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View Full Version : The Do's and Dont's of Upgrading Cooling on a Video Card....


Boostin14PSI
07-17-03, 09:50 AM
I thought i would list a couple and you could list a couple and we may have something going here. So:
-Use a 100% non-conductive Paste
-If working with a glued Heatsink try not to pry. Wedge instead..
-When cutting your own Ramsinks Measure Twice Cut once...

Originally posted by Ugmore Baggage
--the plastic hold-down pins usually have a locking pin that you can remove without destroying anything.
-- put the card in a ziplock bag and chill it in the freezer to make glue brittle/breakable.
-- when gluing, measure twice glue once

Originally posted by |\/|oDdiC(_)$
-if you're too scared to do it, and think you'll likely mess up, dont do it, the chances are that you will mess up (the only time youd feel this way is when youve never done this before) and you should practise on a very cheap card just to get a feel for things.

-always wear the anti-static bracelet when touching computer components. one little shock could end your little 600$ cards life


Originally posted by FunkDaMonkMan
-- If you think you may need to remove the heatsink in the future, dillute the epoxy with some Regular Arctic Alumina, or possibly ASIII, just be careful.
--When cutting ramsinks, make sure the cut edges are smooth, because any metal shards on the side could short out two ram
pins.


Originally posted by Illig
--zip ties work just as well as epoxy if done right... and are much easier to remove
--zip ties allow you to use heatsink compound which is a better heat conductor than epoxy..


Originally posted by Grande Juan
--Never utilize large screwdrivers in your endeavors, especially for mashing push pins.
--Run a search, or start your own thread but for the love of mary quit hijacking this one.

Originally posted by john240sx
--prefit everything before you start to glue/bolt the upgraded cooling devices to the card, a few extra minutes could save hours of work.

Originally posted by 1-Man-Army
-- clean all surface (eg the gpu and heat sink its self) with rubbing alchol before mounting the heat sink

Originally posted by pip
-to remove plastic pins use needlenose pliers and squeeze the backs of the pins then pull them out

Originally posted by Xaotic
-- If you have a Dremel available, a cutoff wheel will cut more accurately and cheanly than a hand powered saw and can be used to remove burrs and edge imperfections easier than files on small and medium heatsinks.

Originally posted by PalominoBURN
--I got the UNIVERSAL RULE... If you don't know what your doing... DON'T DO IT. No more needs to be said.

be sure to take the damn shim off your ATI based card to get better contact.

Originally posted by drunksquirrels
--apply a paper thing layer of thermal compound, so that you can see through the layer. the mechanisms for securing heatsinks to cards do not apply as much pressure as the clips on heatsinks for cpus, and globbing too much paste can actually impair heat transfer.

Originally posted by sandman001
--Attack with a plan, don't just wing it with your expensive card.



Originally posted by Luie
-- Research about your card. See how others did it. Analyze their steps. See if there are any methods to reduce your risk of doing anything wrong.

-- Learn from other's mistakes, you don't have time to make them all your own.

-- See if your new heatsink hits any capacitors. If do, modify your heatsink so that it doesn't.

Originally posted by nealric
--if you are going extreme, be very, very wary of condensation.

--When the gpu is cold enough, cold can be trasfered via the leads into the agp slot where condensation can form- a place where insulation is impossible.

Ugmore Baggage
07-17-03, 10:25 AM
-- the plastic hold-down pins usually have a locking pin that you can remove without destroying anything.
-- put the card in a ziplock bag and chill it in the freezer to make glue brittle/breakable.
-- when gluing, measure twice glue once

|\/|oDdiC(_)$
07-17-03, 10:32 AM
-if you're too scared to do it, and think you'll likely mess up, dont do it, the chances are that you will mess up (the only time youd feel this way is when youve never done this before) and you should practise on a very cheap card just to get a feel for things.

-always wear the anti-static bracelet when touching computer components. one little shock could end your little 600$ cards life.

FunkDaMonkMan
07-17-03, 12:23 PM
-- If you think you may need to remove the heatsink in the future, dillute the epoxy with some Regular Arctic Alumina, or possibly ASIII, just be careful.

JKeefe
07-17-03, 09:53 PM
Originally posted by Boostin14PSI
-If working with a glued Heatsink try not to pry. Wedge insteadCould you explain the difference between wedging and prying?

I've read on many occasions that twisting is your best bet to not break anything.

FunkDaMonkMan
07-18-03, 11:31 AM
--When cutting ramsinks, make sure the cut edges are smooth, because any metal shards on the side could short out two ram pins.


:edit: .. start integrating these into your first post. YOu could put the user who contributed them next to it like . (funkdamonkman) -- blah blah blah

fubulg6000
07-18-03, 11:38 AM
To comment on the ramsinks..... use a metal file to smooth them out. I had to use a hacksaw to cut up some ramsinks and they ended up chipping like crazy in the corners and cut edges. I used a metal file to smooth it up and BAM! no chips :D.


