Posssibly deffective gpu waterblock

[Fedeindy]

Hello, before starting and RMA from Spain, where I live, I would like to ask you if it is posible that my gpu waterblock is deffective, because vrm and memory temps are imppresive compared to the stock air cooler of my 5700xt pulse, but the gpu chip does not seem to make contact like it should. I have tightened firmly all the screws and applied a generous but not excessive amount of thermal grease, but the chip gets to 100 degrees in seconds after starting a game, while it never topped 95 on air. I have to stop the game almost instantly, not to burn the card.
As I said, memory and vrm are way cooler than stock, so I think it may be a problem with height tolerances in my cooler sample.
I give you a couple of pictures to see the grease footprint, which to me confirms the fact that no complete contact is made between the cooler and the gpu core.
Do you have any advice, or should I RMA it?

 

[Metropolis34]

Hi, we have this issue a lot. It is not the block it is the GPU which sits deeper than it should. The print of the thermal paste is the typical evidence for it. We might have a solution for this before you RMA the product. Please write an email to info@alphacool.com . We will send you some Graphit foil to place it on the GPU. I am sure you will get better temps. Do not use the block with your card until you have received the foil.

 

[Fedeindy]

Thanks for your prompt response, I am eagerly waiting for you to send the graphit foil for me to be able to use my computer again, now that also my gpu is tied to my watercooling system, so I can not assembly it like it was before with its air cooler.

 

[Metropolis34]

Just be carefull please. I am worried that the card can be damaged you know.

 

[Fedeindy]

Thank you for worrying, but I only run a 3d menu of a game for a couple of seconds, while monitoring temperatures. They climbed very fast, but as soon as I saw 100 celsius degrees, I shut down the game to Windows desktop. No hang ups nor system shutdowns, so I am pretty sure nothing has been damaged. I shutted down Windows, where I have a comfortable Hot spot gpu temperature of 50 degrees and wrote to you with my smartphone.
By the way, I am still waiting for an answer from info@alphacool.com, just in case you can speed up things so I can get my pc back to working condition.
Thank you very much for your assistance, if you are able to send me the foil, you could easily be the fastest and more competent tech service I have ever met.

 

[Metropolis34]

The foil is already via mail on the way to you. Please do not forget the virus issue. It can possibly take bit longer than usual until you receive it.

 

[Fedeindy]

Thanks a lot, I will post results here as soon as I can assemble the card again. Given the temps I could register for the memory and vrm, I am pretty sure that performance of your block is going to be a pleasure to see.

 

[Metropolis34]

That would be great if you can update us with the results. Thank you.

 

[Fedeindy]

Hello again. I have just received the graphite foil, but it turned out unnecessary because I also bought from you the backplate, which comes with its own set of screws, from a different kind, in such a way that they do not limit the depth they can reach when tightened. My first attempt with your waterblock was without the backplate, because it was easier to install, spotting visually the holes in the back of the card for the screws, but I think the problem with bad contact came from a combination of what you told me, the height of the chip in my own card, combined with the fact that the standard screws are, I suppose for precaution, self-limiting in the depth they can reach on the waterblock.
After looking at my computer powered down for a couple of days, I inspected your backplate kit and found that the screws are, aside from longer, also from the conventional kind, threaded from the tip to the head, so I can tighten them as much as I like (or I dare to). I decided to give it a try, and assembled the card with the waterblock and the backplate with the new screws and, voila, I now have a properly mounted waterblock with impressive results, I have to say.
As I promised, my performance figures are as follows:

Sapphire pulse rx 5700 xt:

Stock cooling, 3D scene on PUBG´s main menu:

• GPU HotSpot: 90ºC, hovering around 1780MHz.
• Memory: 92ºC, 1750MHz.
• VRM: 75ºC.
• GPU power draw: manually tuned down to 145W by decreasing core voltage. This is the absolute best I can get out of the card with stock cooling, and now in the summer noise is almost unbearable.

Alphacool waterblock with alphacool´s backplate:

• GPU hotspot: 86ºC, 1950MHz.
• Memory: 78ºC, 1900 MHz.
• VRM: 80ºC.
• GPU power draw: increased to 190W.

It depends on how you look at the numbers, the may not seem that impressive, but take into consideration the 45W increase in power draw, the faster speeds, the fact that the card is sharing the radiator with my overclocked ryzen 7 2700x, and most important to me, that my system if whisper quiet under this stress conditions, in contrast to the noise created by the fans of the graphics card spinning at 1700 RPM to cope with just 145W of heat.

 

[Metropolis34]

And the temps are?