I killed my 5970

[SMOKEU]

I took the Accelero cooler off my 5970 because it's a crappy cooler which made the VRMs overheat, so I then put the stock cooler back on. Now the motherboard makes the "No VGA detected" series of beeps, so I put a 5850 in and connected the monitor to that so I could boot into Windows with the 5970 in the middle PCIE slot and the device manager won't detect the 5970. Yes, I did put thermal paste on all the right places on the 5970, on both the top and the bottom of the card. How could the card have died just by changing the cooler?

The 5970 fan still spins up loudly for about 2 seconds just after I do a cold boot, before going quiet again.

[nelisky]

If the fan goes 100% and down down (but not stopped) the GPU if passing POST, so not completely dead. Are there any red lights on top?

[cicada]

Yes, I did put thermal paste on all the right places on the 5970, on both the top and the bottom of the card.

There's only one 'right place' for thermal paste, and the bottom of the card isn't it.  If you used a conductive thermal paste like Arctic Silver 5, you've probably shorted something out on the bottom of the card..

The only place for thermal paste is a very thin layer between the heatsink and the large GPU chip - nowhere else

If you don't have special cleaning solution, a lint-free cloth and 90%+ isopropyl alcohol works well to clean it off.

[edit] of course, 5970 has two GPUs, so a thin layer between each GPU chip and the heatsink

[Jack of Diamonds]

You screwed up big time with the thermal paste.

It's *only* supposed to go between the GPU chip and the heatsink to allow maximal heat transfer to the copper pipes.

Also the Accelero Xtreme is much more powerful than the stock 5970 fan, I'd know because I run 3 of those cards.
Chances are you applied too much paste and saw high temperatures to begin with.

[Big Time Coin]

Did I do it wrong? 



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[Starlightbreaker]

Did I do it wrong? 



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it will work for ~6mo, and after that, you'll have a nasty crust.



been there, done that.

[SMOKEU]

I used Arctic MX2 which Arctic states is not electrically conductive. Thermal pads are nearly impossible to find for sale in this country so I had to use paste.

[mike678]

I used Arctic MX2 which Arctic states is not electrically conductive. Thermal pads are nearly impossible to find for sale in this country so I had to use paste.

Its not really a question of what you used but how you used it.

Yes, I did put thermal paste on all the right places on the 5970, on both the top and the bottom of the card.

That makes it sound like you have no clue where you were suppose to place it. Can you specify what is the top and bottom of the card.

[SMOKEU]

I used Arctic MX2 which Arctic states is not electrically conductive. Thermal pads are nearly impossible to find for sale in this country so I had to use paste.

Its not really a question of what you used but how you used it.

Yes, I did put thermal paste on all the right places on the 5970, on both the top and the bottom of the card.

That makes it sound like you have no clue where you were suppose to place it. Can you specify what is the top and bottom of the card.

It has a backplate with what appears to be memory on the other side of the card from the GPUs. I couldn't find any instructions for mounting the Accelero cooler and when I tried to mount it the small heatsink got in the way of the big heatsink so I gave up and tried to mount the stock cooler back on.

[cicada]

Could you tell us what model 5970 you have?

Maybe show us a picture of what you're referring to?  I haven't seen any cards yet with backplates, but there are lots of cards out there..

[SMOKEU]

It's an XFX. The backplate is this thing here

[nelisky]

Could you tell us what model 5970 you have?

Maybe show us a picture of what you're referring to?  I haven't seen any cards yet with backplates, but there are lots of cards out there..

I've had (and some killed) Saphire, ATI, XFX and PowerColor 5970s, all reference, all with backplate. Also, the AC depends on the stock backplate to be properly installed.

[cicada]

Those pads are probably more for protection than thermal transfer, it doesn't look like that would really do much to cool the memory.

Make sure you haven't scuffed any of those chips deeply or broken any traces on the bottom of the card when you removed it..

I don't know about the MX2 but most things thermally conductive are electrically conductive at some threshold.. the 0.8-2V around a CPU might be fine, but maybe accidentally shorting a 12V to ground overcomes it's resistance..

