New Thermal Compound Makes GPU Temps Lower on Idle, But Higher on Load

[Akhilcool]

Hey guys! I just put on new thermal paste because my GPU was overheating and I expected better temps since I replaced my GPU thermal compound with Arctic Silver 5. The darn thing runs almost 5*C cooler on idle as opposed to my previous idle temps of 40*C. So that went a lot better with Arctic Silver 5. The thing is, it runs almost 5*C warmer when on full load at almost 90*C as opposed to my older full load temps of 85*C. What did I do wrong? I think I applied enough thermal compound. Just about 2/3 - 3/4 the size of a pea. I also cleaned my GPU heatsink and the point of contact on my GPU with 70% rubbing alcohol and used a cotton ball and Q-Tip to clean. I made sure there was no thermal paste or dust left on either part and gently pushed the GPU heatsink and GPU together and screwed them together tight enough. Yet my idle temps are weirdly lower now than with my stock thermal paste, and my full load temps are HIGHER than with my stock thermal paste. Can someone please help me?

 

[Vettedude]

I think your card is a dud. No way it should be that high. You have a 6870, correct?

 

[Akhilcool]

I think your card is a dud. No way it should be that high. You have a 6870, correct?

Yeah man But even with a better thermal compound it should be better not worse in terms of temps.

 

[Vettedude]

Well your thermal sensors on the card could be bad. Especially since you still have the problem with fans at 100%. I mean, my 6850 was running at 60C today, and to test out I put the fans at 60% and it went down to 45C pretty quick. And that's loaded. Do the temps that the sensors report change at all when changing the fan speeds?

 

[Akhilcool]

Well your thermal sensors on the card could be bad. Especially since you still have the problem with fans at 100%. I mean, my 6850 was running at 60C today, and to test out I put the fans at 60% and it went down to 45C pretty quick. And that's loaded. Do the temps that the sensors report change at all when changing the fan speeds?

I don't think that can be it. I just changed the fan speed from 30% to 100% and the temps dropped 5*C so my sensors are good.

 

[Vettedude]

5C isn't enough of a change unless the air in your house is like 100F. When I do the same thing mine lowers (at load from Folding@Home) from 60C to 50C.

 

[Akhilcool]

Wait a minute...I ran OCCT on 0% fan speed and got temps of 86*C and when I ran it at 100% fan speed I got temps of 82-83*C what the hell? I should be worried?

 

[Akhilcool]

5C isn't enough of a change unless the air in your house is like 100F. When I do the same thing mine lowers (at load from Folding@Home) from 60C to 50C.

So my thermal compound application is wrong? Should I put more as I feel like I cut short. Also, I screwed my heatsink to my card pretty tight, is too tight a bad thing?

 

[Vettedude]

Post a link to the model card you have, I want to look at the cooler.

Thermal paste probably isn't the issue, I think its the thermal sensor. They get kinda glitchy sometimes. 3C change between 0% and 100% isn't right at all.

 

[Akhilcool]

Post a link to the model card you have, I want to look at the cooler.

Thermal paste probably isn't the issue, I think its the thermal sensor. They get kinda glitchy sometimes. 3C change between 0% and 100% isn't right at all.

Sure here it is: http://www.pureoverclock.com/article1360.html and yes... this card has been a pain in the ###. I

 

[Akhilcool]

Well I opened up my PC and realized the fans are still kinda running when I put them to 0%. What I did was just touch their centres and stopped them while monitoring my temps....my temps go up from about 1*C per 20-30 secs : /

 

[Vettedude]

WTF A dual fan Sapphire doing that? I have a single fan Sapphire HD 6850 (got it today ) which only has a 20w less TDP than your card, and yours has 2 fans. Your temperature sensors are probably glitchy man, unless your ambient air is really warm or your case air that actually feeds the GPU fans is really warm.

Underclock it to the lowest settings CCC has and then test the temps. (Don't have to underclock the RAM)

 

[Akhilcool]

Oh putting my temps at 0% and its automatic idle speed of 33% makes no difference, it still runs at 33% indicating that the fans can't go any lower in speed.

