Should i redo the the thermal past on my graphics card?

[shakyshane]

So I have had this card since it was released. Its never been taken apart. Its a EVGA GTX780 SC It does need cleaning the fans are dusty but the heat sink is clean cause I blow it out often. A friend of mine says you need to redo the thermal paste every 3 months. And I seen a video where this guys gpu paste hardened into nothing almost. I am also slightly worried about it because if I mess up the card I wont be able to replace it. I do build computers but I have never taken a graphics card apart. I been watching videos on it. thanks for any advice

 

[HardcoreGamer27]

You don't need to reapply thermal paste every 3 months maybe every 2 years or so,you have a 2 year guarantee from every manufacturer that the card will work properly for 2 years so no need to redo anything for 2 years.The gtx 780 is an 3 generations old card which means it is not optimized for the latest titles i would replace it with latest models like gtx 10 cards or the lates RTX cards if you have nice cpu.

 

[stevenjemint]

"A friend of mine says you need to redo the thermal paste every 3 months"

That is WAY too often. 3 years maybe.

You can replace the paste, it may improve performance slightly if it brings down full load temps. However there is no need to if your GPU temps are normal for that card. (Max of 80c under full load).

 

[7664stefan]

Exactly. How to answer this question w/o knowing if there is any temp issue?
In case there is you may replace the thermal compound e.g. with MX2 or 4 which might help you to gain 1-3 Kelvin.
Luckily with EVGA you may even do this w/o risking warranty.

 

[Traditore]

TLDR: if you have this card for >3 years - replace thermal paste. And do it every 2-3 years or if temps rise.

Every 3 months is a, frankly, stupid advice. Thermal compound should be replaced every 2-3 years. And don't do anything while warranty active. If the warranty period is more then 3 years, then it probably allows for disassebly so you should be fine.

 

[shiriken]

keep in mind when you change the thermal paste the potential for gpu damage or component damage increases so there is a risk. You dont really need to change the paste unless thermals have increased a ton. Even if you change the thermal paste and assuming you do it correctly right amount you are only going to shave off a few degrees temp anyways.

 

[dontlistentome]

What I do when I get a new component like a CPU or videocard, or build a new computer, is run a game and look at temperatures. This will tell you how hot it gets when new. Then later, as time goes by, you have something to judge it by if you're wondering if you should apply new thermal paste.

I reapply it after four years or so regardless of temps.

 

[THpapi]

Yes you should! I just re-pasted for the first time last night! I had a 970 in my older gaming rig (I have 2 pc's in my game room), that was regularly hitting the 80's under full gaming load in modern games. I repasted it with noctua NT-H1 and my max temp only hits 63c now, my FPS also improved 10-20% in modern games, it really breathed new life into that old card. I had no idea what I was doing, and I even ended up with a screw I took out of the card and couldn't figure out where to put it back, so it actually is missing a screw now lol but it actually performs much better! (I think the screw was just for the shroud).