Please Help - 7800GT Ramsinks

Hello, I'm like 90% finished with my completely modded external water cooling ( will post pictures soon ) but I have hit a nasty problem with my GF 7800GT at the end. I had a set of 8 Vantec cooper ramsinks which I bougth year and a half ago and those are really low profile and fit perfectly under Maze4 I'm using. The problem is however that I failed to attach those to the card :-( Reasons :
- I think thermal tape on Vantec ramsinks is too old ( close to 20 months )
- video card was never run with original heatsink but I guess there is some residue from thermal paste used since ram chips feel like polished on touch and the type I used simple doesn't make good contact.

I have used all my spare thermal type I need to buy a new one. Can someone please help what should I use to clean ram chips surface so the new type hold ramsinks in place ? Any recommendation on thermal type used or almost any will do ? Thx in advance.

i think you can use Arctic Silver, this is there website:
http://www.arcticsilver.com/products.htm

I know many people use AS 5, and I use Ceramique.

You can also use those Thermal Cleaners from AS to clean up the thermal on your Ram and Heatsinks. I guess the ArctiClean could work on most thermals.

You should never use AS5 on GPU ramsinks. The chance of it bleeding on to something else and causing a short is too great. You can use AS5 on the GPU and Ceramique on the ram or Ceramique on everything.

Folks, how on earth are you going to use ceramique on the ram? It won't hold squat. Use a clean cloth and some rubbing alcohol to remove any residue. You need to find Sekisui #5760 thermal tape. This is the best stuff you can get for Ramsinks. Bestbyte.net or ebay should have it.

I had the same problem. I had to resort to putting a thin layer of ceramique on the ram and then a small dot of super glue in two opposite corners. It's not the best option, but it holds the ramsink and it doesn't impede the heat transfer too much. My temps are acceptable.

Just use White Glue. ITs mostly water based so dont apply to much, but if some does spill off the ram chip just wait till it dries! The best part is white glue is easy to remove and isnt all that bad at heat trasnfer either!

I tried elmer's white glue but it didn't work. Maybe it was interacting with the ceramique, but it just didn't hold the sinks on at all. That is why I was forced to use super glue. But even with super glue, you only need two little dots, and if you twist the sink, it comes off easy without any damage.

My friend has lost a video card beacuse of super glue. I allways treat the sinks with some nail polish remover with acetone before i apply glue to the sink and the ram. You have to apply a semi generous amount of white glue. Im getting a 6800gt this week. Ill make a new post with my howto.

I probably didn't use enough white glue. I was afraid to get it tall over the place. How much did you use? I wanted to keep the amount of thermal compound greater than the amount of glue.

i just use glue, no thermal compound

you can buy 1"x1" pieces of thermal tape from frozencpu.com I picked up some used ramsinks and a polarflo tt gpu block that I'll be using and I just ordered some new thermal tape to stick the ramsinks on my 7800GT

striker85 said:

I tried elmer's white glue but it didn't work. Maybe it was interacting with the ceramique, but it just didn't hold the sinks on at all. That is why I was forced to use super glue. But even with super glue, you only need two little dots, and if you twist the sink, it comes off easy without any damage.

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you need to wait 24 hours if you use white glue.

If you get the AS5, you wil get a quality bond! Good thermal transfer, but its a very strong epoxy that might create a permanent bond between the ramsinks and the ranchips.I dont know if their cleaning product will would with the AS5.Its a good choice, IMHO.One read said not to use it because it can damage your card, which is true, but only if you dont use common sense.The same applies for regular ceramique or any other thermal paste---they are conductive,and therefor represent a danger to parts with metal.A tiny bit will do you well, and some common sense and care during the application process should ensure quality results.Personally, I never favored thermal tape.All the thermal tape I have seen was non-conductive, so the heat transfer was hindered.Maybe they make some tape now that is made with silver dust or something to help thermal tranfer.