News Nvidia GPU partners reportedly cheap out on thermal paste, causing 100C hotspot temperatures — cheap paste allegedly degrades in a few months

[aberkae]

Sorry for the delay it seems there is no significant loss since 11/22 to present and estimating 1500 hours of use.https://www.3dmark.com/compare/spy/33073244/spy/49258511/spy/40671592

 

[spongiemaster]

You can't just replace your Thermal paste. It's a lot more complicated. If you take it apart, you will need to replace all the thermal pads. Reuse is a bad idea. What thickness pads do you need ? Who knows? Better not get that wrong.

Go to EKWB's website and see if their is a waterblock for the card you have. The installation guide for the waterblock will tell you what thickness to use for all the thermal pads.

 

[Phaaze88]

Go to EKWB's website and see if their is a waterblock for the card you have. The installation guide for the waterblock will tell you what thickness to use for all the thermal pads.

Pads also have different degrees of hardness(soft/medium/firm/etc), so even if one acquires the thickness info, there's still a chance to screw it up.
If pads are too soft, memory thermals don't improve, because there isn't very good contact between the pads and heatsink.
If pads are too hard, core temperatures can worsen, as the PCB is being warped, and in the worst case, can even crack.



EDIT: Some companies have figured it out already, like with the Kritical thermal pads, or if you get an Alphacool gpu waterblock.

 

[cd_reader_eater]

Cause people know how to do it themselves and they don't want to be without a GPU while they wait on an RMA.

Doesn't matter whether you know how to do it, this card has a defect and the manufacturer must handle it not you.

What's next? We know what GPUs look like so manufacturers just send us the PCB, a soldering iron and good luck?

Their fault, they must fix it.

If you can't survive without a GPU for 2 weeks or more then you have other issues.

 

[danny009]

What a bunch of bollocks.

Just get 5090 next year I heard it's magic, you know you will buy it

 

[cd_reader_eater]

What a bunch of bollocks.

Just get 5090 next year I heard it's magic, you know you will buy it

With a price tag of $1999 you may as well expect this piece of plastic to perform magic and drive your kids to school.

How people justify such pricy purchases is the real magic. No wonder why we are in this situation...

People haven't realized how good older cards still are, so more for us I suppose.

 

[spongiemaster]

Pads also have different degrees of hardness(soft/medium/firm/etc), so even if one acquires the thickness info, there's still a chance to screw it up.
If pads are too soft, memory thermals don't improve, because there isn't very good contact between the pads and heatsink.
If pads are too hard, core temperatures can worsen, as the PCB is being warped, and in the worst case, can even crack.



EDIT: Some companies have figured it out already, like with the Kritical thermal pads, or if you get an Alphacool gpu waterblock.

No, it really isn't that complicated. Go on Amazon, search for GPU thermal pads. You're not going to end up with something that kills your card, unless you manage to mess up the installation.

 

[danny009]

With a price tag of $1999 you may as well expect this piece of plastic to perform magic and drive your kids to school.

How people justify such pricy purchases is the real magic. No wonder why we are in this situation...

People haven't realized how good older cards still are, so more for us I suppose.

It is a joke mate, still using a 1060 6GB here on my rig and works fine.

Anyone buys that piece a garbage every year are subject to send their new crap to warranty then complain about it on forums. Some people are born in wrong ways.

 

[KyaraM]

With a price tag of $1999 you may as well expect this piece of plastic to perform magic and drive your kids to school.

How people justify such pricy purchases is the real magic. No wonder why we are in this situation...

People haven't realized how good older cards still are, so more for us I suppose.

Did you ever consider that not everyone who buys an expensive card does so every year, and that quite a few people run them for many years? I know several people who got a 4090 precisely so they can still play games well 6 years+ from now. Heck, why do you think the 1080Ti is still so highly regarded today? That wasn't a cheap card for its time, either...

Or that they aren't just used for gaming...

 

[Aurn]

If Thermalright Helios is sold there it's pretty much the same thing.

Very late answer, but thanks a lot ! I didn’t know this product and it is sold here. I have also found Thermal Grizzly PhaseSheet PTM, which seems new or at least new around here

 

[SyCoREAPER]

I've considered Igor to be a reputable source but the number of times that he's the first to report on these issues and giving incomplete data (such as lack of country of origin, exact models, case layout, room temps, etc..) I take what he says with a grain of salt until Gamers Nexus or DerBauer have an analysis.

I'm not saying Igor is doing anything sketchy, it's just becoming a trend.

And as others have asserted, GPUs are NOT simple like they used to be and TH recommending people just tear them apart and repaste since it's trivial is wrong and a generalization. As pointed out there are thermal pads to consider during reassembly where down to the millimeter and quality of themselves could end up killing your card (like reusing them), microtears or misalignment you can't even see if you use the wrong ones.


At the very least if you are hell bent on doing it, have GOOD digital calipers, not HarborFreight HS (Harbor Freight for our European friends is , hit or miss, like buying your tools from McDonald's. Measure the pad somewhere where it hasn't been compressed. Take pictures, don't add pads to every component you see.

GPUs aren't maintenance free but I don't believe in "fixing"/rebuilding them until there is a reason to. Anyone with equipment expensive enough that they'd be mad if it failed should be running something like HWInfo64 at all times, knowing their system and noticing when there are abnormalities.

I'm not just saying that because my 4090 HASN'T exhibited issues but because there are things in life where the old "If it ain't broke don't fix it" isn't just a saying but actually a better idea.

You are all free to do as you like, I'm not a Steve or Roman (Edited; Don't know why I thought his name was Stefan), I'm just your average PC guy who's been in and out of the desktop scene for years who knows what works for them and what doesn't (or is destructive) from personal experience.


TLDR; Take Igors report and TH suggestion with a grain of salt.

I'm bumping this comment because it's the same old. He's the first to report on things with no data but sets off the alarm bells and puts everyone in a panic and outlets goggle it up. Here we are a month later and he hasn't discussed it further, as usual.

So here's the facts: What he finds may be valid but we don't know the full circumstances surrounding his claims. By extension he's an alarmist creating panic over a few instances without aforementioned data or follow through on the initial (only) report.

If TH wants to post about him, fine, but make it abundantly clear upfront that they are preliminary and the extent not yet verified or known.

/thatisall

 

[thestryker]

I have also found Thermal Grizzly PhaseSheet PTM, which seems new or at least new around here

This is new to me as well as I've come to expect Roman (der8auer) to do a feature on his YT channel. I imagine this is also likely Honeywell based just with custom sizes.