[jlhawn]

Hi everyone,
I have 2 PNY GTX 580 graphics cards that I have been running since Nov 25 2010,
they still run pretty cool (max temp 78c) but I know thermal paste gets worn out over time
so should I remove the old paste and put new paste on? has anyone had better temps by doing this?
thanks.
also my cards are very close together on my Sabertooth board so the top one gets about 5c hotter then the bottom but
every 6 months I swap them too give the top card a break.
here is a pic of how close they are.

 

[estabya]

A max of 78C is pretty reasonable for 580s, especially when spaced like that. I would say replacing the thermal paste isn't a necessity, but it would probably drop you a few degrees. Definitely couldn't hurt as long as you know what you are doing and use high quality paste.

 

[ripsaw]

depends on their warranty specifics. Did you get the lifetime warranty and does it allow for you to modify/ remove parts?

 

[jlhawn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by estabya

A max of 78C is pretty reasonable for 580s, especially when spaced like that. I would say replacing the thermal paste isn't a necessity, but it would probably drop you a few degrees. Definitely couldn't hurt as long as you know what you are doing and use high quality paste.

I did it on a friends 560ti as he asked me to but it only dropped 1c so maybe i'll just wait till they get hotter later on.

 

[jlhawn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ripsaw

depends on their warranty specifics. Did you get the lifetime warranty and does it allow for you to modify/ remove parts?

this is true, I registered both cards for the lifetime warranty and I even have the original boxes with the registered confimation numbers PNY gave me for the cards. I am sure they would void my warranty if I took them apart, the most I have done is remove the covers on them too clean the which is allowed for cleaning, but removing the heatsinks would most likely make PNY unhappy. so maybe i'll just leave them alone for now.

 

[jlhawn]

well I went ahead and replaced the thermal paste today on both cards.
PNY did a terrible job, they used so much it was hanging over the sides
of the gpu's and the paste they use was hard as rock, it flaked off if chunks.
I cleaned them up real good with alcohol and a lint free camera lens cloth and
then I applied Cooler Master Thermal Fusion 400 in a pea size drop and
installed the heatsinks. temps went down 6c on both cards they idle at 30c
bottom card and 32c top card. max temps are 72c top card and 67c bottom
card. nice improvement so it was well worth the time and reference cards are
very easy to take apart. my heat sink screws were spring loaded so be carefull
as they are so flat they looked like washers so keep pressure on them or they
shoot across the room, never seen them like that.

 

[sidewu]

Nice to hear since I wanted to do the same on my 7970.

 

[jlhawn]

and there were no seals or anything that would show PNY I took the cards apart
so in case of warranty, I also used a very good screw driver that fit perfect so the
screws don't even look like I removed them.