Question Gigabyte RX 5500XT overheating

[NightGhost32]

Hello dear tom'sHARDWARE community!

Long time reader, first time poster. Recently I decided to buy a used RX 5500 XT 8 GB from Gigabyte to upgrade my father's aging GTX 750 Ti. The description said that it is "used, working but without any warranty from the buyer".

After it arrived, I tested it and was worried about quite high temperatures (GPUZ showed me GPU temp of 68 C and HotSpot of 105 C) and noise made by the fans. So I decided to disassemble the card and repaste it. At the same time I removed all the dust from it and tightened the screws holding the fans, which got rid of the weird "clicking" noise. However, the temperatures did not get much better - GPU temp of 67 C, Hotspot 103 C. Obviously, the GPU started throttling within few seconds as well. I disassembled the GPU again and this time I replaced all the thermal pads as well (same spots and thickness as they were when I first opened it) and repasted it again (even bought a new paste since the first one I used was quite old already). Temps got to 66 C and HotSpot still above 100 C. Undervolting and lowering the GPU power draw limit did not help at all. Now I am clueless what to do.

Side note. Drivers are up to date. Twice reinstalled. BIOS version seems to be standard. Idle temps are nice and cool at 35 C, including the hotspot. Browsing and general usage without problems. The temps shoot up within first minute of Furmark.

Any idea what could be wrong with the GPU?

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

You mention replacing the thermal paste, what did you use for your repasting job? Did you also prep the GPU die's surface as well as the cooler's surface with isopropyl alcohol?

You've also stated buying the GPU to replace the GTX750Ti, did you run DDU to remove all GPU drivers(intel, AMD and Nvidia) in Safe Mode, to later install the latest GPU driver sourced from AMD's support site, in an elevated command(assuming you're on Windows OS)?

How are you monitoring temps? On second thought's please include the specs to your father's build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.

 

[NightGhost32]

...

Thank you so much for your welcome and reply.

I only used cotton swabs, no isopropyl alcohol. Could that make such a huge difference? I was rather thorough I think. The first paste was Arctic MX-4 (like 5 year old but used before without any issues). Second repasting was done with a brand new Arctic MX-4.

For monitoring, I use the latest GPU-Z. The temps are also shown by Furmark that I ran the test in. I also checked the temps in the AMD Software.

I am testing the GPU in my own PC first and yes, I used DDU to remove all GPU drivers in Safe Mode.

CPU: Intel i7-8700K (stock, no OC or UV)
CPU cooler: Gelid Tranquillo rev 2
Motherboard: Asus ROG Maximus X Hero
RAM: 32 GB 3200 MHz
SSD/HDD: XPG Gammix S11 Pro (Windows), Samsung 870 QVO 1TB, 2 older HDDs for data
GPU: Sapphire Radeon RX 6700XT Nitro+ 12GB
PSU: Seasonic 750 Watt
OS: Windows 11
Monitor: AOC Q27V4EA (QHD, 75 Hz)

 

[RodroX]

Thank you so much for your welcome and reply.

I only used cotton swabs, no isopropyl alcohol. Could that make such a huge difference? I was rather thorough I think. The first paste was Arctic MX-4 (like 5 year old but used before without any issues). Second repasting was done with a brand new Arctic MX-4.

For monitoring, I use the latest GPU-Z. The temps are also shown by Furmark that I ran the test in. I also checked the temps in the AMD Software.

I am testing the GPU in my own PC first and yes, I used DDU to remove all GPU drivers in Safe Mode.

CPU: Intel i7-8700K (stock, no OC or UV)
CPU cooler: Gelid Tranquillo rev 2
Motherboard: Asus ROG Maximus X Hero
RAM: 32 GB 3200 MHz
SSD/HDD: XPG Gammix S11 Pro (Windows), Samsung 870 QVO 1TB, 2 older HDDs for data
GPU: Sapphire Radeon RX 6700XT Nitro+ 12GB
PSU: Seasonic 750 Watt
OS: Windows 11
Monitor: AOC Q27V4EA (QHD, 75 Hz)

It could, as you didn't really clean all the leftovers from the previous thermal paste.

We could point out a few things to do, but first try using the ispropyl alcohol on both surfaces: gpu die and heat sink

 

[NightGhost32]

...

Doing this reduced the HotSpot temp by about 3 C meaning now I am "only" getting 100 C.

 

[RodroX]

Doing this reduced the HotSpot temp by about 3 C meaning now I am "only" getting 100 C.

Ok, I hope you understand that there was no much point giving you further advice if the contact area of the GPU and heatsink was not clean properly.

When you replaced the thermal paste the second time, was the first thermal paste contact between the GPU die and heatink ok?

Im asking because if the thermal pads of the memory and/or VRM are not the correct thickness they could be preventing the GPU die and heatsink to make the right contact.

I know is a long shot, but maybe the original thermal pads you replaced were already the wrong ones.

Have you tried to look for this information using the complete brand and model of the RX 5500XT you got? Looking at Gigabyte's site there seems to be atleast 10 of them with different models and revisions.

 

[NightGhost32]

...

Based on quick search, I believe it is this one: https://www.gigabyte.com/cz/Graphics-Card/GV-R55XTOC-8GD-rev-20#kf

I was actually also thinking about the thermal pads but if you look at the pictures - all of them make contact as they should. However, I was also thinking, what if some of them are not supposed to be there at all? I was not able to find any pictures or videos of the layout unfortunately.

 

[RodroX]

Based on quick search, I believe it is this one: https://www.gigabyte.com/cz/Graphics-Card/GV-R55XTOC-8GD-rev-20#kf

I was actually also thinking about the thermal pads but if you look at the pictures - all of them make contact as they should. However, I was also thinking, what if some of them are not supposed to be there at all? I was not able to find any pictures or videos of the layout unfortunately.

Hard to find one indeed.

I think this one is the same GPU from the link you posted,

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLo4q9ZQ34A


Then again hard to said if the thermal pads were original ones, and if they are the same or differents from the ones you used. I think the memory ones on the video look to be thinner than yours, but impsible to be 100% sure.