4870X2 100+Cels OUCH Sizzle frying eggs

[DRDNA]

Well I saw a couple of post about the 4870X2 and it hitting over 100 Cels and then dreaded things happening.
Well I noticed my card started doing this and of course I knew that dust and smoke tar had built up around the first heatsync fins and after taking out about 30 screws I found the first heat sync completely clogged.So I removed the dust and cleaned with 91 rubbing alcohol and now just waiting for the thermal grease to show up at my house....I am positive there is no damage.
ATI is making it so that these cards will only last a year with the reference cooler because you have to be fairly technical to remove the heat sync (plus I believe this voids the warranty...???...)to remove the dust as on the reference series cooler there is just no real way to get the dust out other wise.Canned air is not strong enough nor is a vacuum cleaner.



I am actually thinking of modifying the cooler case so that it has a cut out over the heat syncs for dust removal..Put a hinge on the cut out with a latch and then easy dust removal for the future!

It would have been nice for the heatsync to be one large one rather than two smaller ones .

 

[kyle2020]

Yeah removing the stock HSF voids your warranty - the point about canned air not being strong enough is because you shouldnt allow it to get to such a state in the first place? Air spraying + vacuuming should be done monthly, even more if you have fuzzy pets.

$0.02

 

[DRDNA]

Thats correct...monthly at the very least!Even monthly is tough though for the way the heatsyncs are located within the cooler. But I still think I will moddify a trap door to the heatsyncs for easier dust removal.

 

[kyle2020]

Thats correct...monthly at the very least!Even monthly is tough though for the way the heatsyncs are located within the cooler. But I still think I will moddify a trap door to the heatsyncs for easier dust removal.

Sounds like the best plan, I personally take my front fan dust guard things out my fortress once a month and theres usually a fine layer on them, however I vacuum my room twice a week and its on a laminate floor so I dont get much dust.

Best way is just blast everything in sight (bar wobbly capacitors) with air, then get a vacuum and suck all the dust out the case floor

 

[DRDNA]

Well the thermal paste arrived today and was waiting for me at the door when I arrived home from work. I finished cleaning up the heatsyncs and GPU ..Applied the paste ...reassembled and tested... my max load dropped 44 degrees Celsius 66 now and my idle dropped 8 degrees Celsius 40 now ..... and thats right after assembly and install, no set in at all ..but then again I don't think ceramique needs a set in....I opted out of modifying the cooler to have trap doors for cleaning the heatsyncs for future use . I didn't want to do it because the 5790 are almost in the USA now and I want to sell my two 4870X2's when I get the 5790's.

 

[AsRock]

Had that issue with my 7900GTOCSC and 2900XT until i got the TT armor case. Also another reason i like using 3rd party coolers too and buying cards of XFX and eVGA.

 

[Steevo]

Actually just not smoking around them, not allowing your cat to dry hump your PC, and scheduled cleanings is what they were planning on. Think about where they are and what they do. Do you have any idea of what your smoking tar does to you after looking at your PC, and it sin't tryign to inhale that shit.

 

[DRDNA]

Actually just not smoking around them, not allowing your cat to dry hump your PC, and scheduled cleanings is what they were planning on. Think about where they are and what they do. Do you have any idea of what your smoking tar does to you after looking at your PC, and it sin't tryign to inhale that shit.

Actually I clean my PC from top to bottom 3 times a month, every ten days! not nice to assume...I have not smoked a cigarette in over 45 days , I switched to electronic cigs....I have three air purifiers in my house ..... it was indeed the tar that provoked the dust to be so stubborn..

 

[Steevo]

I use a soft toothbrush and q-tips to clean my radiator when it needs it, but since we have no smokers here, and one cat that sheds like crazy....a couple times so far, and nothing that really stuck, just lint. Tt was indeed the tar that caused your problem. Dust and lint need something to stick too.

 

[AsRock]

Seem to be forgetting that a hell load of it is human skin. So unless you plan to walk around the house in a plastic bag and a oxygen tank dust is un-avoidable it will always find a way in..

Good filters are the best way but that will only work well if there is more air going in the case than out or all the gaps are filled to the point the case is 100% sealed.

And to find pet hair or any kind of hair in your case just proves that your filters suck ass or you have gaps in the case.

 

[newtekie1]

I think it would be better if they just made the entire shroud easy to remove.

 

[DRDNA]

I think it would be better if they just made the entire shroud easy to remove.

That would seem like the best idea so far!