Alright, so I finally got around to taking the cooler off this thing. Anyone ready for some nudez?
I simply disconnected my QDC's and did this with fluid still in the block. A little non-conventional, but I wasn't planning on opening the block itself, so I figured it was fine. It did cause a few difficulties in getting a flat surface to work on, but I made it work.
Also, I don't usually use antistatic mats and wristbands, but I've learned more about ESD over time, and my old argument of "well in my 30 years of doing this I've never killed anything" doesn't really mean anything. ESD is not all or nothing. You can zap something by toughin it just enough to weaken it, and have it fail as a result years later. This is also my most expensive component to date, so I figured better safe than sorry.
So, first we have to take the massive backplate off. Seven screws is all it takes, one of them covered in one of those "Warranty void if removed stickers"
Nice try XFX, we all know that is illegal by now.
Side note, no idea why the PCIe contacts are so scratched. I can't think of anything I might have done that would have done that. I'm guessing it must have happened at the plant?
Either way, they work just fine, so I am not concerned.
7 screws removed and some gentle prying with my fingers later and the backplate is off:
Some pretty decent putty style thermal pads covering all the hot components on the back. I'd call this an A+ on XFX's part. Doesn't really get much better than this from what I have seen.
Now we've revealed the ~16 (I think?) remaining screws that need to be removed to get the block off. In order to remember which screw holes were used by the backplate so I didn't accidentally populate them during reassembly, I highlighted them in the next pic.
Now, for the moment we've all been waiting for. The full frontal nudez.
My two comments are as follows:
1.) GPU looks well pasted. Maybe a little excess, but not too bad. I probably wasted my time in taking this off, but at least now I know. I've seen some horror stories so I had to make sure, especially since it was running a bit warmer than I was used to with my old Pascal Titan X. Maybe that's just a 6900xt thing, or especially THIS 6900xt. It does pull a lot more power than my old Pascal Titan X did.
2.) Those VRM's DO NOT look like they are touching the thermal pads in the grooves on the block. There were no real indentations on the thermal putty/pads except for like two of them in the corner.
Alright, so I wiped down the GPU area of the block and the GPU itself with isopropyl alcohol, and reapplied Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut using the "rub it on using a nitrile glove" method. Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut is pretty thick when cold, so I heated the tube with a hair dryer before starting to make it easier.
I also rubbed some thermal grizzly on top of the VRM's to see if I could make them contact the thermal pads. A little unorthodox I know, but I figured it was better than nothing. (I didn't have any good thermal pads to replace them with.)
The result?
Despite the paste job looking pretty good as it was, the GPU does run a lot cooler now.
At first I didn't think it was. My first run through the temps were as high as they were previously, but I guess the Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut just needed to warm up and spread out a bit, because in the second run and beyond the temps settled down nicely.
Previously at max overclock in TimeSpy I was hitting 56C core, 71C Junction, now that is down to 46C core, 60C Junction.
At stock settings it was hitting ~51-52 core (can't remember junction) so this is cooler even than stock settings.
I have had one weird side effect through. I've had to back off about 50-75Mhz on the main clocks to remain stable. I'm not quite sure why. Temps are obviously better, and I don't think I damaged anything, because these things are either dead or not if you damage them, not just slightly reduced max overclock.
My best guess is that AMD's automagic logic is trying to reduce the voltage due to the lower temps, but doing so too much resulting in lack of stability.
I am going to have to tinker with the clocks and voltages to see if I can get back up to where I was.
