How much thermal compound?

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lennylemon1234

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Apr 9, 2015
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I have a gigabyte Nvidia GeForce gtx 750 ti low profile and I want to clean it. How much thermal compound do I put and where exactly do I put it?

Thank you.
 
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Karadjgne
True, but unfortunately not realistic as neither the gpu nor the cooler are perfectly flat. usually they are slightly concave so direct metal to metal is impossible for most the surface. So this is where thermal paste comes in, it provides a medium for thermal transfer which is much greater than any airgap. While it also fills in any micro surface irregularities, it's the airgap that's most important to eliminate. Generally a dab if paste about the size of a grain of rice is sufficient. Applied directly in the center along the longest axis, when pressure to the gpu is applied by the cooler, the paste will spread. This is why a step by step 'X' pattern is important when tightening the cooler down. Start all the screws, then sequentially...
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Chas_1

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Dec 5, 2016
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unless you are pulling off the fan and heat sink then you need not apply anything. watch a video online for this as telling you over text is going to be a bit hard lol. ground yourself so no sparks come off when you touch it and just clean it with a microfiber cleaning cloth/ air blower. if you must remove the fan and heat spreader watch a youtube.
 
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Karadjgne

Karadjgne

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There's absolutely no need to remove the heatsink/fan for cleaning. Most normal cleaning can be done with nothing more than a can of compressed air. At most invasive, the fan shroud can be removed carefully to allow better access to the heatsink.
 
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hyperthreadedm

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Oct 1, 2015
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Sometimes all a GPU needs is a good dusting, but if you feel applying new thermal paste will help your temperatures, then here's how:

The part that gets hottest and is the actual processing unit of the card looks like a small shiny, chrome looking chip in the center of the PCB. There will already be thermal compound on there, so wipe it off and do one of the two of these:

1. Apply a good sized dot (a liiiiiiiiiitle larger than a pea) on the chip. (750ti chips are pretty small so maybe less. as long as the thermal compound your using is non-conductive, it's ok if it touches other parts of the chip anyways.)

2.Do a small x pattern over the entire "shiny part" of the chip. (that's what contacts the heatsink so that's where it matters.)

Just be careful disassembling your GPU all the way down to the PCB. This will probably void the warranty (if you somehow still have one on a 750ti) and if you shock anything down there, you'll have yourself a nice paperweight.

 
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dontlistentome

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Sep 5, 2016
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I like to replace thermal compound at around 4 years, my experience is that the original compound is useless at that point. Always run a test, like 3dmark, first and look at temps with MSI Afterburner or another program. Then after you clean the part and reinstall it, test it again to see if there's a difference. If there isn't then you know you replaced the compound too soon.

As to how much, well you want the flat part of the chip and heatsink flush against each other. The compound fills the gaps from tiny pits and scratchs. So you don't want a thick layer sandwiched between the two parts. The amount then varies depending on the size of the area you are covering.
 
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Susquehannock

Susquehannock

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Dec 8, 2016
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"How much thermal compound? "

As said in the last post ... the answer is always little as possible. Only enough to fill imperfections in the surfaces. Direct metal to metal contact will provide MUCH better thermal transfer than any paste.
 
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Karadjgne

Karadjgne

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True, but unfortunately not realistic as neither the gpu nor the cooler are perfectly flat. usually they are slightly concave so direct metal to metal is impossible for most the surface. So this is where thermal paste comes in, it provides a medium for thermal transfer which is much greater than any airgap. While it also fills in any micro surface irregularities, it's the airgap that's most important to eliminate. Generally a dab if paste about the size of a grain of rice is sufficient. Applied directly in the center along the longest axis, when pressure to the gpu is applied by the cooler, the paste will spread. This is why a step by step 'X' pattern is important when tightening the cooler down. Start all the screws, then sequentially tighten in small amounts, maintaining an X pattern until all the screws are tight. Do not tighten 1 screw at a time or the paste gets pushed to the opposite corner and becomes useless as its no longer a uniform thickness.
 
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