Question Fried? 3080 Founders Edition black screen after replacing thermal pads

Sep 28, 2022
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Hello there. I have a 3080FE, 12 months old. I bought the 2mm Gelid Extreme pads for the front side and I managed to reduce mem temps by 20c, the gpu die got hotter so I reopened it and tried to squish the pads a bit more and repaste the gpu. After several attempts I could not manage to reduce the die and hotspot temps, eventually it stopped working and now there is no video signal and no leds, I just see the fan spinning but they are not at 100%. I tried to repaste the die again, cut the excess of thermal pads due to me maybe squishing them too much,I used a different mobo to make sure I did not damaged the pci slot, I used a different psu and even a different 12 pin cable adapter, still no signal and the gpu is cold. I inspected the pcb, I cannot see damaged or missing components, the 12pin connector is stiff.
I might have unscrewed the leaf bracket screws unevenly, causing the gpu die to bend or to allow micro air bubbles to get in? Would be the next thing to do to just send it to a specialised reballing laboratory and see what I get? The pcb is not 100% clean after all those attempts so I wonder if the kryonaut paste would be conductive enough to get a shortage. I will try to clean it a bit, try the 1,5 Gelid extreme pads instead of the 2mm that also started to crack after all these attempts, but I doubt it will solve the issue.
I also cheched a couple of resistances with the multimeter and probed the first and fourth last pins of the pcie but I get similar values to other people.
I thought I would never fail a simple task like this, but her I am, asking for your help after a rejected RMA by Nvidia and an integrated videocard in my pc in 2022.
 

Phaaze88

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I bought the 2mm Gelid Extreme pads for the front side and I managed to reduce mem temps by 20c, the gpu die got hotter
Memory thermals went down, gpu core/hot spot went up... that's usually what happens when the chosen pads are too thick, or their level of hardness is too high.

I reopened it and tried to squish the pads a bit more and repaste the gpu. After several attempts... eventually it stopped working...
I don't think the card's fried. I think the PCB is cracked or a trace(s) is broken after those squishing attempts. FYI, it may not be visible on the PCB's exterior.
I don't know how you're going to fix that, if it's true.
 
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Sep 28, 2022
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Memory thermals went down, gpu core/hot spot went up... that's usually what happens when the chosen pads are too thick, or their level of hardness is too high.


I don't think the card's fried. I think the PCB is cracked or a trace(s) is broken after those squishing attempts. FYI, it may not be visible on the PCB's exterior.
I don't know how you're going to fix that, if it's true.
shoud i go for a specific technician? what are they called?
 
Sep 28, 2022
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Update:

I just tried the gpu without the cooler. the gpu started heating so it should still be alive, I did not wait enough to get video signal though since I was too scared after the first 4 secs
 
shoud i go for a specific technician? what are they called?
Considering how complicated a video card is, diagnosing exactly what went wrong will likely cost you more than just buying a new card.

Update:

I just tried the gpu without the cooler. the gpu started heating so it should still be alive, I did not wait enough to get video signal though since I was too scared after the first 4 secs
It doesn't mean it's alive. Current can still flow through a chip even if it's not doing anything useful.
 
Sep 28, 2022
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Considering how complicated a video card is, diagnosing exactly what went wrong will likely cost you more than just buying a new card.


It doesn't mean it's alive. Current can still flow through a chip even if it's not doing anything useful.
it's a 3080, I'm not sure about that.

yes indeed I still don't get video display, but at least now I know that I might just have knocked an SMD off