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Precision m6600, AMD ATI FirePro M6100 FireGL graphics card installation, thermal pads and thermal paste
Have scouted around in the forums & don't see this topic, so here goes. Would appreciate some guidance on the optimal placement for thermal pads & thermal paste on an AMD FirePro M6100 graphics card in a Precision m6600. I am upgrading the stock FirePro M8900 to the M6100. The cards are similiar, but not identical. I know I need to put thermal paste on the GPU itself, so I've secured some IC Diamond 7 Carat to do just that. However, the VRAM's & other raised surfaces on the card most likely need thermal pads or paste & the vendor just put a big light blue/green thermal pad in w/ the card & doesn't have any guides on where it is to be put, exactly. I have plenty of pad material to use from the M8900 & heatsink currently in the notebook, as well, & have re-purposed many of them, but temp still spikes to 90 degrees & climbing when it's pushed w/ high-end graphics in various applications, so I'm looking to stop that. Greatly appreciate any pointers you can provide. Have contacted AMD re: this & they said I need to ping Dell. Have reached out on several forums as well & still no go. Thanks again!
gorg_karlo
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June 3rd, 2015 23:00
Hi there... I know the post is old but would like to share my experience on the topic. I have the M6600 with 2820QM processor and AMD M6100. When adding thermal pads over the GPU there is a potential for the GPU card to bend so I did not risk it - I simply added thermal paste. The GPU sits perfectly flush on the heatsink body, the supporting hardware modules around the card also sits flush on the segments within heatsink body. My unit is happy at 47 celsius when idling, and will not go over 85 celsius when pushed to the limit. I suggest that you keep it simple and and just strip the pads out.
EternalWorth
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June 4th, 2015 07:00
Wow, that's pretty amazing. Glad it's running so cool w/out any pads! I continued research & finally found a diagram of the recommended pad placement for the AMD FirePro & Radeon cards, which looks very similar. Thankfully, no bending or issues when all was reinstalled. Mine also heats up to a max of the 82-85 degrees Celsius when pushed w/ graphics-intensive video games, for example. Looks like we both chose a great card & the placement of thermal pads is truly optional. Good stuff to know! Greatly appreciate you pinging back & sharing your experience.
gorg_karlo
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June 4th, 2015 19:00
It all depends on the perceived level of risk. As you've said, placement of thermal pads is optional on this gem.
Some people may not be comfortable with the idea of not having thermal pads on the memory and other hardware support modules around the card so they might want to follow your route. Please share to community this pad placement diagram you found - a link or something... so that other people who have gone down to the same upgrade path as ours will find it.
The M6100 is really a steal compared to the card it replaced (Quadro 4000M) or even against the new professional cards that could theoretically fit on the Precision M6600. I never game on my original setup but with this... well, it just made me realize how much I was missing out in life!
64dude
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June 6th, 2015 21:00
I'd like to see the diagram as well. I'm looking for more guidance/experience on how to help cool down my M6600 w/ I7-2860QM, and NVidia Quadra 3000M. Doing a lot of virtualization, and had added 32GB of 1600MHz RAM, so the CPUs are reaching 80C at times per SpeedFan. I was breaking it down to clean cooling components, but was wondering what folks have done w/ thermal paste removal and replacement of new paste, and what brand of paste.
thanks,
64Dude
EternalWorth
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June 7th, 2015 19:00
Hey, gang, sorry I didn't put that link in before...was one of those old YT videos that it's hard to dig up unless you bookmarked it. Here goes. This was very informative. I used the diagrams shown for the Radeon 6990M, since it was closest to the FirePro M6100...& highly highly recommend the thermal paste shown...
I also used this vendor's thermal pads, 100x100x1.5 mm...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/blue-100x100x1-5-mm-GPU-CPU-Heatsink-Cooling-Thermal-Conductive-Silicone-Pad-/130961391051
Interesting factoid: I have noted that the FirePro Control Center's newest driver for the M6100 has changed to AMD Radeon 8950. Veddy interesting.
Hope this is helpful!
TheNeoAvenger
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May 11th, 2016 20:00
I hope someone still answers this older thread but I recently had a Precision M6600 with ATi M8900 video become unstable and I've verified the video card has gone flakey. I saw folks referring to the ATi M6100 video card as a great replacement but I could not find a reliable seller at reasonable price anywhere. Can someone sill direct me to somewhere that I can purchase that card, or maybe another (either ATi or nVidia) that would work even better for gaming and still be compatible with the Precision M6600 laptop. Thanks.