changing the tim on a 6950 ref?

manu2b · Oct 8, 2011

Hi all,

simple question: is it worth replacing the tim with a high end one on a 6950 unlocked oc'ed?

doz · Oct 8, 2011

Yes. I did and it lowered my temps about 6c. I used Shin-Etsu 7783

manu2b · Oct 8, 2011

I never took the cooler out and I've read that I might need thermal pads. Is it right, or the tim will be ok?

Crapxxas119 · Oct 8, 2011

NOO THERMAL PADS!!
I heard they suck so some as5 should be good. I would feel comfortable if someone would confirm that thermal pads suck just in case.

manu2b · Oct 8, 2011

I know thermal pads.suck, but I've read that there is a gap between the ram modules and the heatsink...

doz · Oct 8, 2011

I reused my pads without issue after replacing the TIM. I heard that you can use TIM on everything but the pads were so tall that I couldnt see how you could remove them so I didnt chance it.

manu2b · Oct 8, 2011

Thanks for the info Doz.

I will try tomorrow morning.
The card is stable@980/1500 (3dmark11 demo loop), but with the custom fan profile sounds like a jet engine!
With 5-6°C less, the fan might spin at a bit lower speed.

doz · Oct 8, 2011

Best upgrade I did in my cooling solution was changing that reference cooler. Its deathly loud like you said. Think about it!

manu2b · Oct 8, 2011

I did think about it, I admit lol!
But I am bit, how to say... skinned!
BD is coming, so I'll need a new mobo/cpu to replace my PhII.
IB is coming Q1...
7xxx on their way as well...

So, I live with the noise and foam in my ears

bennoculus · Oct 8, 2011

Yeah, it's worth replacing the stock TIM with high quality TIM.

That is actually one of the very first things I do when I get a new card, whether it was previously used or brand new. I always use AS5 (well, I used MX-4 once or twice) on my GPUs as well. It's really nice to see the temps drop a bit. That stock paste they put on really does suck.

Speaking of, I need to do this on my GTX580. The TIM on it is indeed quite old...

manu2b · Oct 8, 2011

I have two TIM "in stock": AS5 and NT-H1.

I've used both on my 2600k and didn't notice a huge difference... maybe a bad mount with the Noctua as it is said to be better than the AS5...

Will try it tomorrow on the 6950 and do a remount of th WB on the 2600k to see if there is any improvement.

EDIT: or maybe the f...ing bubbles in my loop. I just can't get rid of them!

grumperfish · Oct 8, 2011

Use TIM on the GPU core & reuse the pads on the VRMs and the RAM chips. Make sure you replace the pad on the left (near the DVI ports) as it's tiny and easy to miss.

I saw a small temperature drop when I replaced the gunky TIM on mine, but I ended up replacing the cooler altogether with an AC Xtreme Plus as the reference cooler was still too loud compared to the rest of the system. You've said that isn't really an option, so replacing the TIM should help, along with maybe getting some over-ear headphones (I bought some JVC HARX900 recently on amazon and I really like them for the price).

bennoculus · Oct 8, 2011

Just replaced the TIM on my GTX 580 DCUII. It was idling at around 45-47C with the stock Asus paste. Took it apart, cleaned off the TIM with rubbing alcohol, then placed a nice sized dab of AS5 in the center of the die.
Booted back up and checked temps via MSI Afterburner - I went from 47C max idle to about 38C idle. Man... the stock Asus paste must be horrid... :bang head

manu2b · Oct 8, 2011

Thanks for the tips!

I'll let you know tomorrow what is the result.

And I'll get a look to these JVC's

grumperfish · Oct 9, 2011

manu2b said:
And I'll get a look to these JVC's

They're a little bassy, but with some EQ they punch well above their cost. I usually use IEM's for on the go but I needed something for listening to at home and these fit the bill. I just picked up a used Auzentech card from the classifieds to replace the aging Audigy2ZS, and overall I'm happy with the current setup (my speaker setup rocks now without all the popping and noise.... how did creative manage to mess up a digital signal so much anyways?).

Good luck with the TIM replacement. Should be pretty easy.

manu2b · Oct 9, 2011

all done! thanks to all.

58°C/66%fan max 3dmark11 demo loop :thup:

Theocnoob · Oct 9, 2011

bennoculus said:
Just replaced the TIM on my GTX 580 DCUII. It was idling at around 45-47C with the stock Asus paste. Took it apart, cleaned off the TIM with rubbing alcohol, then placed a nice sized dab of AS5 in the center of the die.
Booted back up and checked temps via MSI Afterburner - I went from 47C max idle to about 38C idle. Man... the stock Asus paste must be horrid...

I changed the paste on mine to MX 4 and had a similar temp change.

The stuff they used seemed quite crappy but more than that there was 5 times more than there should have been. Nice thing with the DCUII is that there are only 4 screws. No RAM pads or anything.

CJ145 · Oct 9, 2011

I have done the TIM replacement on 4 different 69XX reference cards.

Card 1: 6c drop
Card 2: 4c drop
Card 3: 7c drop
Card 4: 3c drop

It seems to vary a lot between the cards... I know the base plate of the reference coolers are not very flat.

manu2b · Oct 9, 2011

CJ145 said:
I have done the TIM replacement on 4 different 69XX reference cards.

Card 1: 6c drop
Card 2: 4c drop
Card 3: 7c drop
Card 4: 3c drop

It seems to vary a lot between the cards... I know the base plate of the reference coolers are not very flat.

Agreed, the base looks like sh..t!

bennoculus · Oct 9, 2011

Replaced my TIM on my Matrix as well last night (since it was stock from Asus - RMA replacement). Saw as much as a 7C drop.

changing the tim on a 6950 ref?

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