[SOLVED] Thermal Pad Replacement Chart or Reference

[theprofman]

Hey there, been a long time since I fired up an old gaming PC and am doing some general maintenance/ putting it in a new case with much better airflow, adding some rams, stuff like that... Anyway, I was gonna replace the thermal paste on my gpu, figured why not. I have a MSI 1080 ti Seahawk. Replacing the past is simple enough, but I thought I might replace the thermal pads and add some heatsinks to the plate they are connected to. I have yet to find a good depository of thermal pad thicknesses and was wondering if anybody had any suggestions? Just take it apart, measure them, and order the correct thickness? I've also seen some folks using K5 Pro as a replacement instead, but dear god that stuff looks like a terrible gooey nightmare. ALSO, is there any replacing the blower fan on GPUs that cools the vram? Something better might be nice. Haha, gotta do whatever you can to keep your components up and running since we can't buy a new video card for less than 2K.

 

[DSzymborski]

There are no databases or lists of anything of this type that I'm familiar with. It's a DIY job which involves careful measurement and recording of measurements.

 

[theprofman]

There are no databases or lists of anything of this type that I'm familiar with. It's a DIY job which involves careful measurement and recording of measurements.

I figured as much. Hence why I was thinking about just leaving it, or doing the K5 Pro method. I have done some searching, but haven't found any forum posts or reviews that talk about specific thermal pad measurements.

 

[theprofman]

Haha, I also like that I came back to ask some questions and then was awarded the status of "ancient"... I've only been on here for 7+ years! I've been ripping computers apart for 20+... does that make me legendary? Or decrepit? Haha

 

[Karadjgne]

A puppy. I've been ripping pc's apart for 40+ years. 🐶. I talked with Tom when this was a BBS.

 

[theprofman]

A puppy. I've been ripping pc's apart for 40+ years. 🐶. I talked with Tom when this was a BBS.

Haha, fair enough. Been a while since I was really up on the news, hence why I was asking the Qs.

Figure replacing the thermal paste on the GPU, then doing some heat sinks on the plate attached to the vram should be plenty for now.

 

[Karadjgne]

Heh. Don't feel bad, I'm pretty much up on the news, but that was yesterday, so it's already obsolete.

One thing I've found about thermal pads is that they are never exact. If a particular one calls for a 1.5mm, I'll throw in a 2mm. Rarely ever had an issue with that, the tiniest fraction of board warp or sag, and it's covered. And removes possibility of stretching thinner when pad was removed.

Best bet is find the thinnest, and just buy various sheets in progressively larger sizes. Then dry run test fit and check the squish. Big dent is too thick, decent dent is good, no dent you aren't thick enough by half.

 

[theprofman]

Best bet is find the thinnest, and just buy various sheets in progressively larger sizes. Then dry run test fit and check the squish. Big dent is too thick, decent dent is good, no dent you aren't thick enough by half.

Sounds like a great plan, makes sense. You have a brand you would recommend? Probably going with thermal grizzly currently. Have you checked out this stuff, btw? Hahaha, it looks totally insane

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K91dqC0sWrg

 

[Karadjgne]

Looks like self expanding foam, in a tub. Stands to reason a liquid is more effective than a solid at making contact.