Basics GPUs Graphics Practice Reviews

How-to-Guide: Optimize Graphics Card Cooling and Thermal Paste

In this article, we don't just want to limit ourselves to a thermal paste comparison with (de-)assembly instructions, but also to show why some cards simply can't cool better and why you can't cool the entire cooling system, including the fans... Dismantling without depression Before screwing, for example, with GPU-Z you should log the temperatures in the idle and under load for at least 30 minutes and record the room temperature. This will help to better incorporate the result later... Test setup and measurement methods In order to guarantee a truly comparable state (ambient temperature, airflow) between the individual measurements, we use a very light, indirect airflow in the measuring room, which allows the waste heat at the end of the map and... Thermal guide pads for advanced users: miracle or glare? Let us now turn to what is often neglected enough, including by industry. Next, let's look at the tape used by XFX on the voltage converters. Here is...

Thermal guide pads for advanced users: miracle or glare?

Let us now turn to what is often neglected enough, including by industry. Next, let's look at the tape used by XFX on the voltage converters. This is not a homogeneous material (which would certainly cost more in mass production), but a foamed mass, which is compressed again by squeezing at the relevant points.

Nevertheless, air is and remains the worst travel companion on the laborious heat removal. So if you have compact pads of sufficient strength and quality (or plan to buy them), you should definitely use them and replace the inexpensive foam carpet as quickly as possible.

These thermal conductive pads (or Tapes) are already available for small money in a wide variety of strengths (and colors). By the way, you can orientate yourself perfectly on the printing points of the original for an optimal selection.

Note pads #11
• The best thermal lyre pad is just good enough
• Avoid foamed pads as far as possible
• Never use thicker pads as really necessary
• Nevertheless, make sure that sufficient pressure is still built up

The backplate as an additional cooler

Nothing helps with cooling more than even more cooling surface! That's why we are now showing how an existing backplate could be included profitably in the cooling concept.

Let us quickly remember the pictures of the backplate and the mentioned film, which was glued indoors. Either you remove it completely (as in the picture below) or you cut with a cutter knife in the relevant places and only partially remove this foil.

It is very important to clean the exposed areas that will later have contact with the pads very thoroughly from the adhesives of the film and possible fingerprints – we already wrote about 2-propanol.

Please always keep in mind that too soft or thin backplates could already touch contacts of the board when printed! Either you really only cut out the necessary areas or you work on these relevant areas with further tape as an insulating layer, which can also dissipate heat, which would make more sense overall.

In the concrete example of the XFX RX 470 4GB, we place a matching two millimeter thick pad on the place of the board where the GPU socket sits and directly below the one, very hot memory module. We used a little thermal paste on the side towards the backplate for better contact, as its inner surface is not very smooth and also curves a little under tension.

Since the plate has various air holes, we have put them on before and marked the holes on the tape easily. This way, we can avoid paste swelling out of the holes when applied, because we simply leave air in these places. This can be observed on the yellow pad for the voltage converters, where the small blobs then sit exactly between the holes.

But what does this action bring us in detail? First, let's look at the GPU, which now also benefits from the much cooler board and no longer indirectly has to cool it down as much:

They are not breathtaking jumps, but every degree Celsius that you can save additionally is in sum a welcome member of the club of the busy carriers. However, the most benefiting is the memory, which now remains well below 90°C. This is above all an increase in operational reliability and durability and also opens up overclocking possibilities that one did not have before.

If you are wondering why a bar is missing from the graphic: We have to completely disassemble the card in order to be able to solve the backplate. For this reason, this measurement in its original state was unfortunately impossible for us ex works.

Note pad #12
• Remove glued film and remove adhesive residues
• Place pads cleanly and, if necessary, Use some thermal paste
• Pay attention to holes in the backplate
• Avoid short circuits (visual inspection, insert paper for testing)

Conclusion

One should not expect miracles from (however expensive) pastes, but a significant improvement. This concerns, of course, the optimised and better screwing of all relevant parts and, on the other hand, the use of better thermal paste and improved application, which would not be possible in mass production in this form. Only the sum of all these circumstances allows for a slightly much better result!

In any case, it is advisable to study the best pastes in detail beforehand, because we can only give a recommendation from our own experience. There can and will be better products, because you can't measure and select everything in the end.

But the approach is certainly not so bad in our form and many miracles, euphorically reported in reviews, should be better viewed with a healthy scepticism. Advertorials, unfortunately, already exist far too many and the subsequent disappointments in their own realization are almost pre-programmed.

You will also have to include an existing backplate in the cooling concept – it is almost always worth it. In addition, the fan curves must also be questioned and, if necessary, adapted to the new temperatures. However, this adjustment only makes sense after the backplate has been included, as the cooling of the components such as the memory after the conversion is much better from the house.

So it can really be worthwhile if you don't just just change the thermal paste. If so, then we should include all aspects, as we do, but this is guaranteed to pay off! However, one should also question in advance the approximately 20 Euros used for the material (apart from the time spent and a possible loss of warranty) – because often enough you get a much better equipped model for this surcharge already with the same chip, but also better properties.

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About the author

Igor Wallossek

Editor-in-chief and name-giver of igor'sLAB as the content successor of Tom's Hardware Germany, whose license was returned in June 2019 in order to better meet the qualitative demands of web content and challenges of new media such as YouTube with its own channel.

Computer nerd since 1983, audio freak since 1979 and pretty much open to anything with a plug or battery for over 50 years.

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