Zalman ZM80C-HP on non-pro ATI9700 questions

Gwailowen · Post by **Gwailowen** » Wed Mar 03, 2004 9:06 pm

Hi all,

I just installed the zalman fanless sink onto my 9700 (which was working fine before, just loud).

I'm now experiencing...little jagged lines in a regular pattern when running 3D apps (3Dmark2001), as well as weird extra textures or holes.

I've touched the sink after looping 30 minutes of 3Dmark, and it's warm. Not hot, just warm. It's definitely warmer than idle though, so I guess it's working somewhat.

I've read on other threads that similar configurations are actually quite hot. I suspect it's poor contact between gpu and sink.

Just a few questions I'd like to ask:

1. How much thermal paste should I use for the GPU itself? I used AS3, about a grain of rice-size, spread pretty thinly like I usually do on CPUs.

2. How tightly should I screw the mounting block to the board? Should I tighten all the way? The little arms seem to be bending a bit excessively if I do.

3. How much thermal paste should I use for the heatpipe/sink/mounting block contact? I also applied very little, but when I looked lengthwise at the underside of the sink, I could see a bit of a gap between the block and the sink. The heatpipe seemed to be making good contact though.

Thanks in advance!

Pjotor · Post by **Pjotor** » Wed Mar 03, 2004 10:49 pm

I smeared a little more than your description indicates on the places where the heatpipe makes contact with the sinks. If I remember correctly, I tightened the screws a little more as well. (By the way, I have a Radeon 9700 Pro.)

I think you should apply a little more paste than you already have. Compared to CPU heatsinks, the forces connecting the surfaces are smaller, and because of this I think one has to be more generous with past.

Happy silencing!

Gwailowen · Post by **Gwailowen** » Sat Mar 06, 2004 5:53 am

Well, I tried installing the whole shebang again, this time with more thermal paste (still Artic Silver 3), and tightening the screws as far as I felt safe.

I've been looping 3DMark2001SE for about an hour now. I'm still getting all the tearing, holes, etc.

I've touched the heatsinks, and both the front and back heatsink are pretty hot to the touch, but still bearably so. I therefore assume that the sink is making at least decent contact with the GPU.

Could other forces be at work? I noticed a few tiny nicks on the edges of the GPU itself, probably from when I tried to get all the gunk from the original sink off.

Does anyone have any ideas or similar experiences? Thanks!

Pjotor · Post by **Pjotor** » Sat Mar 06, 2004 11:23 am

Maybe you're using application settings which stress the card too much, or the driver settings for anti-aliasing etc. are set too high?

Gwailowen · Post by **Gwailowen** » Sat Mar 06, 2004 9:07 pm

I don't think any of the settings I'm using should be a problem, they're the same as before I installed the heatsink.

I tried changing them though, like the AGP aperture size, etc. I'm noticing that the tearing is in a pattern, like vertical bands. There are also instances of textures looking like they're stretched like rubber bands across the screen, or across polygons.

Is it possible that the shim around the GPU itself is keeping the sinks from making good contact? Or is my card now well and truly bust...

Gwailowen · Post by **Gwailowen** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 8:47 pm

Well, I tried swapping this vidcard with another i had from another comp to see if maybe something on the motherboard was causing it...the other vidcard worked fine. So it's not the motherboard.

I also tried running this 9700 on the other computer, and it still had corrupted images. I'm really starting to think it's well and truly damaged, so I might just go out and buy one of those IceQ 9800pro cards from HIS.

Is there anything else anyone would suggest I try before I give up?

Thanks!