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Aiding the XFX 6600GT stock sink

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rashal

Registered
Joined
Jul 5, 2005
Here's the deal.

I have an XFX 6600GT, and it's running a bit hot. I'ts around 50c (49-51, ambient temps a bit lower than 30c) idle and tops out at a bit lower than 80c while at full load (77-79c).

I know that XFX is notorious for having litteraly explosive 6600GT's, so lowering the temps will get me so much calmer. This is how I plan to do so:

1) remove heatsink and spread AS5 on the heatsink.
2) strap the heatsink to the graphics board using strips to maximize contact.

I do have some questions though:

1) How should I apply the AS5? Should I spread a thin (or thick) and even layer on the GPU, or should I go for the P4/A64 style application?

2) Should I spread the AS5 on the GPU without worrying that it'll cover those small thingies near it? (seen here: http://www.legitreviews.com/images/reviews/159/gpu.jpg) Or should I spread some AS5 on them too? :\

3) Should I tie the HS down to the board with some strips, or is it intentionally loosend up?

Thanks for your time.
 
Putting AS5 on the GPU is a good idea. To apply it evenly, put a small drop in the center of the chip and place the heatsink right on top of it (make sure its centered) and the AS5 should spread itself evenly. As for the strips to maximize contact, don't bother. If your heatsink is on tight enough, you shouldn't need to do that.
 
It feels like the HS isnt clipped well to the GPU because I can easily rock it from side to side even with a slight touch of my finger. Reminds me of my old P3... I put some AS5 on it and clipped the HS on... I had a bad feeling about the HS being too lose. When I turned the power on and went into bios I was shocked by the temp reading... 85c and going up fast... It went into a deep freeze (freeze, heh) before I managed to shut it down. After tightening the metal clip temps dropped down to a normal 40c.

So I figured the same applies in this situation.

I can say my aircase flow is kinda good... Actually my case is wide open (temps are something like 3c lower like that) with some realy good circulation. Air is being sucked in by a 12mm fan from the button of the front pannel, go in to cool the harddrive and mobo, another 12mm blowing directly on the fan, and all the hotter air exits through the holes of the mounting places for optical drives (I have only one CD meaning I have a 10x15cm exaust hole). I can actually feel a good amount of air exit from the upper section of the front pannel.

Running a DFI lanparty UT nf4 ultra-D, the idle CPU temps (3200+) dont go over 35c in the summer heat, chipset at 49c, and mushkin redlines are actually cold to touch (thanks to the fan blowing directly at them).

The GPU temps are a real ***** being twice as hot as other components.

So There's nothing wrong with tightning the HS to the board using strips, right? and also, nothing that bad can happen if I get some AS5 on those little chips around the GPU core, right (I will try to avoid that at any cost of cource)?

Thanks for your input.
 
Could I ask a question along these lines? . . .

I also have the stock heatsink/fan on my 6600GT (which is AGP) but mine has has little pads between the sink and the GPU/RAM. Would it be better to remove those pads, apply some Arctic Silver 5, and then mount the sink right on the chips? Also, if I do that, will it mount as tight? Right now the mounting bracket fits just as tight as possible. Without the pads I figure it will be looser than before and if that happens then would the pads be better?

Thanks for any help.

Oh, by the way, mine's the MSI seen here at Newegg
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