RX 6800/XT backplate, if you add thermal pads lowers temps a couple celsius - but at what thickness thermal pad?

[Space Lynx]

Laying down big sheets of pad which will likely leave a lot of real estate doing nothing because of the variances in chip height. Pads are supposed to be used to transfer heat in a focused manner, ie. only the vrm or memory not for whole swaths of pcb. And again a lot of those lil chips don't need cooling cuz they don't get hot.

I made sure to do 1mm on the elevated areas/caps, and 2mm on anything lower. But your point is a good one. Perhaps I should not have been so trusting of the way GamersNexus did theirs. I still think for a card like this, I most likely will be ok though. It's running cold and I am seeing 0 issues. Long term, I think I would agree with you if it were a different card, but this one is barely getting hot anyway. I actually am seeing 60 celsius in games most of the time, like Witcher 3 fully maxed. with peaks to 73 but the peaks don't seem to last long, its usually showing around 60-63... damn good...

 

[John Naylor]

I'll say it again, NOT everything needs a thermal pad. If this was so great why has EK not instructed us over the last decade to do so? Also, what are the downsides of creating that much heatsoak? Thinka bout it in terms of all those chips that don't create much heat and are now covered by a pad that is doing nothing but trapping heat. What's gonna happen long term?

Very true ... but not using pads on memory / VRMs is just being cheap. As EVGA 10xx SC / FTW series owners can attest, not having pads on memory / VRMs will limit performance and even provide some entertainment in the way of pyrotechnics.

Had these 2 PDFs in my files from an old build (water block and backplate) . We use FujiPoly which offers 6.0 watt / mk,11.0 watt / mk and 17.0 watt / mk ... we don't use the 6.0 and pick the other based upon user's goals and budget

2mm / 6.0 watt / mk ... https://www.frozencpu.com/products/...ermal_Conductivity_60_WmK.html?tl=g8c487s1715

1mm / 11.0 watt / mk ... https://www.frozencpu.com/products/...rmal_Conductivity_110_WmK.html?tl=g8c487s1290

 

[Space Lynx]

Very true ... but not using pads on memory / VRMs is just being cheap. As EVGA 10xx SC / FTW series owners can attest, not having pads on memory / VRMs will limit performance and even provide some entertainment in the way of pyrotechnics.

Had these 2 PDFs in my files from an old build (water block and backplate) . We use FujiPoly which offers 6.0 watt / mk,11.0 watt / mk and 17.0 watt / mk ... we don't use the 6.0 and pick the other based upon user's goals and budget

2mm / 6.0 watt / mk ... https://www.frozencpu.com/products/...ermal_Conductivity_60_WmK.html?tl=g8c487s1715

1mm / 11.0 watt / mk ... https://www.frozencpu.com/products/...rmal_Conductivity_110_WmK.html?tl=g8c487s1290

alright maybe I will remove the two biggest chunks. lol

i don't understand though, cause steve at gamersnexus is also an expert at this stuff, and he put it on more area than I did... so I guess I am just confused at this point. heh

I'm still surprised no one is talking about the 12 bit 1080p IPS panel I showed in one of the pics earlier, lol. I am still shocked it is a 12 bit panel... off-topic I know, but first time I ever seen something like this...

 

[xkm1948]

@lynx29 i would stick with the pad. You worry too much about others opinion. You made a good decision just stick with it.

When I took my 2080Ti apart the metal backplate had loads of thermal pads for the components. It should help.

Congrats on the card. Now go enjoy your awesome new rig!!

 

[Space Lynx]

@lynx29 i would stick with the pad. You worry too much about others opinion. You made a good decision just stick with it.

When I took my 2080Ti apart the metal backplate had loads of thermal pads for the components. It should help.

ya I don't see any issues really, I closed all the screws slowly and alternated them, for even distribution of pressure.

edit: all the screws took same amount of turns to finish, so I think i did it perfect honestly.

 

[xkm1948]

ya I don't see any issues really, I closed all the screws slowly and alternated them, for even distribution of pressure.

edit: all the screws took same amount of turns to finish, so I think i did it perfect honestly.

