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Thermal Pad/Shim recommendations please.

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Hey all!

Been a while since I've posted here (been out of the game for a bit) ;)

I've got two GTX 285's which are in dire need of some TLC. I've got some nice Antec Formula 7 ready to go on the GPUs, but I need some help with Thermal pads.

They're pretty hard to come across in most stores here in Ireland (closest I can find are .1 mm thick, not suitable for GPU memory) so I'm gonna have to order online.

Can anyone give me a recommendation as to what to buy and where to buy them? I'm guessing .5mm should suffice, right? Something like this?

On another note, I found these on ebay - has anyone used them and would they really be recommended for GPU memory with a little thermal paste each side?

Thanks everyone!
-Mick.
:toast:
 

de.das.dude

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most thermal pads i have seen on GPUs are infact 1mm thick. doesnt matter much as they can compress easily under pressure. just make sure to apply a healthy amount of paste on the GPU core

shims are non advisable on memory chips as mem chips are not flat and there can be problems. however, if you use the 1mm thermal pads and think the GPU core is not getting good contact, put a shim b/w the gpu and the HS
 
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most thermal pads i have seen on GPUs are infact 1mm thick. doesnt matter much as they can compress easily under pressure. just make sure to apply a healthy amount of paste on the GPU core

shims are non advisable on memory chips as mem chips are not flat and there can be problems. however, if you use the 1mm thermal pads and think the GPU core is not getting good contact, put a shim b/w the gpu and the HS

1mm seems a bit thick in comparison to what's already on there, I reckon .5 should work okay.
Makes sense about the shims though, thanks.

Unless the old thermal pads are destroyed you can reuse them.

These pads will work if you need them: http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...oduct_info&cPath=46_58_1178&products_id=36956

No thermal paste is needed for the memory with these.


@DDD, it is .5mm, not 1mm.

The old pads are in pretty bad shape, layered with dust too.
One of those 100x15 strips should be enough for one card, I would imagine?
 
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One of those 100x15 strips should be enough for one card, I would imagine?

I think so... I'd buy two just to have some extra around though.
 
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I think so... I'd buy two just to have some extra around though.

Yeah, might as well. I've two of these bad boys to clean up, so I reckon I'll buy four, just in case I need some in the future! ;) Thanks for the help.

I reckon these are getting a bit old in the tooth now though, probably time for a long-overdue upgrade!
 
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On a side note, is there much of a performance hit from using thermal paste instead of a thermal pad?

Thanks again! :)
 
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paste might not fill the gap dude, thats why they still use pads :)
 
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paste might not fill the gap dude, thats why they still use pads :)

Aye, I figured that much.

I did a wee test to see how big the gap is. Definitely less than .5mm between the memory chips and the heatsink. Looks like decent enough contact is made with thermal paste. Would there be any other downside?
 

de.das.dude

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Aye, I figured that much.

I did a wee test to see how big the gap is. Definitely less than .5mm between the memory chips and the heatsink. Looks like decent enough contact is made with thermal paste. Would there be any other downside?

contact resistance for TIM is high. plus it will dry out faster.
 
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