Sapphire ATI 4890 running hot?

[kathmustdie]

My ATI 4890 is running a bit hot. it idles at 71 degrees at about 60~70% Fan speed. Its running really hot and most of the time i have to underclock it when i am not gaming. Plus its filled with dust and requires a blow of compressed air

i intend to replace the thermal paste on the GPU heatsink. And i will be using an Antec Formula 7 thermal compound or Coolermaster ThermalFusion 400 (which i'll intend to buy) but right now i have a 40G tub of Cooler Master IceFusion . Would those pastes be good enough? I live in an area where i am not able to get other recommended TIM's

When i open the GPU , would i have to replace anything else except for the thermal compound? i was told that there are thermal pads? Also there is a guide dedicated to the disassembly ---> http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/Featur [...] guide.aspx

Is it safe?

Oh and i have a ATI Sapphire 4890 , if that helps.

 

[4745454b]

If you know its dusty, I wouldn't go through all that. Just clean it out and get the stock performance back. If it was hot/noisy even when stock/original, then by all means tear it apart. Any paste should do. Only a few cards have really good sinks that shouldn't be messed with.

 

[sephirotic]

90% sure i'ts just dust, changing thermal paste would have actually a negative impact not to mention (i think) void your warranty