Question R9 270 GPU missing thermal pad?

jaymes2015

Distinguished
Nov 29, 2015
208
3
18,695
I opened up my PowerColor R9 270 that has been not working properly. Fans stop spinning when PC boots up to desktop page. Fans only turn on using MSI Burner, but nowadays MSI Burner doesn’t do the trick anymore.

Well, this is my first time opened up a GPU, but I noticed some of the screws loosened and there were no manufacture void warranty sticker so I assumed this GPU were used?

Does GPU screws become loose over time?

The thermal paste is very dried and I do plan to redo the paste and insert some thermal pads on the vram modules to see if that will fix the fan issue....probably not I think.

I put an “X” on one of the photo because I’ve located some other people’s similar GPU and theirs have a thermal pad on that specific location. So I am wondering if mine was super used and was opened and not taken care of?

BDFC6850-FED4-4-E8-F-B5-E1-038-AC2-A92-A76.jpg

BB3-A7-FD8-C952-4-F08-A4-A9-DBFCBC397-EC8.jpg
 
I can't see any reason there would be a thermal pad OR paste in that location. I'd just repaste and reinstall the cooler exactly as you know it should be, and not worry about what other cards might have unless you can find a concrete reason for having a thermal pad there. There might be a reason, but it would likely be an aftermarket modification. That doesn't look like there's ever been anything there AND there are no components in that location that seem as though there ought to be a pad there.
 
Agreed. Just looks like a fairly simple cooler. Those fans are certainly unique, could just be on their way out and need a little extra voltage to get them started. Have tried flicking them in the right direction when you get to the desktop?

Only thing that would fall under there are the ram chips. Cooling them certainly wasn't a priority in this design and probably unnecessary.

You could consider an aftermarket GPU cooler if you want to keep the card. But you could easily replace that with an RX560 for around $90 and not lose any performance. Or bump up to an RX570 for as low as $120, though I would lean towards the 8GB or RX580 if you were doing that.
 
Yeah ok. No i haven’t flicked the fans yet. I might just redo the paste and leave it alone. This particular card and model is already nationwide defective from the get-go.

RX Series sound good. I borrowed my co worker’s xfx 560 on Fortnite and I almost couldn’t tell the difference. I might very much plan to buy the RX 580 Red Devil soon.
 
Last edited:

Thanks. I don’t feel like spending $27 on something I’m not sure will fix the problem. Apparently, the fan are spinning if control by MSI Burner. Like I said previously, nowadays the GPU will auto reboot itself whether the fans are spinning at any speed level. But, if the $27 fans replacement fixes the issue, sure I’d be kinda happy I think.
 
The Ram chips are the ones it looks like you are talking about that aren't covered by a thermal pad or something like that.
As for fan spins, you know they dont' spin unless they reach 55'C or above, which normally means no spinning while in Desktop mode, and only when you start gaming.
$27 for fans are you sure? Maybe better to invest in this?

Check the difference here - https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-RX-580-vs-AMD-R9-270X/3923vs2188
 
I'm not seeing any evidence that Powercolor had a semi-passive R9 270. They had a fully passive model though. But that is not this one. Do you have some evidence that one exists, because otherwise that fan behavior is not normal PLUS the fact that the unit is rebooting itself would indicate a thermal issue or another problem.
 
I'm not seeing any evidence that Powercolor had a semi-passive R9 270. They had a fully passive model though. But that is not this one. Do you have some evidence that one exists, because otherwise that fan behavior is not normal PLUS the fact that the unit is rebooting itself would indicate a thermal issue or another problem.

I haven’t redo the thermal paste yet to find out if the issue is coming from the paste or GPU itself or the fans.

I contacted a dude from another site with the same GPU. He claimed that his was having the same rebooting problem, then he replaced the thermal and almost fixed the problem. He must turn on MSI Burner to have the GPU not auto reboot. So basically his GPU still has to be on life support to operate without issues.
 
Last edited:
The Ram chips are the ones it looks like you are talking about that aren't covered by a thermal pad or something like that.
As for fan spins, you know they dont' spin unless they reach 55'C or above, which normally means no spinning while in Desktop mode, and only when you start gaming.
$27 for fans are you sure? Maybe better to invest in this?

