for an extreme example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAid5G30-WM

No thermal paste is a terrible idea, especially on a GPU as they don't have the heat spreader that CPUs have, the heat block sits directly onto the cover of the GPU die. This means it's possible for some of the GPU to be running cool while another part is super hot...it's also why you add more thermal paste to a GPU than a CPU, just to be sure the whole GPU is covered.

Herrick_1 · Jun 20, 2016

pete_101 :

yes the die size of 580 is way bigger than a cpu one... that's why the whole thing is weird

GPU stopped working after I put on thermal paste

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