Hi all,

I just replaced my gpu's thermal paste. The old was dried out and I noticed while crunching that my temps are lower by a few degrees which is good to me. Before it was 73c and now it's 70c under windows XP using 98% of the GPU. And my power usage is higher which is good (before 103 and now 108) not sure if that has to do with me changing the paste though.

My question is if I use this gpu constantly every day, how often do you recommend I change the thermal paste? Perhaps take a guess if you don't know? Now I am aware that they don't need changing unless they get close to their max temp, but I'm really trying to get the most life out of mine as possible.

Thank you!
____________
Cruncher/Learner in progress.

if I use this gpu constantly every day, how often do you recommend I change the thermal paste?

Now I am aware that they don't need changing unless they get close to their max temp

but I'm really trying to get the most life out of mine as possible.

thank you
____________
Cruncher/Learner in progress.

While lower temps are good for longevity, every such operation (disassembling the PC and the card itself) has a risk of causing a fatal failure by physical harm (kicking of an SMD component, dropping the cooler assembly on the card, bending the PCB, etc) or electrical harm (static discharge).

While lower temps are good for longevity, every such operation (disassembling the PC and the card itself) has a risk of causing a fatal failure by physical harm (kicking of an SMD component, dropping the cooler assembly on the card, bending the PCB, etc) or electrical harm (static discharge).

In my opinion that risk outweighs the gain of a few degrees centigrade. Normally the GPU temps don't increase so quickly over time and changing the thermal paste will void the warranty anyway. So the first time you could try is 3 years after manufacturing date.

Frankly I would put my mind to keeping temperatures low <70°C by using Afterburner, setting a temperature limit. If the thermal paste is OK and the card well designed, it will manage the 70°C easily with a little clock and power limit reduction. However, if you see heavy load and power oscillations, it's probably time to change the paste.

Having said this, new thermal paste will not always lead to improvements, because the heat pipes ageing as well. Just to keep in mind. If the GPU shows 85°C before the overhaul and 84°C after, there apparently is something else cooking.

Hi,

So right now it's getting to a max of 72c with auto fan speed. My power limit is set to the max of 122 and the card is using 107% to 108%. I assume the higher power usage is better for the project to run faster? Though not the electric bill.

Do you think I should crank the fan up to the max? Or lower the power limit?

What would I need to do to ensure that the card is efficient for the project is what I mean

Thanks

At 72c your temp is fine, no need to do anything.

My card is a gtx 670 blower style card, so I am not sure if configuring the fan in msi afterburner will work the same way. I put under 53c for it to be 0, but the fan still spins when it reaches below 53c, just at the lowest it can go I assume.
____________
Cruncher/Learner in progress.

... I put under 53c for it to be 0, but the fan still spins when it reaches below 53c, just at the lowest it can go I assume.

I agree mostly. The risk can often outweigh the reward, so do it after you've tried everything else. While not a GPU, I just recently removed and remounted an Antec Kuhler. My CPU temps dropped dramatically. I guess the person I bought the machine from had used the stock paste that came pre-applied. It was a very thick square pad and a novice could see it was way too much.

If you have clean and smooth surfaces less thermal paste will often yield better thermal performance.

The more thermal paste you have between the mounting surfaces the more air is exposed to it and will slowly oxidize and "dry-out" the paste. Those thick pads that come pre-applied from corsair, etc are just there so idiots don't put it on dry. If you aren't an idiot remove it and apply your own small grain of rice/pea-sized amount of paste.

http://cdn.overclock.net/e/e5/500x1000px-LL-e5598e8c_imageview.php.gif
Note that mayonnaise is better than a lot of the products on the market, do your research.

I recently did this on an older GTX760 card I had lying around and was blown away by the difference in full load temperature before/after. I put it in a spare slot on one of my machines just to see what it could do and noticed that within 30secs or so of starting a task it was getting up to 95C. This was after already cleaning the dust out of the cooler & fan. So I took it back out, dismounted the cooler assembly, cleaned off the old cracked & brittle remaining OE paste, put on a thin layer of new paste & tried again. Now it runs less than 50C @ load. I have a newer GTX1060 alongside it that runs 10C hotter. Moral of the story is... OE paste sucks. Especially old paste.

Hey guys, I still got an old 660 and a broken i7 870 pc. But I have a brand new PC on the way as well as a gtx 1080. Looking forward to getting back into this, and hopefully will be staying for a long time now that I finally am going to have a job in a few weeks so I can pay for more things.

New pc specs are:

core i3 8100
8gb ddr4 2400mhz
1tb hdd
(not sure about the psu yet)
evga gtx 1080
windows 10

Happy crunching,

Logan
____________
Cruncher/Learner in progress.