Second hand GTX 480 SLI overheating issues

[Baesty]

Hi guys!

I have 2 GTX 480s that I purchased off a friend a while back and they've been having major overheating issues for the past few months. They idle at 50-70 degrees with MSI Afterburner running, and peak up to 108 degrees during gaming within about 10 minutes with Afterburner running the fans at 100%.

At this point in time, I'm trying to work out the most cost-effective manner in which to deal with this problem. I am on an incredibly tight budget at the moment and with two cards having this issue, I can't work out if it's going to be more beneficial to just purchase a new card instead of faffing around trying to repair these two.

I could probably get away with pulling the cards apart and re-pasting the GPU/heatsink but am very dubious just in case I screw it up.

I was just hoping for some advice on how to proceed given how tight my budget is (i.e. I'd be struggling to get $300 together for a new card or to pay for diagnosis/repairs).

I have also noticed that the HDMI audio output running through the primary card has started to get a bit jerky/static-y over the past couple of days.

To answer the usual questions:

• * I have cleaned out the entire case with compressed air
  * Reseated all of the parts
  * Tried to minimize as much cable clutter as possible and maximise airflow (I have a modular PSU)
  * Currently running the PC with the side off
  * One large rear fan, two large top fans, and one HHD enclosure fan
  * In order to help the heat issues, I am currently running a desk fan directly into the case

The rest of my setup is as follows:
* Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H (running HyperSLI to force SLI support)
* Intel Core i5 3470 @ 3.20GHz LGA1155 IvyBridge
* 16GB Corsair Dominator GT (4 x 4gb sticks)
* Lian Li ARMORSUIT PC-P50WB
* Thermaltake Toughpower XT 775W
* Displays: Phillips 247ELH 24" LCD primary display (DVI), KOGAN 32" LCD TV secondary (HDMI)

Running temperatures of various states/games this morning

Please let me know if you need any more information, and thank you in advance for any advice you guys might have!

 

[Brantyn Gerik]

only thing you can do is either game with side panel off, or redo the thermal paste (redoing the thermal paste is your best option, and it is actually very simple (youtube will show you the way young padawan). changing thermal paste is SO beneficial and is very cheap and extremely easy. I honestly don't recommend anything else

 

[NiNJaOwNeD]

It sounds like a bad cooling system so you should look at getting a few fans off of amazon in less you want to spend extra on water cooling. Also don't overclock if your having trouble then check the temps with stock speeds.

 

[Brantyn Gerik]

Seriously, any other option than replacing the thermal paste first is simply foolish and could very well be a waste of money. Do not be scared of replacing thermal paste. It is an easy process. it is no harder than putting your cpu cooler on.

 

[Baesty]

Yeah, I haven't overclocked the cards because I'm not confident with doing it, and I'd already read that the GTX 480s were pretty bad for overheating problems so I didn't wanna risk making it any worse.

I've got some decent Arctic thermal paste on hand that I used for my CPU, I assume I can use it for the cards too? And any recommendations for cleaning solutions? I was just going to use some isopropyl alcohol as I can't find anywhere locally that stocks that sort of thing.

@NiNJaOwNeD: There isn't any more space in my case for more fans and I already have all 4 case fans hooked up and running at max. I assume there's no other way for me to mount more fans?

 

[Baesty]

Oops, nevermind, I've found a local place that has the ArctiClean kits. Recommendations for paste? And do I need to buy thermal tape? I watched a couple of videos on YouTube and both mentioned the tape but only in regards to putting an aftermarket cooler on.

 

[Brantyn Gerik]

you will need to buy thermal tape to replace the old ones. literally all you ahve to do is use rubbing alcohol (85% or higher all the way up to 95%) and use paper tower to get the bulk of the stuff off, and then lint free cleaning pads, or coffee filters will work to do the final scrub to clean all the components thoroughly, then apply a small pea sized amount of NON-CONDUCTIVE thermal paste to the gpu chip, then cut the thermal pads into lines to lay across the memory modules (if you cannot figure out where exactly to put them, seriously, youtube is your best friend and so easy to figure out) considering the second hand nature of the cards, i would not doubt the thermal paste and pads are in serious need of replacement!

 

[Baesty]

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=207_335&products_id=4712 would be a safe choice for tape?

Sorry for all the questions; I haven't done this before and I figure stupid questions asked is better than stupid mistakes made. On a side note, why would you want conductive thermal paste? I've seen some listed whilst putting together my shopping list.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=207_163 So many choices! Just a random non-conductive paste, or a particular type?

 

[RobCrezz]

Re apply paste, clean out the heatsinks and fan with compressed air, add more case fans.

 

[Brantyn Gerik]

all of them are good, but arctic silver seems to not work super well on hotter gpu chips. the noctua one would probably be the best (sorry for picking the most expensive one, but noctua is great) and the thermal tape you chose would work

 

[Baesty]

Well I've taken apart my first card and hoooooly crap there was a lot of dust in there. Now that I've gotten everything cleaned up nice and pretty, I'm a bit confused as to how to proceed. All of the YouTube videos I've found and the googling I've done have only given me instructions on replacing the stock cooler with an aftermarket. Unfortunately I can't afford to do this, so I'll just be putting the stock coolers back on.

The videos have shown people putting TIM on the memory; is this necessary if I'm only using stock? Looking at how it all fits together, it seems as though the TIM will just smoosh all over the plastic outer casing as none of the heatsink seems to come in contact with the RAM.

http://imgur.com/a/R0eiq

The top picture is the one I figured would be most useful - I just need to know what needs to be taped and what needs to be TIM'd (apart from the core) if anything. Also, the tape that I purchased is a lot thinner than the stock stuff.

Yet again, I apologise for so many silly questions, and I promise that I have done my research where I can! Thank you for your patience.

 

[RobCrezz]

Yeah so replace the thermal tape, everywhere it is currently, only put TIM on the GPU itself, and you should be good to go.

 

[Brantyn Gerik]

you literally after changing the paste and thermal pads, put it on the same way you took it off

 

[Brantyn Gerik]

so the thermal pads go on the ram modules, and the thermal paste goes on the gpu chip