Asus GTX980 Strix and loose fitting cooler & fans

[staiger]

I recently purchased an Asus GTX980 OC Strix and noticed a possible problem with it and I was wondering if any other owners of this card or perhaps Tiny Tom Logan himself noticed it as well.

When I plugged in the two power cables I noticed what seems to me, more movement between the circuit board/back plane and the cooler than there should be. Almost like the screws attaching the two together were loose but they are not. I am concerned that the cooler may not be making good contact with the die.

The card works ok and the temperatures seem fine, 46c at idle 72c maxed out but I am worried about what might happen in the future plus if I ever want to sell the card the new buyer might complain….

Thanks for any and all help

 

[3DJF]

I have a 980 Strix too and mine has a worrying amount of "wobble" when plugging in the power too. I think the heatsink is on properly it's just that the screws are a bit far from the edge of the card so there is more play/slop/jiggle. I have had mine OC'ed and running 3D apps (so at least 50% load up to 100% load and it stays frosty cool. I used after burner to OC it and set a custom fan curve so the fans are always running at least low RPMs. Mine is at high 30's idle and never gets above mid 60's.

 

[3DJF]

aaaaaaand I just extracted my 2 970's from my other rig and they have a very similar amount of wobble. I had a thorough look at the heatsink and it it as i thought the screws holding the heatsink to the GPYU are fine but waaaay far from the end of the card so the heatsink (at the power connector end) is fixed to the pcb several cm away so it wobbles. Seems to be the norm. the back plates help a lot with the bending tho.

 

[Tripp]

not had any wobble in my cards, though if you're worried about it why not justy tighten the screws a little

 

[Warchild]

not had any wobble in my cards, though if you're worried about it why not justy tighten the screws a little

They can be overtightened and strip the thread. What 3DJF is saying is right. The screws are not located at key spots to fix the cooler down firmly. It's not a problem at all its just that regardless how tight the screws are, there will always be a little play at the power input end.

Good observation by the OP but nothing to worry about

 

[Dawelio]

Mines at max 41 degrees idle, usually around 35 degress and steady on 65 during gaming.

Haven't noticed OP's problem though, never noticed anything regarding it ... Good observation though!

 

[staiger]

Can I thank all that responded to my request for help.

I have been in communication via email with Asus who initially thought there was nothing to be worried about but after sending both pictures and a video agreed that it best to RMA back to where it was purchased for them to examine.

Now the strange and concerning thing is the card like all of yours it worked perfect, great FPS results and stayed ice cool however looking at the results of the test they carried out they said it crashed while loading the drivers.

This is not what I expected, could be the movement I was worried about caused some stress on the circuitry that the card failed in some way. Either way a new card will soon be on its way to me.

Regards
Staiger

 

[S_I_N]

reason it seems like that is the only screws holding the cooler on is the 4 around the die unlike past models have had a few others to stop that shifting feeling. If you over tighten the 4 around the core you might (but highly doubt it) damage the core, plus they have stops on them to prevent over tightening. I own 2 980 strix and while I didnt notice it when I installed them for the test run on air I dont think theres any reason for alarm.

 

[nonanche92000]

I have a Strix 980 too, and yes the cooler is kind of loose on it , but as i did a repaste with it , i saw the issues :

1 - The shank under the screw head is too small in diameter for the receipt holes on the backplate .

2 - the holes on the backplate an d pcb are too big .

i did a quick draw to show you where the problem is , i highlighted in blue the "Dead zone" , and this is where the problem occur .

2 solution , find other srew with bigger shank under the head ( need caliper measurment ) , maybe you can find this at your RC shop , and the second one is to put washers , directly inside the backplate hole , with inside diam = actual shank diameter , and external diam : backplate diameter hole.

This is the only solution, it's look like a misconception from asus , because once the cooler is tighten , it must NOT MOVE at all .

hope this will clarify the situation!