Yeah even pressure is important. The 2080Ti i gave away was mounted with Alphacool AIO. Even they recommended using default backplate with the thermal pads intact

 

[pantherx12]

I made sure to do 1mm on the elevated areas/caps, and 2mm on anything lower. But your point is a good one. Perhaps I should not have been so trusting of the way GamersNexus did theirs. I still think for a card like this, I most likely will be ok though. It's running cold and I am seeing 0 issues. Long term, I think I would agree with you if it were a different card, but this one is barely getting hot anyway. I actually am seeing 60 celsius in games most of the time, like Witcher 3 fully maxed. with peaks to 73 but the peaks don't seem to last long, its usually showing around 60-63... damn good...

Protip : People on forums and comments always think they know best. Sure sometimes they genuinely do but I'd trust the guy on YouTube who has access to thermal cameras and has direct interactions with hardware manufacturers and other hardware professionals over people with no credentials what so ever.

 

[thesmokingman]

Protip : People on forums and comments always think they know best. Sure sometimes they genuinely do but I'd trust the guy on YouTube who has access to thermal cameras and has direct interactions with hardware manufacturers and other hardware professionals over people with no credentials what so ever.

You could agree or not, but don't stoop to these lame ass indirect insults. Yall are free to your opinions ya know?

 

[Chomiq]

Got it in mail today, got the thermal pads all done! Worked out perfect, had 0 issues. Pictures below! Cheers everyone, and thanks again W1zzard! Hope I did a good job! Wasn't sure where to post it all, the 1mm was obvious, so I referenced steve gamersnexus teardown video of the 6800 xt, and he just put a bunch of giant slaps of the stuff everywhere on the back of the PCB, so meh I should be fine regardless lol

Also, apparently my monitor is a 12 bit IPS panel? Just noticed it in AMD control settings, so I picked it, has, 6, 8, 10, 12 to pick from... lol not bad for $160 monitor. It does look great compared to most cheaper panels I have seen.

boxes put away!

GPU dithering to 12-bit.

Native 12-bit would cost a fortune.

 

[Space Lynx]

Protip : People on forums and comments always think they know best. Sure sometimes they genuinely do but I'd trust the guy on YouTube who has access to thermal cameras and has direct interactions with hardware manufacturers and other hardware professionals over people with no credentials what so ever.

You could agree or not, but don't stoop to these lame ass indirect insults. Yall are free to your opinions ya know?

I agree with both of you, he was just giving his opinion, not like telling me I was stupid or anything.

I am going to leave the pads for now, I think I did a good job.

GPU dithering to 12-bit.

Native 12-bit would cost a fortune.

even then, it's still the first time I have ever seen it on a 1080p monitor. still cool imo lol

 

[rtwjunkie]

Protip : People on forums and comments always think they know best. Sure sometimes they genuinely do but I'd trust the guy on YouTube who has access to thermal cameras and has direct interactions with hardware manufacturers and other hardware professionals over people with no credentials what so ever.

No reason to be insulting people here. Many of our longtime members know more than people on YT, including Steve. Steve is just a guy who has decided to make videos for clicks so he makes money. That’s his job now. He has a channel, it doesn’t necessarily make him more expert.

@lynx29 you really only need heatpads on the VRM’s and on any RAM that is on the back.

 

[Space Lynx]

@lynx29 you really only need heatpads on the VRM’s and on any RAM that is on the back.

but it won't hurt anything if I just leave those two big chunks will it? (the one on far left and far right)

edit: i just looked at my own picture, i realized i missed some of the ram... well i will fix that later tonight and just remove the big chunks too. eh.

 

[rtwjunkie]

but it won't hurt anything if I just leave those two big chunks will it? (the one on far left and far right)

Probably not. If you do find out your temps are wonky you can always remove them later.

 

[Space Lynx]

Probably not. If you do find out your temps are wonky you can always remove them later.

its all good, i will just do it the traditional way, i have to open it back up now anyway. i missed some of the vram if you look closely. surprised no one mentioned that to me yet. lol

 

[rtwjunkie]

its all good, i will just do it the traditional way, i have to open it back up now anyway. i missed some of the vram if you look closely. surprised no one mentioned that to me yet. lol

Oops. I didn’t even notice. I should have zoomed in close to check all of them.

