How to cool toasty nVidia GPU? (Solved)
How to cool toasty nVidia GPU? (Solved)
I am hoping that the box makers here know something about the poor design of nVidia GPUs around the time of Intel Dual Core (2006-2008). It's a known issue, culminating in a class-action suit called bumpgate. The Dual Core 2.6 GHz CPU is well-cooled on this ZOTAC N73PV-Supreme mainboard, but the nVidia GPU has an inadequate, oddball heatsink that just doesn't cut it. Hard Info > Sensors sees temperatures of 100*C for the chipset. It's gonna be a short life for this mobo if I don't cool the GPU better, say 60*C max.The GPU heatsink is part of the problem. It is offset to occupy the limited space available next to the CPU. It has a rounded top that makes mounting a fan difficult. Four plastic nails [spring pins] attach the heatsink to the motherboard. The heads of these nails stick out about 1/8 inch above the metal, making it almost impossible to attach a fan to the top of the heatsink. Has anyone encountered this difficult motherboard brand (ZOTAC) and found a way to over come the GPU heat issue? Any ideas or suggestions welcome.
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Last edited by nubc on Wed 09 Sep 2015, 16:47, edited 5 times in total.
This is a hardware issue, not dealing directly with Puppy. It belongs in Off-Topic. (Flash, where are you when I need you? 
)
Your "plastic nails" are properly called spring pins. You'll see a pair of angled, half-conical flanges at the end of each, if you turn the board over and look at the back. If you get a pair of needlenose pliers and CAREFULLY DAMMIT CAREFULLY squeeze the two flanges together they will pop out. (You need to be real ginger with this or you'll scrape a trace and quite possibly cut it in the process! ...or use plastic-tipped pliers, they sell 'em for beading. I have a pair because Mom was into that hobby for a little bit.) Do keep your hand over 'em, or you'll be canvassing the other side of the room trying to figure out where the #!@&)!! they went.
What you need to do is remove the heatsink, remove the nasty but cheap silicone glop that was used as "thermal interface material" (it conducts heat from the GPU into the heatsink) and replace that thermal gunk with something that can actually function decently. I'd recommend Arctic Silver Ceramique if you have a little money, and this specific eBay listing if you don't.
You will also need a product called Arctic Silver Arcticlean to do it the way I do. It's on eBay and Newegg, but wherever you get it, don't pay more than us$6-7 for the two-bottle kit. In addition, please run by your favorite grocery store and get a box of #4 coffee filters, the ones that are flat when you pull them out of the package. You'll need between two and five filters for this, I'd say, so if you don't normally have/get them, you can easily get away with a small package or by borrowing from someone who has 'em.
If you want to do this, tell us and I'll put up instructions... not spending the typing effort, though, if you don't want to do it. (I have time, but not to waste.)
)Your "plastic nails" are properly called spring pins. You'll see a pair of angled, half-conical flanges at the end of each, if you turn the board over and look at the back. If you get a pair of needlenose pliers and CAREFULLY DAMMIT CAREFULLY squeeze the two flanges together they will pop out. (You need to be real ginger with this or you'll scrape a trace and quite possibly cut it in the process! ...or use plastic-tipped pliers, they sell 'em for beading. I have a pair because Mom was into that hobby for a little bit.) Do keep your hand over 'em, or you'll be canvassing the other side of the room trying to figure out where the #!@&)!! they went.
What you need to do is remove the heatsink, remove the nasty but cheap silicone glop that was used as "thermal interface material" (it conducts heat from the GPU into the heatsink) and replace that thermal gunk with something that can actually function decently. I'd recommend Arctic Silver Ceramique if you have a little money, and this specific eBay listing if you don't.
You will also need a product called Arctic Silver Arcticlean to do it the way I do. It's on eBay and Newegg, but wherever you get it, don't pay more than us$6-7 for the two-bottle kit. In addition, please run by your favorite grocery store and get a box of #4 coffee filters, the ones that are flat when you pull them out of the package. You'll need between two and five filters for this, I'd say, so if you don't normally have/get them, you can easily get away with a small package or by borrowing from someone who has 'em.
If you want to do this, tell us and I'll put up instructions... not spending the typing effort, though, if you don't want to do it. (I have time, but not to waste.)
Hi, nubc.
Compared to starhawk's post above, my solution is going to appear
completely non-technical.
I had a similar problem. Believe it or not, the Ottawa River valley at the
level of Ottawa / Gatineau can get warmer, with the Humidex factor, some
summer days -- like today, actually --, than the temperature at the mouth
of the Hudson River (i.e. near New York City), 500 miles south. The
humidity does us in more than the actual temperature, because two rivers
merge with the Ottawa in our vicinity and there are many lakes in the area.
Anyway, enough geography. This is how I solved my problem.
1) Replace your nVidia card with an old Radeon AGP ?...
2) Remove your box's side panel and keep the side open permanently.
2) For CAD$10, you can get a small 4" dual usb/regular_plug fan,
something likethis.
