Solved How to check,if GPU Stock Thermal Paste needs a replacement or NOT...

[fahadhum]

Is it possible to check via a Software like , " Real Temp " to know if i need to replace stock thermal paste and apply a new one.

The software " Real Temp " has an option of showing the status of the Thermal paste as "OK".Is it really accurate and can i just rely this software i.e " Real Temp " to let me decide when i need to remove the stock Thermal Paste and apply a new one....

I have been using my rig for almost 11 Months now & i have not cleaned my GPU by Unscrewing it or similar.
So,i was wondering if i can use software's like " Real Temp " to make sure if i need cleaning and removing the stock Thermal paste or not....

 

[RoasterMen]

Only way to find out if the thermal paste is still doing it's job is when it's still keeping the consistency of the temperature of not going way too hotter than usual.

 

[Layback Bear]

RealTemp reads the temp of the cpu and gpu if you set it to do so.

RealTemp only reads temps. It does not tell you anything about anything else.

RealTemp doesn't know thermal compound from mashed potatoes.

It is always wise to monitor your temps and check now and again to see how clean things are in your system. I change my gpu thermal paste on my gpu if my temps start to run high compared to ambient temp and I can't find any other problems.
I have had 1 gpu last 5 years and never had to do anything except keep the fan and grill clean.

Is your system specs correct and your system only has one case fan?

Cooling CORSAIR Liquid Fan + One Built in FAN

 

[fahadhum]

Yes

RealTemp reads the temp of the cpu and gpu if you set it to do so.

RealTemp only reads temps. It does not tell you anything about anything else.

RealTemp doesn't know thermal compound from mashed potatoes.

It is always wise to monitor your temps and check now and again to see how clean things are in your system. I change my gpu thermal paste on my gpu if my temps start to run high compared to ambient temp and I can't find any other problems.
I have had 1 gpu last 5 years and never had to do anything except keep the fan and grill clean.

Is your system specs correct and your system only has one case fan?

Cooling CORSAIR Liquid Fan + One Built in FAN

Yes , my system specs are correct.

Actually i am getting 50 fps MAX in 80% of the games that i ran.And i have a 16 gb RAM..

So i was wondering that may be cleaning the GPU will give me some more fps.Since i won't overclock,so i need to get all the benefits that i can from the stock clock speeds & everything.

It's been 11 months now and i have not unscrewed and opened my GPU anyways.It has been like that since i bought it.

Problem is , i fear doing something wrong while handling the Thermal Paste area & i do not even know how to remove and apply a new paste.And unscrew and unplug all the wires and stuff ..

I wonder if the shop guys who made my pc , may agree to do this for me.Don't know how much it will cost me though. ..

 

[RoasterMen]

 

[fahadhum]

Thank You

Thank you for sharing this video.I have seen it before though.I hope , i will do good when i will open my case up and unscrew the GPU.

I am usually cautious when dealing with such electronic matters.But i suppose , i will have to inevitable do some cleaning if i want to get some more fps.

The tricky part to me is the THERMAL PASTE section.I read somewhere , a user who had to apply and re-apply thermal paste several times as his temps started going TOO HIGH or TOO LOW due to PERHAPS wrongly applying the paste.So,i fear not to do the same.

I am dying to open my case though and just clean the dust of the FANS & HEAT SINK of my GPU.I hope i can do that without touching or disturbing the Thermal Paste area..

 

[Layback Bear]

Please put in your system specs the case (tower) you have.
Tell us exactly how many case fans you have.

If you don't have proper air flow through the case the video card will run hotter.

 

[Mellon Head]

Actually i am getting 50 fps MAX in 80% of the games that i ran.And i have a 16 gb RAM..

So i was wondering that may be cleaning the GPU will give me some more fps.Since i won't overclock,so i need to get all the benefits that i can from the stock clock speeds & everything.

It's been 11 months now and i have not unscrewed and opened my GPU anyways.It has been like that since i bought it.

Problem is , i fear doing something wrong while handling the Thermal Paste area & i do not even know how to remove and apply a new paste.And unscrew and unplug all the wires and stuff ..

I wonder if the shop guys who made my pc , may agree to do this for me.Don't know how much it will cost me though. ..

First of all, cleaning the GPU won't give you more FPS, unless the card is seriously overheating. Your problem, if it is overheating, is likely due to the single case fan that you have not providing enough airflow through the case.

Your card is too new to be worrying about thermal paste. It's just an expense and a hassle to change it if you don't need to, and in my opinion, you don't need to.

As for the 50 FPS in games, that's actually pretty good for a 128 bit data bus video card with only 2 GB of VRAM.

 

[fahadhum]

Please put in your system specs the case (tower) you have.
Tell us exactly how many case fans you have.

If you don't have proper air flow through the case the video card will run hotter.

