• 23.07.2025, 20:34
  • Registrieren
  • Anmelden
  • Sie sind nicht angemeldet.

 

Colonel_Panic

Junior Member

Manufacturing problem with GTX580 block

Sonntag, 15. April 2012, 03:46

For approximately the last year, my friend M and I have been trying to troubleshoot his triple GTX580 workstation. We discovered that when the system is in SLI mode, any heavy GPU processing would cause the system to shutdown. After monitoring the temperature of each component, we found that the graphic cards were reaching their temperature threshold and shutting the system down. This led us to a long and winding bit of troubleshooting for each software and hardware component, including cleaning the GPU blocks, rearranging the cards and updating drivers.

Fast forward to this afternoon, when we had the chance to fully remove each card, reattach the block and test each card individually. What we found put the failure into the Aqua blocks we were using.



This is a photo of the block immediately after removal. Clearly the connection between block and card was incomplete, to the point of only 10-20% of the surface area is making contact. Clearly this results in terrible heat transfer and a serious increase in temperature. The thing is that we installed the block correctly according to the instructions: thin layer of thermal paste and securely fastening each screw.



In order to correct the issue, we had to put a lot of thermal paste onto the chip. This is not optimal.



This is the only way we've been able to get a proper connection, and it results in a substantial bow in the PCB.

It appears to be a manufacturing issue, as installing the block correctly does not result in a proper connection. Is this a design error, known manufacturing defect or a bad batch? All three blocks we're using exhibit the same problem, which appears to be incorrect depth of the main chip pad.

EDIT: The end result of tightening the block and adding extra paste is a rather efficient bit of heat transfer. The cards are operating at approx 35C at idle, and rarely hit higher than 46C under load.

Dieser Beitrag wurde bereits 1 mal editiert, zuletzt von »Colonel_Panic« (15. April 2012, 04:17)

MacBook Pro
Ubuntu File Server - 6.75TB
Watercooled workstation - i7-950 @ 4.0GHz / 12GB RAM / Intel 120GB SSD / ASUS P6X58D Premium / GTX470 / Aquaero 4
www.wesg.ca

Rjrolyn

Junior Member

GTX 580 Installation

Sonntag, 15. April 2012, 10:55

I followed this tutorial " http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CMg2MXZRbtk…h?v=CMg2MXZRbtk " all went well and it balanced the way it should. Not sure what size thermal pads you used on the memory ram, looks like a 1.5mm which caused not to balance out properly once mounted with the block and card. Hope all works out with the block / card...

etoel

Junior Member

Sonntag, 15. April 2012, 12:59

I don't have the same blocks, but all my GPU blocks have worked flawlessly.
From the picture it looks like your termalpads are too thick and this makes your PCB bend - it doesn't look right at all.
Have you checked that they are the correct ones and placed in the correct place?
I recall that you are supposed to use thermal paste on the ram chips and not pads, but you will have to check the manual.
I'm glad that it worked out in the end, but I would check this when you have the chance.

Colonel_Panic

Junior Member

Sonntag, 15. April 2012, 19:12

Thanks for the additional info, I think both of you might be right about the thermal pad installation. The extra 1.5mm would be just enough to prevent GPU contact.

I also noticed an interesting piece on the page for the GTX580 block:

Zitat

Important note:
Some GTX 580 cards (e. g. from EVGA) do not use a heatspreader for the GPU. Such a graphics card can not be used since the GPU will not have any contact to the cooling block!

What is the heat spreader and does this card have one?
MacBook Pro
Ubuntu File Server - 6.75TB
Watercooled workstation - i7-950 @ 4.0GHz / 12GB RAM / Intel 120GB SSD / ASUS P6X58D Premium / GTX470 / Aquaero 4
www.wesg.ca

Rjrolyn

Junior Member

Sonntag, 15. April 2012, 19:38

For the GTX 580 Rev. 2 will not have the heat spreader. From the card you have its Rev.1 and has the Heat Spreader. So just add thermal paste on the mem chips and all should balance out with cadd just like the youtube link i added.

Colonel_Panic

Junior Member

Mittwoch, 18. April 2012, 17:07

Thanks, everyone, for helping us work through this.

Now the question is if we should spend the time and effort reinstalling the blocks with paste instead of pads. Anyone foresee any long-term effects from leaving the PCB as shown above?
MacBook Pro
Ubuntu File Server - 6.75TB
Watercooled workstation - i7-950 @ 4.0GHz / 12GB RAM / Intel 120GB SSD / ASUS P6X58D Premium / GTX470 / Aquaero 4
www.wesg.ca

Shoggy

Sven - Admin

Donnerstag, 10. Mai 2012, 15:12

As mentioned before I also think that the thermal pad is the problem. The photos show that you are not using the original pad which comes with the block. They are only 0.5 mm while maybe your current pads have 1.0 mm which would be the reason why you have no proper contact to the GPU.

That the card is slightly bended should be no problem.

frank anderson

Junior Member

Donnerstag, 10. Mai 2012, 15:47

Yep, looks like your thermal pads are the cause of the problem..

I use non conductive Arctic Silver Ceramic on my ram chips, Arctic Silver 5 for the GPU, and the thermal tape that was included for my VRM's, I don't recall what size they were tho, I just used what came with my AquagraFX blocks.