WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:06.839 Thermal compound or thermal interface material is the stuff that goes between 00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:11.840 a heat generating component and the cooler whose job it is 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:15.839 to remove the aforementioned heat from the aforementioned component. Now, 00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:20.400 today's video will cover how to replace the factory applied thermal compound on 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:25.279 your graphics card with an aftermarket one to reduce the operating temperature 00:00:22.720 --> 00:00:29.840 of this sensitive electronic component, potentially improving its lifespan and 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:33.760 in some cases even its performance thanks to GPU boost technology. Or 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:38.239 another way to leverage it would be to have it actually run quieter, making the 00:00:36.160 --> 00:00:42.399 fans not spin as fast, but then have it run at the same temperature if that's 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:49.520 your thing. Which if it is, by the way, stay tuned because our review of the CM 00:00:44.440 --> 00:00:49.520 Seleencio 652S is coming very 00:00:53.719 --> 00:00:59.840 soon. Cooler Master's Case Mod World Series is your opportunity to show off 00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:05.280 your modding skills and win great prizes. Entries closed February 7th, 00:01:02.160 --> 00:01:07.600 2015. Click now to learn more. Now, our 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:12.560 test today focuses on a particular model of graphics card, a GeForce GTX 960 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:17.200 Super Clock that was graciously provided by EVGA. But this principle applies to 00:01:15.520 --> 00:01:21.680 lots of different types of electronic dudatter. In a desktop computer, the 00:01:19.600 --> 00:01:25.680 CPU, motherboard, or really any type of expansion card might have a cooler with 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:30.240 a with lame duck thermal goop on it. And on a laptop, the same can also be true. 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:35.280 One thing to be really careful of though is warranty coverage. Some manufacturers 00:01:33.600 --> 00:01:40.000 don't want you poking and proddding at their product or they will invalidate 00:01:37.119 --> 00:01:43.759 your warranty. Fortunately, EVGA is cool with that as long as you return the card 00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:47.439 to, at least as far as outward appearances go, the factory 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:51.200 configuration before sending it in for an RMA. They'll even let you replace the 00:01:49.520 --> 00:01:56.079 cooler outright with something else if you want to. But we won't be doing that 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:58.880 because a EVGA's ACX 2.0 Plus cooler 00:01:56.079 --> 00:02:02.479 with its dual double ball bearing, 92mm fan design, quad heat pipes, and fanless 00:02:00.880 --> 00:02:05.680 operating mode is already pretty darn good. And B, because that would 00:02:04.240 --> 00:02:10.479 introduce an additional variable that would make it impossible for us to know if our goop replacement made a 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:15.599 difference. So, we're just going to take it off and put it right back on again 00:02:12.640 --> 00:02:18.640 when we're done after we overclock it. After all, if you're not going to push 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:23.360 your hardware to the limits, mods like this are certainly a fun thing to do on 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:30.000 a Saturday afternoon, but not exactly necessary. So, the settings I dialed in 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:33.360 were 110% power target, plus.25 molts on 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:36.400 the GPU, and plus 144 MHz to boost with 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:39.120 the fan speed locked at 17% or around 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:44.959 580 RPM. And all of this was in a room with an ambient temperature of about 21° 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:47.599 C. This yielded temperatures of 67° 00:02:44.959 --> 00:02:51.920 using EVGA's OC scanning utility 1 million particle plasma stress test 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:55.920 running at 2560x440 resolution in windowed mode. The boost clock I 00:02:53.840 --> 00:03:00.319 observed with these settings was 1586 MHz. Although it should be noted these 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:04.159 settings were not verified in actual games, and these stress test programs 00:03:02.239 --> 00:03:08.319 often allow higher clock speeds than you can achieve in the real world. Anyway, 00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:12.000 let's get to business. First, gather all the materials you'll need. The card 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:16.720 itself, isopropyl alcohol, and a lint-free wipe, a screwdriver, and 00:03:14.640 --> 00:03:21.599 replacement thermal compound. I'll be using IC Diamond because it's among the 00:03:19.040 --> 00:03:26.080 best on the market. Start with the four screws positioned around the processor 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:30.319 itself, usually near the middle of the card and tensioned by springs. Loosen 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:34.560 them in a cross pattern. Then remove them fully. For our card, this was 00:03:32.640 --> 00:03:38.640 actually enough to completely free the cooler. But on some other cards, you may 00:03:36.959 --> 00:03:43.440 need to remove the rest of the screws on the back and even others on the top, 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:47.360 bottom, sides, or even rear IO. You can test if you've got everything by giving 00:03:45.519 --> 00:03:52.400 the cooler a wiggle. Then once you're sure all the screws are removed, you can 00:03:49.200 --> 00:03:54.879 gently pull it free. Never force it and 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:58.040 be mindful of your fan power plug. You don't want to accidentally yank on it 00:03:56.400 --> 00:04:01.920 since those connectors are often very fragile. Now, you can see from this 00:04:00.239 --> 00:04:08.080 footage I took when I did my initial swap that EVGA is using like a a 00:04:05.040 --> 00:04:10.720 pre-done exactly square thermal paste 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:14.159 patch rather than relying on manual application and that it seems to be 00:04:12.480 --> 00:04:18.959 working for them. The base plate of the cooler is making very even contact with 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:23.040 the GPU core through only a thin layer of material. This is very desirable. You 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:27.919 need thermal compound on your GPU or it'll overheat, but a thick layer here 00:04:25.440 --> 00:04:31.919 can actually insulate the GPU causing it to run hotter. Speaking of which, some 00:04:30.320 --> 00:04:35.600 graphics cards will have what are called thermal pads. They're a little bit 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:40.960 thicker on components like voltage regulator modules or memory chips. Leave 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:46.240 these on and reuse those pads unless you have replacement pads of the exact same 00:04:42.960 --> 00:04:48.560 thickness. Replacing pads with a thick 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:53.199 application of paste can cause poor contact between your cooler and your 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:57.120 graphics card. With the cooler off, it's time to clean both the GPU itself and 00:04:55.360 --> 00:05:01.759 the base of the cooler with 99% isopropyl alcohol. 