My System Specs are as follows :

Computer type : PC/Desktop
System Manufacturer/Model Number : Asus
OS : Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
CPU : i7
Motherboard Gigabyte : H97-D3H
Processor : Interl (R) Core(TM) i7-4790 CPU @ 3.60 GHZ 3.60 GHZ
Memory : 16 GB (RAM)
Graphics Card : Nvidia GFORCE GTX 960 2 GB
Screen Resolution : 1280*720 (i AM USING A SHARP 32 INCH Television as a screen via HDMI)
Cooling : CORSAIR Liquid Fan + One Built in FAN

I have also attached my Case Model Type Picture,The Corsair Liquid Fan picture , as well as the picure of the Table showing how i have placed my case for AIR FLOW....

 

[fahadhum]

Actually i am getting 50 fps MAX in 80% of the games that i ran.And i have a 16 gb RAM..

So i was wondering that may be cleaning the GPU will give me some more fps.Since i won't overclock,so i need to get all the benefits that i can from the stock clock speeds & everything.

It's been 11 months now and i have not unscrewed and opened my GPU anyways.It has been like that since i bought it.

Problem is , i fear doing something wrong while handling the Thermal Paste area & i do not even know how to remove and apply a new paste.And unscrew and unplug all the wires and stuff ..

I wonder if the shop guys who made my pc , may agree to do this for me.Don't know how much it will cost me though. ..

First of all, cleaning the GPU won't give you more FPS, unless the card is seriously overheating. Your problem, if it is overheating, is likely due to the single case fan that you have not providing enough airflow through the case.

Your card is too new to be worrying about thermal paste. It's just an expense and a hassle to change it if you don't need to, and in my opinion, you don't need to.

As for the 50 FPS in games, that's actually pretty good for a 128 bit data bus video card with only 2 GB of VRAM.

I see , i did not know the true potential of my Graphics Card.May be this is the MAX it can deliver i.e 50 fps.
I bought this ASSEMBLED PC 11 months ago.

I initially had a stock Intel Fan on my Processor , which i replaced with a CORSAIR Liquid Cooler Fan.

To give you a rough idea regarding if my Graphics Card is OVERHEATING or NOT,i have attached my GPU Minimum & Maximum Temps(WHILE GAMING) picture , below.I saved this picture after around 40 Minutes of Game play.

 

[Mellon Head]

52C is a more than excellent temperature after 40 minutes of game play. You have no problems there at all. I wouldn't worry about the temps, or the thermal paste. I think your issue with the medium FPS is just the limitation of your card. There isn't much you can do about that, other than to buy something like a GTX 970, or a Radeon 390X, both similar in capabilities, though the Nvidia card will outperform the 390X by a small margin.

 

[AddRAM]

There is no reason to ever replace the TIM on a 960, it`s too new, the fans only spinup when it hits a certain temprature, your GPU is fine, don`t worry about a thing.

It would be nice if you put the manufacturer in your specs

What game are you playing that the GPU temp only hits 52c ?

52c is nothing, in GPU terms that`s sub polar temps

 

[fahadhum]

52C is a more than excellent temperature after 40 minutes of game play. You have no problems there at all. I wouldn't worry about the temps, or the thermal paste. I think your issue with the medium FPS is just the limitation of your card. There isn't much you can do about that, other than to buy something like a GTX 970, or a Radeon 390X, both similar in capabilities, though the Nvidia card will outperform the 390X by a small margin.

Glad to know that this a more than excellent temperature

Perhaps this is due to the Corsair Liquid Cooler Fan that i have installed in place of the Stock Intel fan.

I will buy a new Nvidia Gtx Graphics card some day once i get some money.May be i will get a Gtx 970 or 980 depending on my budget.

I do not want to sound like a PRESISTENT BORE , but i have one more question regarding this CLEANING MATTER.That is : what about the fact that i have not cleaned my GPU for almost 11 months now & when i do MILDLY clean my case weekly,i can see dust on the GPU fans.But i can not clean it , as i have not opened / unscrewed my GPU yet...

 

[Mellon Head]

I do not want to sound like a PRESISTENT BORE , but i have one more question regarding this CLEANING MATTER.That is : what about the fact that i have not cleaned my GPU for almost 11 months now & when i do MILDLY clean my case weekly,i can see dust on the GPU fans.But i can not clean it , as i have not opened / unscrewed my GPU yet...

You don't actually have to take your GPU all apart to clean it...

I usually remove mine from the case (make sure you have grounded yourself by touching the case when it is plugged in, but make sure the power is not on when you take the GPU out. Don't do this on carpet), and I use a can of compressed air to blow through the fins on the heatsink under the fan. Make sure you stick a finger in the fan blades so the fan won't turn while you do this. Spray the compressed air on the fan blades to clean the dust off (while holding your finger in the fan blades so it won't turn). If the fan blades are still dusty after this, you can use a moistened cotton swab or small cloth to gently wipe off the excess dust on the blades. Then put the GPU back.

