Suspected leak on Gigabyte 1080Ti, recommended action

[Subressor]

Hey,

Looking for second opinions. I recently fiddled with my pc and noticed that my vertically mounted gigabyte aurous 1080ti had what I can only describe as a small amount of oily substance at the bottom left of the card near the backplate logo on the backplate of the card. I can only suspect this could have come from my AIO, but I can't find any leaks from there and I can't understand how it would appear there on a vertically mounted card... I can't find any of this substance anywhere else on the PC.

The card has been working fine and is still currently working fine. I was going to take the backplate off, clean any bits up with some alcohol. I don't want to damage the gigabyte PCU coating protection though.

Any thoughts or opinions on what you would do?

Cheers,

 

[terry4536]

I'd recommend a cotton swab and some iso-propyl alcohol. I have no idea what the fluid could be. There is a small amount of flash solvent in thermal paste, but that is going to be gone within minutes of operation of the GPU (or CPU for that matter). I'd guess that something was spilled on the PC at some point.

The iso-propyl alcohol shouldn't damage the motherboard or graphics card. Just allow some time for it to evaporate (and don't get carried away with it) before powering it up. If you are in a hurry, you can use a hair dryer briefly to accelerate the drying.

 

[terry4536]

You can check the all-in-one water cooler for any evidence of a leak. But especially for a typical vertical mounted GPU, the low point of the tubing and pump isn't really over the GPU.

 

[Subressor]

Thanks. Will do.

The area which was coated in the oily substance was almost touching another gpu which was horizontally mounted. However this card works fine and does not show any signs of redisude from the AIO.

I'm really confused on this. Should I take any precautions?

 

[terry4536]

Thanks. Will do.

The area which was coated in the oily substance was almost touching another gpu which was horizontally mounted. However this card works fine and does not show any signs of redisude from the AIO.

I'm really confused on this. Should I take any precautions?

Once you have cleaned the up the fluid, just keep an eye on it . If it recurs, then perhaps you can determine what it is (when it is fresh). The only source of a liquid is the all-in-one CPU cooler. If it is leaking, then it should visible. wipe the low points of the cooler components with a dry Kleenex. Then check the tissue for any absorbed liquid.

Otherwise, I would consider it a one time spill on the PC in the past. Don't place any drinks on top of the PC.

 

[Subressor]

Haha, I never place any drinks anywhere near the PC.

So, I've just watched a video for taking the backplate off my card (aurous 1080ti xtreme) and it looks really closely put together. To get to it, I also have to take the main heatsink off and as I've never done that before with any card, I'm a bit apprehensive about doing so.

I'm wondering whether I should just clean the exterior of the backplate and leave it alone. The card is working fine. Is there a risk if I don't clean it that it could fuck up in the future?

 

[terry4536]

Haha, I never place any drinks anywhere near the PC.

So, I've just watched a video for taking the backplate off my card (aurous 1080ti xtreme) and it looks really closely put together. To get to it, I also have to take the main heatsink off and as I've never done that before with any card, I'm a bit apprehensive about doing so.

I'm wondering whether I should just clean the exterior of the backplate and leave it alone. The card is working fine. Is there a risk if I don't clean it that it could fuck up in the future?

I would just clean up what you can reach with the cotton swab. No I doubt that there will be future problems. The main hazard is electrical conductivity, but it has been in contact with the graphics cards for some time. It has had plenty of time to cause a short on the the card.

The only other hazard would be if it were to cause corrosion over time.

Unless it gets worse, I wouldn't worry too much about it