my dead 9800Pro after Arctic Silencer3

  • Thread starter Thread starter AlexN
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A

AlexN

My Sapphire 9800 pro just died TODAY after putting on the Arctic Vga
Silencer rev 3

Used the included silicon heat paste.

There was a rectangular shim around the GPU. which i could do nothing
about. The GPU seemed level with it anyhow.

Visual artifacts (Pixel lines) on computer Boot up screen, visual artifacts
in a 3D game, colours funny, and very very odd artifacts (none on the
desktop or playing
video files).

The computer went off, and now the card is completley dead.

If i take it back to the shop, will they find out ive flahsed it to an
XT........hmmm

I didnt tighten the screws overly hard either. I'm not sure what to do next.

someone please helpme .
 
I've a feeling it may be lack of contact between heatsink and GPU....due to
that Shim thing.
 
AlexN said:
I've a feeling it may be lack of contact between heatsink and GPU....due to
that Shim thing.
Click to expand...
I think that's certainly one of the things that can go wrong.

I was unimpressed with the overclock I was getting with my 9800pro AIW.
On looking at the stock heatsink I noticed that even that had a 1mm
depression
on the bottom exactly the size of the GPU. That could only be to make a
better constact with the GPU - and this is the stock heatsink. I also
noticed
when taking that off that it had quite a bit of thermal paste on it.

I took the silencer off, slapped a bit of paste around the shim and made a
temporary contact as if I were about to put it back in, but didn't. I then
undid it all, and had a look where the paste was stuck to give me an idea
of where the shim was making contact with the silencer (i.e holding silencer
ABOVE GPU).

I then got out a file and created a 1mm groove where the shim would go.
Very fiddly. Aluminium can be surprisingly hard when using a not very good
needle file.

Anyway the card now clocks to XT speeds reliably (not that I do that often).

Yes, that shim is a bit of a problem. Slapping lots of paste between GPU and
the silencer is NOT the solution - its only supposed to fill the microscopic
gaps between the two surfaces - not create an actual sandwich.

My experiences anyway. HTH

Phil Parker
Southampton, UK
 
The shim is level with the core surface and thus couldn't have caused a lack
of contact. On my 9800Pro, the stock heat sink is completely flat and
contacts with the core nicely with the stock thermal paste.
 
The shim is level with the core surface and thus couldn't have caused a lack
of contact. On my 9800Pro, the stock heat sink is completely flat and
contacts with the core nicely with the stock thermal paste.
Click to expand...
Not all of them are level, the shim on my made by ATI 9800Pro sat higher than
the core and had to be removed.
 
I notice that there are two different coolers for that card. According to
newegg, ATI Silencer 3 is for 9800XT's and 9800pro's with 256Mb of ram.
Ati Silencer 1 is for 9700pro/9800pro's. Maybe you installed the wrong
cooler...By the way, that "Shim Thing" is there to protect the chip from
being cracked or broken from over tightening the heat sink.
 
Is your OEM heat sink completely flat on the bottom? Was it originally
secured with a thermal pad or paste?
 
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