[SOLVED] Changed thermal pads and paste, core and hotspot temps are hotter by 10C?

Tennis987

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Sep 9, 2015
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Opened up my Gigabyte Gaming OC 3080, and changed the stock thermal pads with some pre-cut Kritical thermal pads specifically for my card so I would assume the thickness is correct. Spread some Noctua thermal paste in a X. Did a stress test and immediately I noticed that the Core and Hotspot increased by 10-12C overall while my Memory Junction decreased by more than 20C. This is an open-air cause currently with an ambient room temp of 80F or 26C.

Previous results in a Port Royal stress test at 1440p.
Core Temp: Never above 75C
Memory Junction Temp: 100-106C
Hot Spot: Never above 85C


Current results in a Port Royal stress test at 1440p.
Core Temp: 82C, would have been higher if I let it go for some more runs.
Memory Junction Temp: 78C
Hot Spot: 99C

I wouldn't have worried if overall the temperature increased by a bit since the better contact the VRAM makes with the heatsink through the pads, the hotter the core is, but this temperature increase seems excessive. Could this be caused by improper pads or thermal application? Does it take some time for the paste to "settle in" and balance out? Maybe I need to tighten the card more, i feel like i screwed it in weaker than what it took to get out. What do you suggest I do first?
 
Last edited:

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
Thermal paste have a break in time/cycle whereby after a few heat cycles the results should be better. If I were you, I'd try and disassemble the card and inspect the mounting and coverage of the thermal paste on the die. You can also take note of the pressure marks on the thermal pads that were replaced. Also, when you installed said thermal pads, did you use isopropyl alcohol to clean/prep the surface?
 

Tennis987

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Sep 9, 2015
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Thermal paste have a break in time/cycle whereby after a few heat cycles the results should be better. If I were you, I'd try and disassemble the card and inspect the mounting and coverage of the thermal paste on the die. You can also take note of the pressure marks on the thermal pads that were replaced. Also, when you installed said thermal pads, did you use isopropyl alcohol to clean/prep the surface?
I did go over all the areas the heatsink and pads would make contact with alcohol and a Q-tip for the VRAM/Die, and a paper towel for the heatsink. Though there was some leftover paste around those small metal ridges around the die that I couldn't wipe off.
 

KyaraM

Admirable
Aren't you supposed to actually spread the past on GPUs instead of just doing a cross? I would frankly open the card and check if there even is paste everywhere it should be. Sounds like you might have missed a few spots or if didn't spread equally.
 

JeffreyP55

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Mar 3, 2015
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Opened up my Gigabyte Gaming OC 3080, and changed the stock thermal pads with some pre-cut Kritical thermal pads specifically for my card so I would assume the thickness is correct. Spread some Noctua thermal paste in a X. Did a stress test and immediately I noticed that the Core and Hotspot increased by 10-12C overall while my Memory Junction decreased by more than 20C. This is an open-air cause currently with an ambient room temp of 80F or 26C.

Previous results in a Port Royal stress test at 1440p.
Core Temp: Never above 75C
Memory Junction Temp: 100-106C
Hot Spot: Never above 85C


Current results in a Port Royal stress test at 1440p.
Core Temp: 82C, would have been higher if I let it go for some more runs.
Memory Junction Temp: 78C
Hot Spot: 99C

I wouldn't have worried if overall the temperature increased by a bit since the better contact the VRAM makes with the heatsink through the pads, the hotter the core is, but this temperature increase seems excessive. Could this be caused by improper pads or thermal application? Does it take some time for the paste to "settle in" and balance out? Maybe I need to tighten the card more, i feel like i screwed it in weaker than what it took to get out. What do you suggest I do first?
When reinstalling the cooling it very important you re-tighten every nut in sequence with equal force. A little at a time without over torquing them. Few problems may arise if you don't..
 

tommmy.f

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Feb 20, 2018
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(....) Thermal paste have a break in time/cycle whereby after a few heat cycles the results should be better. (...)

As far as my own experience and understanding from reading different tech-forums, is that while that may have been more accurate in the good 'ol days let's say 10 years ago, nowadays, it shouldn't make any big different. Maybe 1 C improvement with some luck. I may be wrong, although I'm pretty sure.

But the mounting pressure on the bare GPU die is really delicate. You don't need so much thermal paste since there's no IHS. I agree that you should try to open it up again, and look how the spread and how the paste has spread. Then clean with something like isopropanol 99.9% or other suitable alternative, both the GPU and the cooler.