ASUS RX 470 has no thermal pads on VRAM, should I put some on?

[mustafa.islam1548]

Hi, I was thinking about replacing my RX 470 thermal paste since it was getting hotter than usual, I thought arctic silver would be better than whatever ASUS put on. Anyway, I watched a tear down of the gpu (I haven’t actually opened mine yet) and I saw that there were no thermal pads on the vram modules.

Sometimes my pc shuts down, and sometimes just he driver crashes, when the gpu hits 70+c for too long, I have suspicion that this maybe due to the vrams overheating since I can’t monitor temps on them. My case (nzxt s340) has sufficient cooling, I have a good psu (seasonic s12ii 520 v2) and cpu temps don’t go over 45c.

Here is the video: [video="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Mng0sASv7oY"][/video]

Is it worth opening it up (only 4 screws, quite an easy process) and replacing thermal paste and also putting some thermal pads on the vrams, will it help the vram temp and hopefully stop it from crashing my pc?

Thank you

 

[stdragon]

Don't use grease, use the new IC Graphite thermal pads. They go on dry, and is better than all but the best paste out there. Because it's a pad, there's no "pumping out" or drying. It will keep its performance indefinitely until the fans fail or the HSF clogs up with dust.

https://www.amazon.com/Innovation-Cooling-Graphite-Thermal-Pad/dp/B07CKVW18G

Bit of warning - it's conductive. So don't let the pads such any service mount components other than the surface of the CPU/CPU. You can cut to size if you need too.

And yes, you'll want thermal pads on the VRMs or the Heatsink that attaches it wont keep them cool.

 

[ShadyHamster]

There's no point in putting thermal pads on the Vram if there's no heatsink to pull the heat away.
The bare thermal pads will likely just fall off with no pressure from a heatsink, if they don't fall off they would act as an insulator and most likely make temps worse.

 

[stdragon]

The video clearly shows a VRM heatsink being removed

 

[ShadyHamster]

A VRM heatsink yes, but you've been asking about the Vram, there's a difference.

There's a pad on the heatsink in the vid BTW, you can clearly see it at 0:55.
You definitely need a thermal pad on the VRM heatsink.
Even a cheap $2 thermal pad from Ebay would be better then not having one there.

 

[RobCrezz]

Vram Chips dont get that hot really, so not a big deal to cool them, but sure you can do it, might be able to run the ram a bit faster.

Its the VRM that needs a lot more cooling.

I would advise against using Artic silver. Its not great by modern standards, it can be electrically conductive which is not good and requires curing time.

MX-4 is a much better paste and also cheap.

 

[mustafa.islam1548]

Ok so the VRM’s have a heat sink on the but I should still get some thermal pads off of eBay? Should I take off whatever foam they put on the heatsink too since that may just interfere with the thermal pads conductivity?
Also, what pads should I get? Someone mentioned the graphite ones but they r conductive so I would need to cut them extremely small right so they don’t touch the pcb?

Also it seems like the VRAM chips around the socket don’t make contact with any heatsink so we can forget about getting thermal pads for those

 

[RobCrezz]

If there is already thermal pad on there, just re use it? The "Foam" you speak of is probably the factory thermal pad.

Dont get electrically conductive pads..

 

[stdragon]

Graphite pads are only to be used for CPU and CPU (not VRMs). And yes, they should be cut to size so as to not touch the PCB.

FYI, graphite pads are new tech. Ive uses them in three different computers now. Phenomenial cooling results! Yes, they are 1c hotter than the best thermal paste, but better than than most paste on the market. What I love about them is the ease of installation and consistent results. No questioning whether or not I applied too much or too little paste. Also, never need to apply again. Good for the life of the card.

So graphite pad or paste for the GPU? Entirely your choice. Just offering my opinion.

 

[RobCrezz]

Yeah I agree, I wouldnt use the graphite pad on a GPU, bearing in mind they dont have a IHS like CPUs.