HD 4870 X2: artifacts after changing thermal paste

[Chalky Emultion]

Hi,
today i opened my HD 4870 X2 and I cleaned it, also replacing the old thermal paste with a new one (99% silver)

but now, when i reinstalled my card in my pc, it shows artifacts immediatly after i turn it on, during BIOS post, during windows loading, etc...

What could be happened?
(I tested a GTS 450 in this pc and it works perfectly)

 

[Erick Aguilar]

Perhaps the card was handled unproperly and a bit of static was discharged into the PCB.

 

[Chalky Emultion]

Perhaps the card was handled unproperly and a bit of static was discharged into the PCB.

So is it damaged permanently?

 

[Erick Aguilar]

Perhaps the card was handled unproperly and a bit of static was discharged into the PCB.

So is it damaged permanently?

That is what static can do unfortunately.
Try to apply the thermal paste again and be careful assembling it. Be sure to touch a power supply that is running to discharge yourself. The casing, NOT the inside, or cables, or anything else, just the metal encasing.

 

[Chalky Emultion]

Perhaps the card was handled unproperly and a bit of static was discharged into the PCB.

So is it damaged permanently?

That is what static can do unfortunately.
Try to apply the thermal paste again and be careful assembling it. Be sure to touch a power supply that is running to discharge yourself. The casing, NOT the inside, or cables, or anything else, just the metal encasing.

I cleaned the card with 90% alcool... I removed all the thermal paste... should i test it now?

 

[Erick Aguilar]

So is it damaged permanently?

That is what static can do unfortunately.
Try to apply the thermal paste again and be careful assembling it. Be sure to touch a power supply that is running to discharge yourself. The casing, NOT the inside, or cables, or anything else, just the metal encasing.

I cleaned the card with 90% alcool... I removed all the thermal paste... should i test it now?

-Without- the paste? No. Unless you want to destroy the card.
Apply the paste again. What kind of alcohol did you use? Some alcohols are more corrosive than others.

 

[Chalky Emultion]

That is what static can do unfortunately.
Try to apply the thermal paste again and be careful assembling it. Be sure to touch a power supply that is running to discharge yourself. The casing, NOT the inside, or cables, or anything else, just the metal encasing.

I cleaned the card with 90% alcool... I removed all the thermal paste... should i test it now?

-Without- the paste? No. Unless you want to destroy the card.
Apply the paste again. What kind of alcohol did you use? Some alcohols are more corrosive than others.

common alcohol...
Now should I use a non-conductive thermal paste?

 

[Erick Aguilar]

I cleaned the card with 90% alcool... I removed all the thermal paste... should i test it now?

-Without- the paste? No. Unless you want to destroy the card.
Apply the paste again. What kind of alcohol did you use? Some alcohols are more corrosive than others.

common alcohol...
Now should I use a non-conductive thermal paste?

That is entirely your decision. If you use it, you don't have to care a lot about it spreading out of the GPU and into the PCB. If it is metal based then you should be careful it doesn't go in contact with the PCB.

I don't have experience with them, but from what I've read it could cause shorts.

 

[Chalky Emultion]

I replaced the thermal paste, I reinstalled the graphics card, but I always see artifacts...
Windows loads normally, but nothing appears on the display... Only the BIOS post with these artifacts.

My 4870 X2 is officially dead... Maybe it could work in QuadFire with another HD 4870 X2, but i can't test it...

I returned to the "old" GeForce GTS 450...

Every AMD card I owned (Radeon VE 64MB AGP, Radeon 9600 AGP, Radeon HD 3450 AGP, Radeon X300, Radeon X1650 SE, Radeon HD 5670 and finally Radeon HD 4870 X2) gave me a problem... I will NEVER buy another time an AMD card!
Only my laptop's Radeon 9000 IGP is working perfectly... LOL!

 

[Erick Aguilar]

Well, those are not the best cards in the world.

I've never had an issue with my AMD cards. Or Nvidia for that matter, but I prefered AMD by far.

 

[Chalky Emultion]

It seems that I'm very unlucky

Thank you for your assistance