[SOLVED] Sapphire RX 480 overheating

[ihatelag01]

So I got a used Sapphire 480 Nitro OC from a local retailer.The card was pretty disgusting,with some black grimey stuff(from the previous owner being a smoker I guess?) on most of the heatsink and heatpipes,I cleaned it as best as I could,apart from some really incovenient areas the heatsink looks fine now.
I replaced the crusty thermal paste and didnt think there was much left to do other than firing up some games. In all of the games(apart from older/less demanding titles like LA Noire,League etc),even though the time needed for it differed,the card was reaching 83-85C,at which point it would start to thorttle.I thought this was because of the 580 BIOS I flashed onto it,but going back and forth between the two didnt change a thing.Setting an agressive fan curve (70% when over 65C),messing with OCing and undervolting(with both the 480 and 580 BIOS) also doesn`t do much.
The fans are fine apart from some slight coil whine sometimes.I replaced the stock thermal pads,and even though it definetly had an impact(the 480 is sitting at around 80C now,going up to 82 at the worst), that still seems like an uncomfortable range.
Could I have done something terribly wrong,or is some other way,in which the card may be in less than ideal condtions, given that state it arrived in,which I have missed?
My only idea at this point,even though I have doubts it would have much of an effect,is to go back to the 480 BIOS and slightly underlock and undervolt the card.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

You haven't done anything wrong.

I have a sapphire nitro+ 480 flashed into a 580. I have replaced the stock thermal paste.
Under load the card gets to 80c or slightly more and coil whines. This is normal behavior unfortunately.

What thermal paste are you using.

 

[lynx1021]

Are you sure the thermal pads are the same thickness as the original ? If they are thicker it could cause the heatsink to be not tight enough on the GPU chip.

 

[ihatelag01]

You haven't done anything wrong.

I have a sapphire nitro+ 480 flashed into a 580. I have replaced the stock thermal paste.
Under load the card gets to 80c or slightly more and coil whines. This is normal behavior unfortunately.

What thermal paste are you using.

Im using the Noctua NT-H1.I just assumed something must be wrong because of the ~15C delta between my friends legit 580 and my 480(both Sapphire Nitro ,and Im pretty sure its the same heatsink design),yeah I know there`s a difference between his real 580 which was designed and tested to run at those higher frequencies and me flashing my 480 bumping the voltages and frequencies while his card is at pure stock settings,but 15 degrees or so still seems way too much of a difference to me.

 

[ihatelag01]

Are you sure the thermal pads are the same thickness as the original ? If they are thicker it could cause the heatsink to be not tight enough on the GPU chip.

Side by side comparasion and they both look the same in terms of thickness.Opened the card up a few times after that and the thermal paste spread evenly,and ,as I said,there is a difference in terms of temps so I assume it`s making proper contact.

 

[lynx1021]

I have an XFX RX 460 and it idles about 50C and the fans start at 59C and on a Heaven benchmark it runs about 65 to 69C.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

The 580 is a newer die. The rx 480 will need more power and output more heat than an actual 580 when running at 580 speeds.

The sapphire 480s and 580s are pretty much identical cooler wise.