With the side panel gone, put the small fan on the floor next to your box
(almost inside it, actually) and aim it at your card. Connect and turn on!
See attached pic for result. As I said, totally non-technical, but it works.
BFN.
musher0
~~~~~~~~~
Note: rcrsn51's sensors' package can be found here.
Compared to starhawk's post above, my solution is going to appear
completely non-technical.
I had a similar problem. Believe it or not, the Ottawa River valley at the
level of Ottawa / Gatineau can get warmer, with the Humidex factor, some
summer days -- like today, actually --, than the temperature at the mouth
of the Hudson River (i.e. near New York City), 500 miles south. The
humidity does us in more than the actual temperature, because two rivers
merge with the Ottawa in our vicinity and there are many lakes in the area.
Anyway, enough geography. This is how I solved my problem.
1) Replace your nVidia card with an old Radeon AGP ?...
2) Remove your box's side panel and keep the side open permanently.
2) For CAD$10, you can get a small 4" dual usb/regular_plug fan,
something likethis.
With the side panel gone, put the small fan on the floor next to your box
(almost inside it, actually) and aim it at your card. Connect and turn on!
See attached pic for result. As I said, totally non-technical, but it works.
BFN.
musher0
~~~~~~~~~
Note: rcrsn51's sensors' package can be found here.
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- not-so-hot-any-more_2015-09-05.jpg
- (Using rcrsn51's sensors' package.)
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musher0
~~~~~~~~~~
"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)
~~~~~~~~~~
"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)
The nVidia GPU is onboard, next to the processor. I did install a video card to take some of the heat load off the GPU chip, but it didn't help much, temperature-wise. The fact is, this cooler for the GPU must be creatively modified, because the GPU will fail as designed. One thing I plan to do is replace the spring pins with screws and nuts, to tighten up the surface contact between processor die and heatsink, and to get the spring pins out of the way so I can put a fan on top of the heatsink.
starhawk, if I replace the spring pins with screws & nuts, do you think plain ole Arctic Silver will be sufficient for the contact surfaces?
starhawk, if I replace the spring pins with screws & nuts, do you think plain ole Arctic Silver will be sufficient for the contact surfaces?
In some extreme cases I've been using the Antec SpotCool Blue LED System Cooler.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 835209044#
It has a 80 mm 3 speed fan and moves a lot of air wherever you direct it. Seems to do the job for me.
HTH.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 835209044#
It has a 80 mm 3 speed fan and moves a lot of air wherever you direct it. Seems to do the job for me.
HTH.
...you're more likely to crack the chip die... or scrape/cut/short traces.nubc wrote:The nVidia GPU is onboard, next to the processor. I did install a video card to take some of the heat load off the GPU chip, but it didn't help much, temperature-wise. The fact is, this cooler for the GPU must be creatively modified, because the GPU will fail as designed. One thing I plan to do is replace the spring pins with screws and nuts, to tighten up the surface contact between processor die and heatsink, and to get the spring pins out of the way so I can put a fan on top of the heatsink.
starhawk, if I replace the spring pins with screws & nuts, do you think plain ole Arctic Silver will be sufficient for the contact surfaces?
Tension/contact isn't your issue. The pins are springloaded. The problem is that if the TIM is pure crap, then it can't use the heatsink effectively because it can't transmit heat fast enough. That's why I recommended the solution I did.
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Moose On The Loose
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What matters is that you bring cool air to the hot parts and take hot air away. Blow or suck doesn't make much difference. Move lots of air is the goal.nubc wrote:If I mount a fan on top of the Zotac GPU cooler, should the air flow away (extracting from) or towards (against) the heatsink?
People have worked out duct systems to bring air from a fan at the outside surface of the box to the area where the hot parts are. In this case, blowing air works better because for it, you just need to point the moving air in the direction you want it to go and it will continue along that path.
I replaced the push pins with screws and nuts, along with plastic washers to keep the nuts off the board on the bottom. I carefully seated the heatsink on the die of the GPU. I drilled 4 holes in the sides of the heatsink, 2 on either side, and tied the fan to it with solid wire. Running with the fan and newly applied Arctic Silver, the GPU heatsink is no longer hot, but just warm to the touch. I estimate heatsink temperature at 105*C. I should mention that I did try the heatsink alone without a fan, and it got very hot. At that time I laid the spinning fan on top of it whereupon heatsink temperature dropped dramatically. Now the fan is installed on top of the heatsink and GPU is running barely warm, Cool. Unreliable as it may be, BIOS reports CPU Temp at 23*C/73*F and System Temp at 40*C/104*F. I'm glad I didn't give up on this motherboard.
For us mere mortals...
TIM = Thermal Interface Material
from http://www.acronymfinder.com/TIM.html
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Glad you could solve your problem, nubc.
TIM = Thermal Interface Material
from http://www.acronymfinder.com/TIM.html
~~~~~~
Glad you could solve your problem, nubc.
musher0
~~~~~~~~~~
"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)
~~~~~~~~~~
"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)