Liquid Metal TIM Shaves 5°C Off Radeon VII Junction Temperatures

[btarunr]

In our own testing of the Radeon VII, we found that adding washers to the GPU retention bracket to increase mounting pressure reduces temperatures by up to 10°C. You can learn more about what we did in the Overclocking section of our Radeon VII review. Replacing the thermal pad between the Radeon VII GPU and its cooler with liquid metal TIM was found to lower the GPU's maximum junction temperature by 5 °C, and a 24 MHz gain in minimum sustained engine clock speed was observed, by German professional overclocker Roman "der8auer" Hartung. AMD uses a strip of highly conductive Hitachi Chemical TC-HM03 thermal pad as the interface material between its reference Radeon VII cooling solution and the "Vega 20" MCM. Based on vertically-oriented graphite strands, the TC-HM03 is rated to offer 25-45 W/m·K of thermal conductivity, which beats most aftermarket fluid TIMs on paper, including those based on diamond. The conductivity and longer lifespan compared to fluid TIMs is probably why AMD chose it.

Liquid metal is the best possible DIY thermal interface material currently available in the retail market, however it requires careful application because it is electrically conductive and can short open vias or SMDs. der8auer used nail polish to insulate the SMD electrical components surrounding the GPU die on the fiberglass substrate. After drying it, a generous amount of liquid-metal was spread over the uniform MCM cluster. To prevent any air-gaps between the cooler and the TIM layer that's bound to be thinner than the thermal pad, a layer of liquid metal was also coated on the base of the cooler. The retention module was fastened a little on the tighter side. The maximum junction temperature of the GPU lowered from 106 °C to 101 °C, and the minimum GPU clock sustained increased from 1709 MHz to 1733 MHz. The boost frequency, however, remained around 1780 MHz. You can watch the full video presentation by der8auer here.



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[Deleted member 50521]

So that means the actual OEM thermal pad is great!

 

[cdawall]

So that means the actual OEM thermal pad is great!

Yep the GPU just puts out gobs of heat lol

 

[Blueberries]

Roman himself advised not to replace the pad, the performance improvement was minimal and the graphite solution lasts longer.

...and since when is der8auer a "professional overclocker?!"

 

[Bones]

Roman himself advised not to replace the pad, the performance improvement was minimal and the graphite solution lasts longer.

...and since when is der8auer a "professional overclocker?!"

Here's the answer as an example of it.
https://hwbot.org/newsflash/4441_oc...y_dancop_orion24_and_niuulh_qualify_for_final

Woudn't have been in it if he wasn't a Pro in some capacity.
If you didn't know already then believe me, he knows his stuff.

 

[champsilva]

Roman himself advised not to replace the pad, the performance improvement was minimal and the graphite solution lasts longer.

...and since when is der8auer a "professional overclocker?!"

And why he isnt?

 

[king of swag187]

Oh woah! A startling 5C drop off 110C? It's a miracle!

 

[phanbuey]

So basically not worth it at all.

 

[Xzibit]

So that means the actual OEM thermal pad is great!

He is even getting into the business of selling pads himself soon

 

[natr0n]

I have a brand new tube of that metal stuff wondering if I should mess with it. The color nail polish is a good idea show coverage better.


Also, This dude reminds me of Bruno from Ali G's show back in the day. Yaaa

 

[kastriot]

It's ok he likes to make records it's his hobby/profession/passion.

 

[ZoneDymo]

Wasnt a bit problem according to GamersNexus that the coldplate barely made contact with the GPU chip?
I would want to see what happens when you put a proper watercooling block on this gpu.

 

[Basard]

Wasnt a bit problem according to GamersNexus that the coldplate barely made contact with the GPU chip?
I would want to see what happens when you put a proper watercooling block on this gpu.

Yup....

 

[R00kie]

I wonder what water cooling can do for this thing

 

[Imsochobo]

I wonder what water cooling can do for this thing

1950 or there about and I expect good chips 2050.
Then I wonder... is it better to buy a 2080 and oc that one ?

 

[delshay]

Here's the answer as an example of it.
https://hwbot.org/newsflash/4441_oc...y_dancop_orion24_and_niuulh_qualify_for_final

Woudn't have been in it if he wasn't a Pro in some capacity.
If you didn't know already then believe me, he knows his stuff.

If Buildzoid had access to the exact same hardware, he would come top of the benchmark most of the time. He has the knowledge to "Hardware MOD".
This is a big advantage over most overclocker's out there.

And why he isnt?

View attachment 116189

You have to remember, he has access to many of the same CPU/GPU. So he can cherry pick the best one for overclocking. Not many user(s) has access to 10+ Ryzen 1800X.

 

[zenlaserman]

der8auer definitely knows his business - he thinks outside the box and is quite clever with his tuning.

Being that good attracts haters, as one can see by his current and past records.

 

[Raptor_i]

Now we need Hitachi Chemical TC-HM03 on Amazon.

 

[XXL_AI]

I've had enough with der8auer's BS.

 

[Dante Uchiha]

Meh...

Undervolt is the best solution:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/apd9gb

-26° in the junction temp.
-10° in GPUCore.

 

[Gasaraki]

Roman himself advised not to replace the pad, the performance improvement was minimal and the graphite solution lasts longer.

...and since when is der8auer a "professional overclocker?!"

Huh? What is he then? That's all everyone knows him as.

 

[delshay]

Now we need Hitachi Chemical TC-HM03 on Amazon.

I'v been searching for days can't find it anywhere other than Hitachi website.

 

[Mescalamba]

That makes that graphite pad very impressive, if you get just 5°C extra. Isnt 5°C difference between high-end "grease" TIM and Liquid Metal?

Question is, how safe is liquid metal stuff there.

 

[king of swag187]

1950 or there about and I expect good chips 2050.
Then I wonder... is it better to buy a 2080 and oc that one ?

For gaming yes, even the late and great beats it by a average of 5%

 

[hat]

That makes that graphite pad very impressive, if you get just 5°C extra. Isnt 5°C difference between high-end "grease" TIM and Liquid Metal?

Question is, how safe is liquid metal stuff there.

Not very. Putting it on a GPU is just asking for trouble. That's why this guy put nail polish over those components... if the liquid metal touches them, the card is screwed.