Artifacts after lapping HSF FX5950u?

MonroeM · Dec 7, 2004

Hey everyone, I recently lapped my 5950u's heatsink to get a little better o/cing (the original HS was fairly rough) and applied AS5 to the GPU and all the RAM. Strange thing is, in 3DMark 03, I get strange blocky artifacts when running the Proxycon test.

Played 2 1/2 hours of Tribes Vengeance tonight and didn't notice a thing.

Beneath is the temps reported by the card. Are these normal? I didn't quite get a mirror finish on the HS, maybe I should try again and reaply the AS5?

Idle: 43c, Ambient: 26c, Full load: ~71c

Any help will be much appreciated.

dicecca112 · Dec 7, 2004

71 is kinda high, you sure that the heatsink is mounted right, and all is right with the card? Mark sure it is seated correctly

CandymanCan · Dec 8, 2004

You didnt get any metal shards or AS5 under the core or memory did you ?

MonroeM · Dec 8, 2004

Well I don't see how I could get it under the core... since it seems to be stuck on there pretty well, and I made sure I didn't get any AS5 on anything but the RAM and GPU. =\

Maybe it's just my drivers? I'm using Omega's latest tweaked Nvidia drivers. I'll try updating to the 70 betas and see if it works any better.

If my card keeps jumping up there, I may relap the HS and reapply the AS5, see if that helps.

Thanks a lot guys.

aNTiChRisT · Dec 8, 2004

I would say its either;

1) The HSF isnt contacting the core enough/at all
2) Its bolted on too tight... causing PCB warping and all kinds of problems.

I dont think driver change is it, because it was working fine before, correct?

~t0m

sevendevilhell · Dec 8, 2004

make sure the layer of as5 isn't too thick. you need a REALLY thin layer in order to get decent heat transfer, and those temps look a little bit high.

make sure your layer is really thin and then reseat the hsf. check on it, and if the temps are still a little high, you might try relapping. and also check that there aren't any shreds of metal in there, from the sink.

MonroeM · Dec 8, 2004

I think I'm going to work on it tomorrow after my Linux final.

Here's another thing that seems to be happening: when I ALT+TAB out of TV (Say if someone IMs me through AIM or something), when I ALT+TAB back INTO the game, it loads very slow.

I don't mean I sit there for a few seconds stairing at a black screen, it's like it draws the entire game over again. First I'll see the ground, the buildings will quickly appear, the background, the hud, the gun I'm carrying... then all of a sudden it will flash black again, then to a screen full of garbled textures, and finally back into the game normally.

This all happens within just a few seconds, probably 3 - 4, but it's concerning me as this didn't happen before I lapped the HS.

It could be that there's too much AS5 on the core... I don't think the HSF is mounted on too tight as the stock HSF doesn't really let you mount it too tight.

This weekend, I'm definitely going to relap it and reapply the AS5. I applied a good amount, only because I've noticed on my P4, that applying too LITTLE causes high temps too.

Thanks for the help guys. =D Much appreciated.

football · Dec 9, 2004

MonroeM said:
I applied a good amount

That's the problem right there, and you should try and correct that immediately!

Too much silver cannot only cause high temps, but cause fatal errors that cannot be corrected. Especially true, if you did this on the ram chips?

Follow this guide, I think AS5 is at the bottom. But one thing is true, you don't want to use too much of the highly conducted AS5..

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm

MonroeM · Dec 10, 2004

So it's NOT good to have AS5 on the ram chips? Or it's not good to have too much?

MonroeM · Dec 13, 2004

I'm still confused about that. It's not good to have AS5 on the ram chips?

Update: So I reapplied a thicker layer of AS5 on the core, and just a tiny dab on each ram chip. The artifacts seem to have disappeared but now the temperature monitor is reporting temps of around 100c! The highest I've seen is 103c and the lowest during a session of Hitman Contracts 86c.

Are these temps normal?! I'd hate to see the temps w/ Doom 3!!!

Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated. I may have to relap it to a mirror finish.

football · Dec 14, 2004

why did you reapply a thicker layer?

did you not read the instructions in the link I posted?

AS5 on ram chips is ok, if you don't use too much. some prefer not to bother putting it on the ram chips, just for safe measure. i did put it on mine, and my ram does 1030 when I want it to. i also applied it on my GPU, and I don't think it ever reaches 50c load temps. i think I will open a game or two in window mode and test that out, i will post back later.

MonroeM · Dec 14, 2004

I did read the instructions on that page (which I already knew, but thanks). The reason I applied a thicker layer is because a thinner layer was creating artifacts. The thicker layer I applied wasn't much thicker but now it's reporting temps of ~100c. The trade-off is: no artfacts. Which is odd because it was reporting temps of ~70c before WITH artifacts. Now ~100c w/o? LOL, crazy.

