TIM pads

imperialreign · Mar 5, 2010

Have run into a bit of a conundrum . . . I need to re-apply some AS5 to my GPUs, as they've been starting to overheat recently, but the problem I know I'll face is in dealing with the TIM pads on the VRMs and DRAM modules. These cards have already been apart once before, and a good portion of the TIM pads were already falling apart . . . enough so that I had a hard time "packing" it back together and "re-activating" it with some isopro . . .

I've found a couple of sites where I can get ahold of sheets of TIM pad material, and cut to fit . . . but, for starters, I'd have to wait for these retailers to get a new shipment of stock - not to mention the price is a little ridiculous for what they are, and I really have no idea what kind of TIM padding it is, either . . .

So, brings me to my question - anyone have any known good "alternatives" for replacing TIM pads? Any other easily accessible material that performs equally or on par? Any "creative" solutions?

DonInKansas · Mar 5, 2010

Non conductive TIM, like MX2? Your GPU will like it too since they're known to provide better results than AS5.

imperialreign · Mar 5, 2010

DonInKansas said:
Non conductive TIM, like MX2? Your GPU will like it too since they're known to provide better results than AS5.

I thought about using a more "paste-like" TIM substance . . . but not sure how well that would pan out on PCB chips.

Kantastic · Mar 5, 2010

http://techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116125

Buy a sheet from this guy and all your problems will be solved.

MKmods · Mar 5, 2010

imperialreign said:
Have run into a bit of a conundrum . . . I need to re-apply some AS5 to my GPUs, as they've been starting to overheat recently, but the problem I know I'll face is in dealing with the TIM pads on the VRMs and DRAM modules. These cards have already been apart once before, and a good portion of the TIM pads were already falling apart . . . enough so that I had a hard time "packing" it back together and "re-activating" it with some isopro . . .

I've found a couple of sites where I can get ahold of sheets of TIM pad material, and cut to fit . . . but, for starters, I'd have to wait for these retailers to get a new shipment of stock - not to mention the price is a little ridiculous for what they are, and I really have no idea what kind of TIM padding it is, either . . .

So, brings me to my question - anyone have any known good "alternatives" for replacing TIM pads? Any other easily accessible material that performs equally or on par? Any "creative" solutions?

I havent head of any as good as the pads, I have used copper shims but it was a large pain measuring thicknesses..(basically copper flashing from home depot)

I would never try to bridge the gap with TIMs(not what Tims were designed to do) and if you are using AS5 (I like MX2 a lot better) be REALLY careful not to let it get on any metal traces (shorts)

Kantastic said:
http://techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116125

Buy a sheet from this guy and all your problems will be solved.

I have some of that and its close the thickness of a thin piece of paper, he would have to stack a bunch of piece to fill the gap.

Kantastic · Mar 5, 2010

MKmods said:
I havent head of any as good as the pads, I have used copper shims but it was a large pain measuring thicknesses..(basically copper flashing from home depot)

I would never try to bridge the gap with TIMs(not what Tims were designed to do) and if you are using AS5 (I like MX2 a lot better) be REALLY careful not to let it get on any metal traces (shorts)

I have some of that and its close the thickness of a thin piece of paper, he would have to stack a bunch of piece to fill the gap.

Oh whoops, didn't realize he needed to fill in gaps. I thought it was just sticking it back on.

Try some MX-3? It's fairly thick and the temps are a taaad better than MX-2. It'd def be less of a mess than AS5.

imperialreign · Mar 5, 2010

I kinda leary about using any paste ontop of the VRMs and DRAM modules - as mk pointed out, there's usually a pretty thick gap between the cooler and the chip . . . much more of a gap than most paste can manage - besides, I'd be worried about any paste "migration" towards the legs of the chip as well.

I'll keep the copper flashing idea in mind, mk - if nothing else, I work in a shop, so cutting pieces to adequate dimensions shouldn't be a problem . . . then I'd simply stack them and either solder or braze them together . . . but, it sounds like a PITA.

I think I'll let this thread marinate for a day or two, see what other ideas crop up - it's still looking like I'm going to have to go ahead and simply order some TIM pad sheets . . .

DonInKansas · Mar 5, 2010

http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-v3000-Tx2000...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item45f16708ea

MKmods · Mar 5, 2010

I dont think they like ebay links here..

(I was thinking that was a killer deal till I saw its just a 1" square piece)lol

and imperialreign there are many different thicknesses of copper flashing, I went to a local metal store and got several different thicknesses (gave them to me for free as scraps).. The trick is precisely measuring the gap between the surfaces (I used a bit of playdough to get close)

TotalChaos · Mar 5, 2010

Arctic Cooling sells TIM pads of various thickness in their web store

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/webshop/main.php?cPath=72_75&page=4

Athlonite · Mar 6, 2010

sikusi thermal tape and a piece of copper or aluminum thick enough to bridge the gap