Check the difference here - https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/AMD-RX-580-vs-AMD-R9-270X/3923vs2188

I’m aware of GPU fans only spin when temperature rises. This GPU spins at boot up then stops in desktop regardless if I’m watching movies or playing online games, then eventually GPU shuts down, unless I manually activate the fans using MSI Burner.

Yeah that’s a tough one. $27 vs a new GPU. If you can define that the fans are 80% chances the problem, I might take the risk.
 
I'd highly recommend doing all these things, first, even if the unit USED to work fine. When it comes to changes to the Windows operating system, what USED to work does not necessarily translate into STILL DOES work in terms of BIOS support and drivers. When Microshaft changes things, usually the motherboard BIOS and drivers tend to end up needing to be updated as well in order to un-break whatever they've broken.

Here are the first steps to take when trying to solve these kinds of hardware problems. If you have already tried these steps, all of them, exactly as outlined, we can move along to more advanced solutions.


If there are any you have NOT done, it would be advisable to do so if for no other reason than to be able to say you've already done it and eliminate that possibility.



First,

make sure your motherboard has the MOST recent BIOS version installed. If it does not, then update. This solves a high number of issues even in cases where the release that is newer than yours makes no mention of improving graphics card or other hardware compatibility. They do not list every change they have made when they post a new BIOS release.


Second,

go to the product page for your motherboard on the manufacturer website. Download and install the latest driver versions for the chipset, storage controllers, audio and network adapters. Do not skip installing a newer driver just because you think it is not relevant to the problem you are having. The drivers for one device can often affect ALL other devices and a questionable driver release can cause instability in the OS itself. They don't release new drivers just for fun. If there is a new driver release for a component, there is a good reason for it. The same goes for BIOS updates.


IF you have other hardware installed or attached to the system that are not a part of the systems covered by the motherboard drivers, then go to the support page for THAT component and check to see if there are newer drivers available for that as well. If there are, install them.


Third,

Make sure your memory is running at the correct advertised speed in the BIOS. This may require that you set the memory to run at the XMP profile settings. Also, make sure you have the memory installed in the correct slots and that they are running in dual channel which you can check by installing CPU-Z and checking the Memory tab. For all modern motherboards that are dual channel memory architectures, from the last ten years at least, if you have two sticks installed they should be in the A2 (Called DDR4_1 on some boards) or B2 (Called DDR4_2 on some boards) which are ALWAYS the SECOND and FOURTH slots over from the CPU socket, counting TOWARDS the edge of the motherboard EXCEPT on boards that only have two memory slots total. In that case, if you have two modules it's not rocket science, but if you have only one, then install it in the A1 or DDR4_1 slot.


Fourth,

Make sure the problem is not just a bad cable or the wrong cable IF this is a no display issue. If it is NOT related to a lack of display signal, then skip to the next step.

This happens a lot. Try a different cable or a different TYPE of cable. Sometimes there can be issues with the monitor or card not supporting a specific specification such as HDMI 1.4 vs HDMI 2.0, or even an HDMI output stops working but the Displayport or DVI output still works fine on the graphics card. Always worth checking the cable and trying other cables because cables get run over, bent, bent pins or simply were cheap quality to begin with and something as simple as trying a different cable or different monitor might be all that is required to solve your issue.


The last thing we want to look at,

for now anyhow, is the graphics card drivers. Regardless of whether you "already installed the newest drivers" for your graphics card or not, it is OFTEN a good idea to do a CLEAN install of the graphics card drivers. Just installing over the old drivers OR trying to use what Nvidia and AMD consider a clean install is not good enough and does not usually give the same result as using the Display Driver Uninstaller utility. This has a very high success rate and is always worth a shot.


If you have had both Nvidia and AMD cards installed at any point on that operating system then you will want to run the DDU twice. Once for the old card drivers (ie, Nvidia or AMD) and again for the currently installed graphics card drivers (ie, AMD or Nvidia). So if you had an Nvidia card at some point in the past, run it first for Nvidia and then after that is complete, run it again for AMD if you currently have an AMD card installed.


Here are the full instructions on running the Display driver uninstaller and CLEAN installing new drivers.


Graphics card CLEAN install tutorial using the DDU