Man... weak. I think I'm just going to buy an NV Silencer 4 and see how that does me, the stock HSF on this thing sucked in the first place.

Oh BTW, is it ok for the RAM chips to be hazey gray after applying AS5 (like after you wiped it off)?

football · Dec 14, 2004

Wow!

I said mine never reaches 50c, that is not correct.

In quake and wolfstein, it never goes beyond 47c. But in doom, I've noticed it get's up in the 60c range! It didn't slow my performance down any, just didn't think the card got that hot. Now it is a 400/700 card running at 500/1000, so that could bring about a little heat.

Plus, I had a couple of windows open while playing.

Please get one of those silencers, I've been wanting to see how those perform on a 5900 card.

Do you have a 5950U? Just asking, cause I want to know how the silencers work for the 256mb cards. Those need heatsinks on the top and bottom of the cards, and thus give out more heat.

MonroeM · Dec 14, 2004

Yes, I have a BFG 5900XT O/C and an MSI 5950u (current card).

I got 2 VGA Silencers a month or two ago (great deal on 'em, 10 bucks each, can't remember where though), one for my GF3, the other for the 5900. Unfortunately those aren't for 5900's... so I soldered that bad-boy to the 5900's heatsink (after I sliced it up a bit w/ the Dremel) and made it work. I haven't looked at the temps on it but the VGA Silencer got nice and hot which told me it was doing what I wanted it to.

And the NV Silencer 4 works through 5800 - 5950. It has a back-memory heatsink too (it's huge) but if you're buying it for a 5900, you don't need to use it. It's a hell of a lot bigger than the current HS that's on my card ATM, and a huge pure copper base... I definitely think I'm going to get it.

football · Dec 14, 2004

Mine would be for a 5900, but I would need to use the backplate. Just incase you don't know what mine look like, here is a pic of it.

http://www.explosivelabs.com/reviews/gainward_1300xt_tvdvi/pg2.shtml

That silencer would have to be awefully good for me to trade off what I have now, right at 60c in Doom 3 might be as good as it get's for my card and the overclock. I just played it at medium settings, and the temps never went past 55c. Hmmmmm........? That much of a temp difference just from settings? But since the other games stay under 50c, I might just keep what I have. Them again, it's pretty cold right now, and I wonder what temps I would get when it's hot?

MonroeM · Dec 15, 2004

Just bought the NV Silencer 4 from Sidewindercomputers.com for $33.00, I'll report back on how well it cools when I get it.

w/ that copper core and the hu'jass memory sinks, I'd bet I could pull off a good clock. My stock speeds are 450/950. I could already reach 500/1000 before I did my bass-ackwards lapping job, LOL.

MonroeM · Dec 17, 2004

Ok, recieved the Silencer (USPS shipping, medium order, 10 fans, XP-120, NVSilencer 4, got here in 2 days, LOL, better than FedEx from NewEgg!)

Slapped the Silencer on w/ fresh applications of AS5 and my 5950u is running at stock speed w/ temps of 38c idle, 60c 3DMark '03. Hmm... alot better than what I was getting before, I'll say that much! No more artifacts either. I'm going to see if I can get a good o/c w/o raising the temps too high. I'll loop 3DM'03 all night tonight and see if I get any better temps after the AS5 sets in a little.

Detinitely recommend the NV Silencer 4 though, a lot better than the stock MSI HSF.

football · Dec 18, 2004

You mean you did all that without posting pics? I've been waiting to see how that looks, along with your card, and you didn't take pictures? :-/

Your 38c idle temps, is that with the case closed or opened?

You mentioned you had two cards? Which one is this for, the 5900XT? But then you said better than the MSI heatsink, so is it for the 5950U?

Just wondering, it seems the 5950U should do 550/1100 with no problems.

TAKE PICS! :temper:

MonroeM · Dec 18, 2004

Yes, the Silencer was for my 5950. And yes, you'd think that it could push those speeds... but still, just the same as my other heatsink, I get artifacts if I push the speed higher than 2 clocks on either the core OR the mem. Such BS, I don't know what's wrong, I've thought of everything.

And no, I didn't take any pictures, I was too anxious to get it on. I'll take a few today when I reapply the AS5... for the last fscking time. Getting annoyed here w/ the artifacts thing. >=\

EDIT: will get some pics up tomorrow, going to an X-Mas party tonight.

football · Dec 18, 2004

It's hard to imagine you can't atleast get the clocks of my 5900XT 540/1035? But anyway, you seem to be using alot of AS5...Slow down with that stuff!

I would like to see how much you are actually applying to the core and memory, some pics of that would be cool!

It might be better to completely remove the old stuff, before you reapply the new stuff. I have luck removing silver with lighter fluid, then go over it with alcohol to clean the residue that might be left from the lighter fluid.

GL!

Artifacts after lapping HSF FX5950u?

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