System Name	УльтраФиолет
Processor	Intel Kentsfield Q9650 @ 3.8GHz (4.2GHz highest achieved)
Motherboard	ASUS P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi; X38 NSB, ICH9R SSB
Cooling	Delta V3 block, XPSC res, 120x3 rad, ST 1/2" pump - 10 fans, SYSTRIN HDD cooler, Antec HDD cooler
Memory	Dual channel 8GB OCZ Platinum DDR3 @ 1800MHz @ 7-7-7-20 1T
Video Card(s)	Quadfire: (2) Sapphire HD5970
Storage	(2) WD VelociRaptor 300GB SATA-300; WD 320GB SATA-300; WD 200GB UATA + WD 160GB UATA
Display(s)	Samsung Syncmaster T240 24" (16:10)
Case	Cooler Master Stacker 830
Audio Device(s)	Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro PCI-E x1
Power Supply	Kingwin Mach1 1200W modular
Software	Windows XP Home SP3; Vista Ultimate x64 SP2
Benchmark Scores	3m06: 20270 here: http://hwbot.org/user.do?userId=12313

Processor	Core i5 3570K
Motherboard	AsRock z77 Pro4
Cooling	Zalman CNPS10X Extreme
Memory	2x4GB GSkill Sniper
Video Card(s)	MSI GTX970 Gaming
Storage	240GB OCZ ARC 100, Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
Display(s)	LG 23" 1920x1080
Case	Antec P100
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Antec Edge 750W
Software	Windows 8.1 Pro 64

System Name	УльтраФиолет
Processor	Intel Kentsfield Q9650 @ 3.8GHz (4.2GHz highest achieved)
Motherboard	ASUS P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi; X38 NSB, ICH9R SSB
Cooling	Delta V3 block, XPSC res, 120x3 rad, ST 1/2" pump - 10 fans, SYSTRIN HDD cooler, Antec HDD cooler
Memory	Dual channel 8GB OCZ Platinum DDR3 @ 1800MHz @ 7-7-7-20 1T
Video Card(s)	Quadfire: (2) Sapphire HD5970
Storage	(2) WD VelociRaptor 300GB SATA-300; WD 320GB SATA-300; WD 200GB UATA + WD 160GB UATA
Display(s)	Samsung Syncmaster T240 24" (16:10)
Case	Cooler Master Stacker 830
Audio Device(s)	Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro PCI-E x1
Power Supply	Kingwin Mach1 1200W modular
Software	Windows XP Home SP3; Vista Ultimate x64 SP2
Benchmark Scores	3m06: 20270 here: http://hwbot.org/user.do?userId=12313

System Name	Dust Collector
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Motherboard	Asus B550I Aorus Pro WiFi AX
Cooling	Alpenfohn Black Ridge V2 w/ Noctua NF-A9x14
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 3200MHz/CL16
Video Card(s)	Power Color Red Dragon RX 5700 XT
Storage	Samsung EVO+ 500GB NVMe
Display(s)	Dell S2721DGF
Case	Dan Case A4
Power Supply	Corsair SF600 Platinum
Mouse	Logitech G603
Keyboard	Logitech G613

System Name	Crossflow III
Processor	AMD 965 (4.04Ghz)
Motherboard	Asus Crosshair III
Cooling	Air
Memory	4 gigs Mushkin 7-7-7-20@1T
Video Card(s)	single 9800GT
Storage	Raptor 150's in Raid0
Display(s)	LG Flatron 24"
Case	Custom
Audio Device(s)	AuzenTech X-Raider W/OP637
Power Supply	Custom modded Corsair 750HX
Software	Win 7 64/Solaris Utility
Benchmark Scores	3DMark06--21963 so far

TIM pads

imperialreign

New Member

DonInKansas

imperialreign

New Member

Kantastic

MKmods

Case Mod Guru

Kantastic

imperialreign

New Member

DonInKansas

MKmods

Case Mod Guru

TotalChaos

Athlonite

System Name	Main Rig
Processor	AMD FX-6100
Motherboard	Asus SABERTOOTH 990FX
Cooling	Fans:1x120mm, 2x140mm
Memory	16GB Hyper-X DDR III 1866 9-11-9-27-1T
Video Card(s)	Sapphire 6950 2GB x 2
Storage	Kingston V200+ 128GB SSD + OCZ Petrol 64GB SSD + WDB 500GB + WDB 640GB + WDB 750GB
Display(s)	Asus PA238QR IPS @ 1920x1080
Case	Lancool
Audio Device(s)	Onboard Realtek HD Audio
Power Supply	Corsair HX850
Software	Windows 8 Pro X64

System Name	Cumquat 2021
Processor	AMD RyZen R7 7800X3D
Motherboard	Asus Strix X670E - E Gaming WIFI
Cooling	Deep Cool LT720 + CM MasterGel Pro TP + Lian Li Uni Fan V2
Memory	32GB GSkill Trident Z5 Neo 6000
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Nitro+ OC RX6800 16GB DDR6 2270Cclk / 2010Mclk
Storage	1x Adata SX8200PRO NVMe 1TB gen3 x4 1X Samsung 980 Pro NVMe Gen 4 x4 1TB, 12TB of HDD Storage
Display(s)	AOC 24G2 IPS 144Hz FreeSync Premium 1920x1080p
Case	Lian Li O11D XL ROG edition
Audio Device(s)	RX6800 via HDMI + Pioneer VSX-531 amp Technics 100W 5.1 Speaker set
Power Supply	EVGA 1000W G5 Gold
Mouse	Logitech G502 Proteus Core Wired
Keyboard	Logitech G915 Wireless
Software	Windows 11 X64 PRO (build 23H2)
Benchmark Scores	it sucks even more less now ;)