So, I've had this problem for some time now but I've just been reluctant to address it.
Back in September ('06), I bought 2 new coolers: a mini-typhoon for my cpu, and a zalman vf700 for my vpu. I was going to buy the vf900 but Fry's was all out. I bring the stuff home and go to install them, but I realize that only one of them came with a VERY small tube of cheap thermal paste. Well, I, not knowing how much to put on, decided to just make it work and stretch the paste to both surfaces (cpu and vpu). Things seemed to work and I was pleased with the decrease in sound and heat (even though I hadn't ever done a heat test on either previous to the switch).
There was, however, one direct, noticable change: I could no longer overclock my graphics card. If I increased the settings the slightest bit, it would get extremely hot and eventually become unstable (within 20 minutes). So, since then, I've just left all the settings the way they were because I like my computer stable more than I like it uberpowerful (though I would like to have both if possible).
Just the other day, I was looking through Ati tray tools and noticed that my card was actually underclocked (for 3d mode I mean). Naturally, I thought nothing of it and tried to push it up to at least stock numbers. Dead. I have to restart my computer because ATI vpu recover doesn't get it back. I try again. Same results. This really sucks because I feel like I paid for half my real card (especially since I went out and bought a new vpu cooler in the hopes that I would be able to overclock it some more!) Right now, my vpu runs around 53c idle (not sure about under load because it keeps dying when I scan for artifacts).
So, I guess my questions are thus:
1) Is it just a thermal paste issue? and should I just go out and buy some Arctic Silver?
2) Is it a vpu cooler problem? (I vaguely recall reading something on a forum that said that the vf700 doesn't overclock well, but I'm not sure) Should I just order a Thermalright HR-03 and replace my old one?
3) Is it possible I did something wrong when installing it? It was my first time replacing a stock cooler and it's possible there was something I should have known about before but didn't.
4) Could somebody post/find some pictures of how much paste you need to put on it? I know everyone says 'a thin layer' but that's more vague than government work. I need a visual image to tell me what I'm doing.
Thanks
edit: I just finished running scan artifacts for 10 minutes and it topped out at 79c. I suppose that's not that bad, but this is at stock (500:594)
Back in September ('06), I bought 2 new coolers: a mini-typhoon for my cpu, and a zalman vf700 for my vpu. I was going to buy the vf900 but Fry's was all out. I bring the stuff home and go to install them, but I realize that only one of them came with a VERY small tube of cheap thermal paste. Well, I, not knowing how much to put on, decided to just make it work and stretch the paste to both surfaces (cpu and vpu). Things seemed to work and I was pleased with the decrease in sound and heat (even though I hadn't ever done a heat test on either previous to the switch).
There was, however, one direct, noticable change: I could no longer overclock my graphics card. If I increased the settings the slightest bit, it would get extremely hot and eventually become unstable (within 20 minutes). So, since then, I've just left all the settings the way they were because I like my computer stable more than I like it uberpowerful (though I would like to have both if possible).
Just the other day, I was looking through Ati tray tools and noticed that my card was actually underclocked (for 3d mode I mean). Naturally, I thought nothing of it and tried to push it up to at least stock numbers. Dead. I have to restart my computer because ATI vpu recover doesn't get it back. I try again. Same results. This really sucks because I feel like I paid for half my real card (especially since I went out and bought a new vpu cooler in the hopes that I would be able to overclock it some more!) Right now, my vpu runs around 53c idle (not sure about under load because it keeps dying when I scan for artifacts).
So, I guess my questions are thus:
1) Is it just a thermal paste issue? and should I just go out and buy some Arctic Silver?
2) Is it a vpu cooler problem? (I vaguely recall reading something on a forum that said that the vf700 doesn't overclock well, but I'm not sure) Should I just order a Thermalright HR-03 and replace my old one?
3) Is it possible I did something wrong when installing it? It was my first time replacing a stock cooler and it's possible there was something I should have known about before but didn't.
4) Could somebody post/find some pictures of how much paste you need to put on it? I know everyone says 'a thin layer' but that's more vague than government work. I need a visual image to tell me what I'm doing.
Thanks
edit: I just finished running scan artifacts for 10 minutes and it topped out at 79c. I suppose that's not that bad, but this is at stock (500:594)