Vid card cooling problems (need help!!)

Here is the situation. I just recently installed water cooling on my CPU (Gemini, Eheim 1048, heater core). My temps on the CPU have dropped nicely to 32c. I decided that I would like to improve cooling on my MSI Geforce 2 Ti as well. So took off the crappy little aluminum heat sink to see what was installed form the factory. There was a "not so nice" thick layer of the crappy white thermal grease. The base of the crappy aluminum heat sink had such deep machining grooves that you couldn't easily run a finger nail across. I figure I can only improve on this.

Well, I pick up a Corb, Install a nice even thin layer of AS3 and install the Corb. In addition, I install some ram sinks with some Artic Alumina adhesive. I reinstall and boot up. I start getting artifacting right away. I shortly there after clears up and I figure I'm good to go (BTW I am running both the CPU and VidCard at default speeds). A few minute later the screen locks and I have to reboot. I try again and the same thing happens except this time I get the BSoD.

I decide to lap the corb. I lapped this thing so there is an even flat smooth finish (upto a 1000 grit). I have also removed the nickel plating on the bottom so that the copper is in direct contact with the GPU (W/ AS3 of course). I am still getting the same problems. Can that crappy little aluminum HS/F with a poor install job really be better than the corb (w/ the ram sinks to boot).

Is this an over heating prob with the vid card or something else? If I try to use a more graphic intensive application right after boot up the lock up (or BSoD) will happen even quicker.

I think I have good ventilation (120mm front/bottom of case, 2x80mm back of case, Dual fan PSU) No difference if I take the case door off either.

Please Help!!!!!

yea, its definitly your cooling on the card...try to take everything you added off the card...ramsinks included, make sure you clean everything off REALLY WELL. make sure the ramsinks are nice and smooth, and since you just did the corb, you dont need to lap that again. make sure the fan is running on the corb fan, that would cause a big problem.....try that, reapplying AS3 and AA every time...then come back

The core on vid cards are known to concave inwards. You may need to lap your core in order to have full contact. Or you can use the manufacturer's solution, mass thermal grease.

-DarkArctic

Thanks for the input.

Maybe I should have asked this before I installed the AA adhesive. How do I remove the ram sinks now. They pretty stuck on there.

Hey KingB...

Here is my confession... I tried to install my GF water cooler on my Brand new GF3Ti200. Well at 1st I took the easy way out, I used rubber bands. Then I thought, humm, that looks unprofessional so i picked up some AS epoxy. Well my video did something like what you described, except worse! Turns out that the AS 'spilled' over onto a few pins (many) of the DDR.

I do NOT think it is cooling. I would suspect that you have a shorting type problem on one of your DDR chips. My card is actually living again, after spending about 1 hour in a soap filled sink and intense scrubbing with a tooth brush!

For what it's worth, I would check to make sure non of the AS got onto the DDR.

just my 2 cents.