 

[thesmokingman]

its all good, i will just do it the traditional way, i have to open it back up now anyway. i missed some of the vram if you look closely. surprised no one mentioned that to me yet. lol

The memory isn't important on the backside. It doesn't get that hot anyways and obviously is already actively cooled by the heatsink. That leaves the vrms as the main heat producer besides the core.

 

[Vya Domus]

All of this for almost nothing really.

The VRMs have 12 phases, it's such a wide design thermals wouldn't have been be a problem even if there was zero cooling.

 

[Space Lynx]

All of this for almost nothing really.

The VRMs have 12 phases, it's such a wide design thermals wouldn't have been be a problem even if there was zero cooling.

it's really not about cooling, it's just about being enthusiast about a hobby. no different than a car guy who buys something he doesn't need for his car. this is what i enjoy. i will change up the way I did some of it though.

 

[xkm1948]

it's really not about cooling, it's just about being enthusiast about a hobby. no different than a car guy who buys something he doesn't need for his car. this is what i enjoy. i will change up the way I did some of it though.

Just go enjoy your games man!

You getting the valve index sometime?

 

[Space Lynx]

Just go enjoy your games man!

You getting the valve index sometime?

I am, I was going to play total war warhammer last night, but i decided to test out shogun 2 total war with these specs... I ended up doing a 3 hr binge just doing custom battles. it was a blast.

and for those of you who say a rx 6800 and 5600x are overpowered for 1080p, you have not played a total war game LOL my poor poor system still couldnt break 40 fps on ultra everything, had to lower settings quite a bit still actually to really enjoy the smooth battles.

i wonder if hardware will ever get so advanced i can finally play shogun 2 maxed out in full battles at 165 fps 1080p. doubt it. but it would be nice

 

[turbogear]

it's really not about cooling, it's just about being enthusiast about a hobby. no different than a car guy who buys something he doesn't need for his car. this is what i enjoy. i will change up the way I did some of it though.

Just for your reference you can have a look at EK website.
They have backplate for 6800 offered for water cooling community.
If you look there they show at what places they add thermal pads.
https://www.ekwb.com/shop/EK-IM/EK-IM-3831109833773.pdf

I will be buying this backplate and also EK watercooler for 6800XT ones I get my hands on one.

In first days after I get a new card, I spend more time on tuning it than playing games.
Like on Radeon VII and Vega 64 before it, I will watercool it and spend some time to find sweet spot for undervolting and frequency increase.

I run my Radeon VII at 1074mV at 1900MHz and get nice performance gain while saving power.
For Radeon VII in Time Spy clock hovers around 1884MHz. Max temperature on GPU is 40°C under Firestrike stress test.

If one is lucky and gets high quality silicon then one can undervolt significantly and still increase the performance by increasing Frequency. My Radeon VII was not the best with regards to that.
My Vega 64 was much better.

Like always I will share my findings with the community at TPU as soon as I get one 6800XT and turn it into watercooling.

 

[Chomiq]

even then, it's still the first time I have ever seen it on a 1080p monitor. still cool imo lol

That's because Nvidia locks it to their Pro level cards.

 

[pantherx12]

No reason to be insulting people here. Many of our longtime members know more than people on YT, including Steve. Steve is just a guy who has decided to make videos for clicks so he makes money. That’s his job now. He has a channel, it doesn’t necessarily make him more expert.

There's no reason for people to be insulted by what I said. After all I'm one of those unreliable credential-less anonymous forum users as well. One of the long term ones as well in fact. Heh

Anyway just to remain relevent, backplates generally are a stupid thing. Good for reinforcing the card and looking nice but not great for thermals. So getting rid of that airgap so some heat transfer can take place is better than a kick in the nads.

 

[wiski]

Would it be better to just run the card without the backplate, assuming you weren't going to add thermal pads to it? (as in, no backplate possibly better than the stock backplate with no pads, since the heat wouldn't get trapped)

 

[Colddecked]

Laying down big sheets of pad which will likely leave a lot of real estate doing nothing because of the variances in chip height. Pads are supposed to be used to transfer heat in a focused manner, ie. only the vrm or memory not for whole swaths of pcb. And again a lot of those lil chips don't need cooling cuz they don't get hot.

Optimus waterblocks come with a thermal pad the size of the card for the back plate. Its a small benefit on an aircooled card, which is why you don't see company's go crazy with pads on the backplate, but putting too many pads on isn't going to hurt.