A for removing the shim... all i did freeze the card for about 15min and slid a box cutting blade in the corner and began to twist it. It worked well until the thing popped off and chipped the core. Luckily it wasn't enough to damage the card, but it did emotionally damage me :(

illig
07-18-03, 02:33 PM
zip ties work just as well as epoxy if done right... and are much easier to remove :D

and zip ties allow you to use heatsink compound which is a better heat conductor than epoxy..

Grande Juan
07-18-03, 04:59 PM
Never utilize large screwdrivers in your endeavors, especially for mashing push pins.

FunkDaMonkMan
07-20-03, 08:13 PM
Alright, its lookin good!

john240sx
07-20-03, 09:11 PM
prefit everything before you start to glue/bolt the upgraded cooling devices to the card, a few extra minutes could save hours of work.

(my Zalman ZM80 wasn't sitting flat on my core because of a small heatsink i added to the voltage regulator heatspreader/shield, if i were to prefit the heatsink i would have seen this and saved about an hour of cleaning ASIII)

1-Man-Army
07-20-03, 11:07 PM
clean all surface (eg the gpu and heat sink its self) with rubbing alchol before mounting the heat sink

pip
07-20-03, 11:59 PM
-to remove plastic pins use needlenose pliers and squeeze the backs of the pins then pull them out

Xaotic
07-21-03, 04:08 AM
If you have a Dremel available, a cutoff wheel will cut more accurately and cheanly than a hand powered saw and can be used to remove burrs and edge imperfections easier than files on small and medium heatsinks.

bubba gump
07-21-03, 04:54 PM
I would sorta do as they said above, dillute the epoxy (probably the stuff that comes in the package) w/some as3 (mix it iirc, not sure of the *exact* mixture but I think it was 1 part thermal compound (as3) to 3 parts epoxy...or the other way around) or to use some zip ties to attach it to the card and use the as3.

This is looking very nice, maybe add this to the sticky's??

Fold and Frag on
Brian

john240sx
07-21-03, 06:13 PM
Originally posted by EmTSea19
When putting on a Zalman heatpipe, should you use the goop that comes in the package or AS3?

i used AS3, i didn't even consider using the included stuff but it should work just fine.

(it used alot of AS3 though, if i have to re-assemble it again i would use the included stuff)

Beast Of Blight
07-21-03, 06:28 PM
Beast Of Blights Motto: Zipties are your friends

TheGr8s1
07-21-03, 07:03 PM
"Bump" Very good topic :)

PalominoBURN
07-21-03, 07:18 PM
I got the UNIVERSAL RULE... If you don't know what your doing... DON'T DO IT. No more needs to be said.

Grande Juan
07-22-03, 10:25 PM
Originally posted by EmTSea19
Okay, but I though AS3 is conductive, and people posted that you should not use conductive stuff on a video card. Maybe I have this wrong? Maybe it's use conductive for the heatpipe, but not for any of those extra little heatsinks someone might put on?
Confused now, *lol*. Run a search, or start your own thread but for the love of mary quit hijacking this one. heh.

drunksquirrels
07-23-03, 02:12 PM
be sure to take the damn shim off your ATI based card to get better contact.

apply a paper thing layer of thermal compound, so that you can see through the layer. the mechanisms for securing heatsinks to cards do not apply as much pressure as the clips on heatsinks for cpus, and globbing too much paste can actually impair heat transfer.

modenaf1
07-23-03, 02:42 PM
Originally posted by drunksquirrels
be sure to take the damn shim off your ATI based card to get better contact.

apply a paper thing layer of thermal compound, so that you can see through the layer. the mechanisms for securing heatsinks to cards do not apply as much pressure as the clips on heatsinks for cpus, and globbing too much paste can actually impair heat transfer.

http://www.theforumisdown.com/uploadfiles/0103/wttf.JPG

sorry i have nothing to add. I dont know anything about video cards :cry:

modenaf1
07-24-03, 10:04 AM
sorry. want me to get rid of it?

sandman001
07-25-03, 12:30 PM
Attack with a plan, don't just wing it with your expensive card.

Luie
07-25-03, 03:05 PM
- Research about your card. See how others did it. Analyze their steps. See if there are any methods to reduce your risk of doing anything wrong.

- Learn from other's mistakes, you don't have time to make them all your own.

- See if your new heatsink hits any capacitors. If do, modify your heatsink so that it doesn't.


PS. wow, this thread is looking good. I agree.

fubulg6000
07-25-03, 06:52 PM
never use epoxy for OCing unless your comfortable with it ( dont know if this was already mentioned).

Boostin14PSI
07-25-03, 07:45 PM
I got an idea. If you see that you have been added to the origanal post then delete your post.
Thanx

Boostin14PSI
07-27-03, 02:16 AM
bump bump bu bump it!! ^

nealric
07-27-03, 02:51 AM
if you are going extreme, be very, very wary of condensation.

When the gpu is cold enough, cold can be trasfered via the leads into the agp slot where condensation can form- a place where insulation is impossible.

I almost found this out the hard way :eek:

Wam
07-31-03, 01:32 PM
Bump, found some good tips.