Unless you removed thermal paste when you took the backplate off, I don't think you need any on those memory chips, and you likely don't even need the pads.

I'd clean it carefully and thoroughly and try the card again.

I've had (and some killed) Saphire, ATI, XFX and PowerColor 5970s, all reference, all with backplate. Also, the AC depends on the stock backplate to be properly installed.

Ah, yeah I haven't had any dual-gpu cards personally, didn't know it was a thing.

[nelisky]

Unless you removed thermal paste when you took the backplate off, I don't think you need any on those memory chips, and you likely don't even need the pads.

He didn't almost certainly. And yes, the pads seem more of a protection than anything else, the backplate is securely screwed on to the heatsink and a little bending could do much damage without the pads.

Also, for mining it's kinda moot, you'll probably do just fine with no memory thermal padding on either side. It really barely touches the ram.

I've had (and some killed) Saphire, ATI, XFX and PowerColor 5970s, all reference, all with backplate. Also, the AC depends on the stock backplate to be properly installed.

Ah, yeah I haven't had any dual-gpu cards personally, didn't know it was a thing.

And at least some 5870 have it too, though I'm almost sure it's mostly protection agains bending the PCB with with increasingly heavy heatsinks screwed on the other side.

[bcforum]

Those pads are probably more for protection than thermal transfer, it doesn't look like that would really do much to cool the memory.

The pads are designed to transfer heat efficiently between misaligned surfaces. They conform to the surfaces without spreading/smearing like you'd get with paste. You commonly see them on CD drives to move the heat from the motor driver chip to the metal case.

[ArtForz]

Wait, you tried installing a accelero 5970 with NO INSTRUCTIONS?

Sounds like you killed your card improperly installing it then.
The installation instructions that come with it (and are also available on ACs website) state VERY clearly to leave the backplate on and to *NOT* fully tighten the 4 x-plate screws around each GPU or the screws mounting the main cooler to the board (it's ok to fully tighten the 2 screws holding the VRM heatsink).

Overtighten the x-plates and you kill your DVI outputs.
Overtighten the standoffs (especially with no backplate) and you bend the board so badly it's usually a paperweight.

[SMOKEU]

So does it look like the card is pretty much phucked then? That Accelero cooler was very quiet and kept the GPUs cool, but the fact that the small heatsink is just stuck on with thermal tape doesn't inspire much confidence in the design of the whole thing. I've done plenty of digging around on the net and I can't find any instructions for mounting the Accelero cooler.

The backplate is held on by the screws which mount the stock heatsink on, meaning if I take the heatsink off then the backplate also comes off. The screws go right through the backplate into the stock cooler.

[ArtForz]

Right under Products -> Cooling -> VGA -> Accelero XTREME 5970 -> Support

"Advice for installation on ATI HD 5970"
http://www.arctic.ac/en/support/support/detail/question/95-advice-for-installation-on-ati-hd-5970.htm

"Manual : Accelero XTREME 5970"
http://www.arctic.ac/index.php?eID=tx_mm_bccmsbase_zip&id=14140256894e56258d0a992

And yeah, the backplate isn't held on by anything once you remove the screws.

[nelisky]

Overtighten the x-plates and you kill your DVI outputs.
Overtighten the standoffs (especially with no backplate) and you bend the board so badly it's usually a paperweight.

Heh, I had forgotten about this... I remember when I got on of these AC things, and THEN read on the foruns about all the dead DVIs. Boy was I careful installing the thing!

Oh, and btw, the little VRM cooler isn't just held by thermal paste, it gets 2 screws from the back plate if memory serves me well.

[PatrickHarnett]

It is a little unclear what you have done.  I've been using 5970's for a couple of years and have had six GPUs fail out of my farm in that time (different models).

It looks like you have applied paste to the top of the GPUs, like you would with a CPU install.  Do you then attach the big, ugly heatsink?  If not, when the card starts the chips will heat very quickly and turn off (thermal trip) so you might not have killed it yet.

The back-plate is a combination of protection and heat dissipation - the HD58xx series doesn't have them.  While playing with other pieces, it's ok to leave off.

Can you confirm you have a heatsink attached/bolted to the GPUs and at least one fan running?