Do NOT use a vacuum cleaner to clean the card - ever.

It's very important that you don't spray compressed air directly on the fan blades and make them spin. Doing so will make them spin too fast and the bearings on the fan will wear prematurely. At the very least, you could damage the fan's bearings. That's why you stick your finger into the fan blades when using the compressed air.

 

[fahadhum]

There is no reason to ever replace the TIM on a 960, it`s too new, the fans only spinup when it hits a certain temprature, your GPU is fine, don`t worry about a thing.

It would be nice if you put the manufacturer in your specs

What game ar/e you playing that the GPU temp only hits 52c ?

52c is nothing, in GPU terms that`s sub polar temps

I will post a link here which contains information regarding all of the hardware in my RIG.Drivers,models and everything else.I think , it also contains the manufacturer's name.

What is a TIM? What are sub polar tems ? I am not very knowledagle in this area , so i am being inquisitive about it.

The game that i was playing is an old one , it is Hitman Absolution.I have tried playing many modern games too on my system , like , GTA 5 , Metal Gear Solid Ground Zeroes , Metal Gear Solid :The Phantom Pain , Call of Duty Advanced Warfare , Batman Arkahm Knight , Assasin's Creed Unity ....

Amongst all of the names that i just mentioned , i was getting 60 fps in one game only i.e Metal Gear Solid Ground Zeroes.The rest of the Games are running on 50 FPS.

I doubt,what temps ,other games will give.I have only checked Hitman Absolution yet.

And 52c is also becasue of the Corsair Liquid Cooler Fan perhaps.Otherwise , my case used to get very hot when i had placed it in a tight place under my Computer Table & i had Stock Intel fan installed at the time.Afterwords i learned that i need to give my case some air and then i installed Corsair Liquid Fan and removed the Stock Intel fan .

 

[Mellon Head]

What is a TIM? What are sub polar tems ? I am not very knowledagle in this area , so i am being inquisitive about it.

TIM is Thermal Interface Material = thermal paste.

His term "sub-polar temps" is a (brilliant) joke. He means that your graphics card is cold enough to be operating just south of the north pole (like outdoors in Sweden). The temp is very cold for a graphics card playing games. You're doing well.

 

[fahadhum]

Thank you so much...

I do not want to sound like a PRESISTENT BORE , but i have one more question regarding this CLEANING MATTER.That is : what about the fact that i have not cleaned my GPU for almost 11 months now & when i do MILDLY clean my case weekly,i can see dust on the GPU fans.But i can not clean it , as i have not opened / unscrewed my GPU yet...

You don't actually have to take your GPU all apart to clean it...

I usually remove mine from the case (make sure you have grounded yourself by touching the case when it is plugged in, but make sure the power is not on when you take the GPU out. Don't do this on carpet), and I use a can of compressed air to blow through the fins on the heatsink under the fan. Make sure you stick a finger in the fan blades so the fan won't turn while you do this. Spray the compressed air on the fan blades to clean the dust off (while holding your finger in the fan blades so it won't turn). If the fan blades are still dusty after this, you can use a moistened cotton swab or small cloth to gently wipe off the excess dust on the blades. Then put the GPU back.

Do NOT use a vacuum cleaner to clean the card - ever.

It's very important that you don't spray compressed air directly on the fan blades and make them spin. Doing so will make them spin too fast and the bearings on the fan will wear prematurely. At the very least, you could damage the fan's bearings. That's why you stick your finger into the fan blades when using the compressed air.

I will clean my GPU soon.I just need to buy a pack of Screw Drivers first , small enough to open the screws of my GPU.

I am a bit worried I actually blowed some air using my mouth twice or thrice directly on the gpu fans , in an effort to clean the dust of of them.And when i did , they spinned due to the force of my blow of wind.But the dust was still there , since i was doing this when my GPU was not unscrewed and i was just trying to blow air in to my case on everything that had dust.Silly me , i shoud have not blowed air directly on the blades.Well, BETTER LATE THEN NEVER .For now on , i am not gonna bow air on the fan blades EVER...

And i generaly do not use a Compressed Air Can I saw a youtuber doing this KINDA FUNNY thing of using a STRAW abd blowing air through that

It looked cool in the video removing all of the dust and everything else.In practise , i was left tired by blowing through the straw 30 or may be 40 times.So it was not that fun and some saliva drops also come out of the straw along with the wind lolzzz

 

[fahadhum]

Thank you all for giving such a thorough explanation and step by step instructions to clean the GPU.

And also , not to get too worried about certain things...

I consider this POST , solved ....