70% is fine, too, by 00:04:59.840 --> 00:05:05.759 the way. I recommend starting with a couple slow, high pressure passes on the 00:05:04.080 --> 00:05:10.160 cooler base with your cleaning cloth to remove the bulk of the goop from the 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:11.520 surface. Then fold that away and find a 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:16.240 fresh part of your cloth and use a buffing motion to take off the rest. Do 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:20.560 the same for the GPU itself. Just as an FYI, the compound on there won't damage 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:25.680 your card if it gets on the chip package or even on the board PCB, but that's not 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:29.759 a license to be sloppy. Try to remove as much as you can. With the compound 00:05:27.919 --> 00:05:34.320 removed, I usually do a final pass with a fresh cloth to remove any lint or 00:05:31.960 --> 00:05:38.400 residue. Applying thermal compound isn't rocket science, and remember, less is 00:05:36.320 --> 00:05:43.199 more. You want enough for it to spread out and cover the whole GPU, but not so 00:05:40.960 --> 00:05:47.680 much that it gets mushed out on the sides and gets all over the place. I use 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:51.120 the line method, but a dot in the center also works. Just don't waste your time 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:55.440 spreading it out. It's messy, unnecessary, and can actually trap air 00:05:53.360 --> 00:05:58.479 bubbles in the compound in some cases. Although, normally those would be 00:05:56.639 --> 00:06:02.240 squeezed out by the same pressure that spreads the thermal compound with the 00:06:00.320 --> 00:06:06.400 other techniques once you tighten the mounting screws. On that note, now it's 00:06:04.479 --> 00:06:10.639 time to tighten the mounting screws. Again, in a cross pattern, throw this 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:17.960 baby on the test bench and find out if it worked. Boom. low temperatures using 00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:22.080 the exact same testing parameters of 00:06:17.960 --> 00:06:23.840 64° about a 3° improvement. Woo! Yeah. 00:06:22.080 --> 00:06:27.680 All right. So, it's not exactly earth shaking. So, if you're sitting there 00:06:25.319 --> 00:06:31.120 wondering what exactly was the point of doing all this to a brand new piece of 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:35.039 hardware that's obviously working just fine, I don't blame you. But, I was 00:06:33.280 --> 00:06:39.520 ready for that question. So, here are some other situations where it might 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:44.160 make more sense. While EVGA didn't do this, some manufacturers use really low 00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:48.479 performance thermal material, either to save a buck or for reasons that are 00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:52.960 unlikely to ever even occur to most consumers. Things like stability over 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:57.759 time or at extreme temperatures during storage. So, there's that. And even the 00:06:55.840 --> 00:07:02.240 most well-intentioned manufacturer who chooses the highest quality thermal 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:06.000 compound can have a sloppy application once in a while. So, if your component 00:07:04.400 --> 00:07:10.400 is running hotter than you're expecting or not turboing as high as you'd like, 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:14.319 you can follow this guide to try a thermal compound replacement since it 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:17.520 doesn't cost very much. And finally, this might actually come in handy if 00:07:15.919 --> 00:07:21.919 you're trying to breathe new life into an older piece of hardware, too. Thermal 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:26.639 pastes, particularly the lower quality ones, don't stay potent forever and may 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:31.360 need to be refreshed every once in a while. Speaking of things to refresh 00:07:28.880 --> 00:07:35.160 once in a while, your monitor and Massdrop is currently giving you the 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:42.280 opportunity to refresh to one of the sexiest monitors on the market. For a 00:07:39.280 --> 00:07:47.199 limited time, they have the LG 34 00:07:42.280 --> 00:07:49.520 UC87B, the sort of very near cousin of 00:07:47.199 --> 00:07:54.560 the current love of my monitor life, LG's 34 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:57.599 UC97 for about 350 bucks off of its 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:58.960 retail price at their lowest drop. At 00:07:57.599 --> 00:08:03.919 this point, you should probably be familiar with Massdrop because of their awesome deals on great tech products 00:08:02.080 --> 00:08:06.720 like this one. But if not, I guess I'll give you a little rundown. They're a 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:10.080 site that facilitates group buys, ensuring that you can get great deals on 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:14.000 basically everything you need in your day-to-day life like tools, clothes, 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:17.840 tea, entertainment items like this LG Curved Display, and even board games and 00:08:16.319 --> 00:08:21.360 stuff like that. Items are selected by the Massdrop community through polls, 00:08:19.440 --> 00:08:24.560 and the most popular items are sourced by Massdrop. They work directly with 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:29.520 manufacturers and distributors to find a starting price, a lowest price, and a 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:33.839 bunch of prices in between. 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You can buy a 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:09.279 cool t-shirt like this one. Uh you can change your Amazon bookmark to one with 00:09:08.080 --> 00:09:14.399 our affiliate code. You can give us a monthly contribution directly if you like our videos. And that was my 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:19.160 opportunity to do my outro. Now is my opportunity to say don't forget to 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:29.610 subscribe if you haven't already. Peace.