 

[Akhilcool]

WTF A dual fan Sapphire doing that? I have a single fan Sapphire HD 6850 (got it today ) which only has a 20w less TDP than your card, and yours has 2 fans. Your temperature sensors are probably glitchy man, unless your ambient air is really warm or your case air that actually feeds the GPU fans is really warm.

Underclock it to the lowest settings CCC has and then test the temps. (Don't have to underclock the RAM)

Sadly, I'm already ahead of you I put my stock clocks on and did a stability test and my differences in temps was 5*C. Not only that but I have my PC in the basement that has ambient temps of 21*C and my case fans are highly amped at full speed. Not to mention that they all mostly blow towards my gpu from different angles (side and front).

 

[Akhilcool]

Do you think that my card should be RMA'd and if so do you think they will notice the new thermal paste?

 

[Vettedude]

I think your thermal sensor is glitched or broken.

 

[Akhilcool]

I think your thermal sensor is glitched or broken.

Can an RMA find that or am I going to have to live with not knowing the right temps . I didn't mess with anything else when I opened the GPU. The thermal sensor seemed to be working fine before I applied the new thermal paste. Are you sure that can be the problem? The temps seem to decrease to 32*C when fan is at 100% as opposed to 34-35*C when fan is at 33%.....I think the thermal paste application might be an issue. I put a pretty little amount. Maybe about 1/3 - 2/3 a pea size : /

 

[Vettedude]

1/3 pea size? That's too little. But even before the paste it was running higher than it should have. Reapply thermal paste again, put more on this time. If not then I'm pretty sure you can RMA it.

 

[Akhilcool]

1/3 pea size? That's too little. But even before the paste it was running higher than it should have. Reapply thermal paste again, put more on this time. If not then I'm pretty sure you can RMA it.

When reapplying do I remove the thermal paste I just put on and apply again or can I just add some more thermal paste to the existing amount?

 

[Akhilcool]

1/3 pea size? That's too little. But even before the paste it was running higher than it should have. Reapply thermal paste again, put more on this time. If not then I'm pretty sure you can RMA it.

lol and I hate this piece of crap card to begin with....should've returned it when I had the chance. It runs horribly. Performance is ok but temps are way out of margin. That employee at my retailer promised me "super amped-up cooling" yet I get 80*C on stock OC settings and an amped up fan profile. Of course the card most likely has a defect but I think a GTX 560 Ti would have been a far greater card OMG I hate this...

 

[Akhilcool]

Do you have any suggestions for the thermal paste?

 

[odin_611]

Was anyone able to answer the original question? I've got a similar thing going on with brand new Arctic silver paste applied to my cpu/heatsink, except my temps are still reasonable for an intel processor the load temp just went up after application but idle temp went down after the new application.

 

[Akhilcool]

Sorry for the really late post. Uhm I RMA'd my GPU from Sapphire and they sent me a new card that with the stock thermal paste runs at a much cooler temperature (around 72*C MAX. With a decent overclock, around 80*C MAX.) I guess there was never an issue with the TIM, it was most likely my GPU being faulty. The problem is fixed then. I still have some AS5 remaining, should I exchange the stock TIM from the new GPU? Or should I just leave it alone since the temps I'm getting now are pretty decent anyways?

 

[Earnie]

Sorry for the really late post. Uhm I RMA'd my GPU from Sapphire and they sent me a new card that with the stock thermal paste runs at a much cooler temperature (around 72*C MAX. With a decent overclock, around 80*C MAX.) I guess there was never an issue with the TIM, it was most likely my GPU being faulty. The problem is fixed then. I still have some AS5 remaining, should I exchange the stock TIM from the new GPU? Or should I just leave it alone since the temps I'm getting now are pretty decent anyways?

I'm surprised you got warranty on your card,sapphire's warranty is void if there cards are modded in anyway,shape or form.
I'm glad you had it replaced,However if the temps are fine,i suggest you just leave well enough alone.

 

[Akhilcool]

I'm surprised you got warranty on your card,sapphire's warranty is void if there cards are modded in anyway,shape or form.
I'm glad you had it replaced,However if the temps are fine,i suggest you just leave well enough alone.

Yeah I'm not sure if I was lucky or if they don't mind modded cards, but thanks for the reply. I guess I'll be satisfied with my new card.