So I just got upgraded my Ti200 to a 9700pro...

[Illah]

...and by eyeballing it it sure as hell looks like my GF3 waterblock holes line up with the 9700pro's. Can anyone confirm this for me?

Also about how big is the GPU under the stock heatsink? I need to make sure I'm not gonna smash some capacitors or something.

Lastly, what about the shim I keep hearing of?

Thanks.

--Illah

[kct2]

GF3 and 9700 have the same mounting holes, so your waterblock should be fine.

http://www.cpu3d.com/review/connect_r9700pro/gpu.jpg

That is what is under the heatsink.


The shim is the metal ring going around the outside in the picture. You will want to CAREFULLY remove it, it is alittle above the core preventing good contact. Check this (http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1288) out.

[Illah]

OK, I read up a bit and I don't like the idea of shim removal. I assume a thick layer of AS3 with my waterblock would be much better than the stock even if it's not ideal... Any good reasons not to do this? I don't have the tools to grind down my block either, so I can't do that.

Has anyone had any success with using a thin copper spacer? Like from the core you'd do AS3, spacer, AS3, waterblock.

--Illah

[Illah]

Anybody? I wanna pop on my waterblock when I get home from work, it's all connected still and sitting in my case next to the sound card :)

Would a fat glob of AS3 be THAT bad? Is it a major gap with the shim still on or is it just less-than-ideal? I'm not a 3dmark junkie so I don't need super-low temps, I'm doing it more for less fan noise than anything.

Thanks.

--Illah

[McWarren]

Could you cover the rest of the card and sand the shim down enough so that it allows good contact? If you're not keen on this, you could use a thermal compound, although you might as well use the cheap Radio Shack stuff, because you probably wouldn't tell the difference between that and AS-3 if you're spreading it so thick.

[rmonster]

Originally posted by Illah
Anybody? I wanna pop on my waterblock when I get home from work, it's all connected still and sitting in my case next to the sound card :)

Would a fat glob of AS3 be THAT bad? Is it a major gap with the shim still on or is it just less-than-ideal? I'm not a 3dmark junkie so I don't need super-low temps, I'm doing it more for less fan noise than anything.

Thanks.

--Illah

I dunno if I'd attempt the thick layer of ASIII route... ASII is conductive, and reletively thin paste. There's a risk of it thinning and flowing out of the tim-joint once it heats up, getting across some of the surface-mounts on the core and futzing things up a bit. Also, if it does thin and migrate, it will no longer be doing its job on the core.

I'd advise maybe using a tim-pad, thermal epoxy (non-conductive), or an adapter plate as you suggested earlier. If I were to just add more thermal-paste (which I wouldn't for fear of it leaving the scene), I'd try it with a non-conductive type.

[Illah]

So the gap is that fat? I read somewhere it was like .002".

Hmmm, any waterblocks that are pre-milled besides Dangerden and Swifty (they're expensive)?

--Illah

[camel]

I gotta say, its really not that hard to do. The heat sink uses the same material on the core. It seems to dry kinda hard, but it wont take much to release the H/S fan, same goes for the shim. (their is far to much material left on the heatsink when removing it, which prompted me to remove the shim) I used a razor blade gently cutting the goo on all 4 sides of the shim, then using the corner of the blade, stick it in just a bit on a corner of the shim, and twist, comes right off, just be very gentel. I think once you see it, you'll know it has to come off ;)

[NavyDood]

Just some info to add in regards to my Tyan G9700pro card. My shim is lower than the gpu. i checked it when I removed the heatsink to put some AS on it.

Check yours to be sure.

Jim

[sandman001]

My 9500np shim is belw the core also.

[Illah]

Cool, I'll check, BUT if it's lower and I then end up applying a fat layer of grease...then I'm back to the same problem.

Would shin-etsu grease work better? It's a thicker, waxier paste than AS3. We got a bunch at work from a bunch of Xeon server builds.

--Illah

[rmonster]

Absolutely, besides being thicker, it also non-conductive.

[Illah]

Cool. I'll 'borrow' some and give it a shot tonight!

I still havn't overclocked the card yet - there's no reason to! Splinter Cell at 1600x1200 maxed settings is nice :) I do run at 200FSB though so that helps.

--Illah