Question Extending the life of a GPU. Thermal Paste Question

[Artorias]

I've got an Asus ROG 1080Ti pushing 5 years of service(knocks on wood) with no issues so far.

Lately the past 6 months however I've been noticing temps gradually increasing much quicker than normal, seems to now reach an average of 70 Celsius quite fast, however doesn't exceed 75c after long play sessions.

I understand this is well within temperature limits, however I do plan on using it as my main GPU for another 2-3 years.

What's your experience with non OEM thermal paste? Is it worth it? Any recommendations?

I've never done a re-paste for a GPU before, do I need to worry about thermal pad replacement as well?

 

[mindless1]

Crazy question but, is it possible that you are simply playing newer, more demanding games that put more load on the GPU?

Yes a good thermal paste can lower temps a few (single digit, usually) degrees. Done right it can't hurt except for the money spent if you don't need it for anything else.

Yes if you take the heatsink off and the thermal pads are torn up in the process, they'll need replaced for optimal results. Whether you actually need optimal results is going to require someone with your specific card and an infrared gun (or knows of a review that measured this) to see if anything else is near its limits.

Is it possible your fan is wearing out and the bearing has too much slop to get to the same RPM, or of course, you need to clean the dust out of the system?

I should've started out by stating that 75C wouldn't worry me, maybe put a fan in the side panel of the case to push more air past the video card? I'd try that before taking the heatsink off and repasting it but I don't know what case you have so maybe there's minimal improvement doing so. Funny thing that many modern cases have fans mounted in lots of places but not making a fan in the side panel across from the video card, the primary fan to add, especially these days with few people needing much airflow through a HDD bay since they have few if any HDDs mounted there.

Granted, front pusher intake fans are an easy way to create a filtered, positively pressurized case to keep more dust out.

 

[Tech Junky]

I use graphite pads on my setups and they're easier to deal with a don't degrade over time like paste. Two pack of them usually run about $15 on Amazon. Then you just size them to the chip. A dab of liquid to hold them on place helps or they tend to move when putting the heat spreader back on. I did repaste a couple of GPUs I was using for mining and it helped keep temps more inline with where I wanted them vs the OEM application. It's easy to do and doesn't cost much either method.

 

[Artorias]

Crazy question but, is it possible that you are simply playing newer, more demanding games that put more load on the GPU?

Yes a good thermal paste can lower temps a few (single digit, usually) degrees. Done right it can't hurt except for the money spent if you don't need it for anything else.

Yes if you take the heatsink off and the thermal pads are torn up in the process, they'll need replaced for optimal results. Whether you actually need optimal results is going to require someone with your specific card and an infrared gun (or knows of a review that measured this) to see if anything else is near its limits.

Is it possible your fan is wearing out and the bearing has too much slop to get to the same RPM, or of course, you need to clean the dust out of the system?

I should've started out by stating that 75C wouldn't worry me, maybe put a fan in the side panel of the case to push more air past the video card? I'd try that before taking the heatsink off and repasting it but I don't know what case you have so maybe there's minimal improvement doing so. Funny thing that many modern cases have fans mounted in lots of places but not making a fan in the side panel across from the video card, the primary fan to add, especially these days with few people needing much airflow through a HDD bay since they have few if any HDDs mounted there.

I recently did a full cleaning of my PC, all fans are good, and no dust to worry about.

You might be right about more demanding games taxing the GPU, perhaps its starting to show it's age in some instances more than before.

I've never had a GPU as my main for longer than 5 years, thermal pads are tricky to replace which would be my hesitation in doing a re-paste.

Those graphite pads are an interesting concept, a non degradable solution with the trade-off being somewhat less cooling performance.

 

[Tech Junky]

somewhat less cooling performance

I use them in both my laptop and server. In the laptop they're covering both the CPU and GPU and performing well. The GPU under full load usually sits around 70C which isn't bad for a 3060. The server CPU under full load hits max of about 60C on a 12700k with a air cooler with dual fans. The transference rating on the graphite is a sweet spot between top pastes and liquid metal.

 

[Ajay]

I've got an Asus ROG 1080Ti pushing 5 years of service(knocks on wood) with no issues so far.

Lately the past 6 months however I've been noticing temps gradually increasing much quicker than normal, seems to now reach an average of 70 Celsius quite fast, however doesn't exceed 75c after long play sessions.

I understand this is well within temperature limits, however I do plan on using it as my main GPU for another 2-3 years.

What's your experience with non OEM thermal paste? Is it worth it? Any recommendations?

I've never done a re-paste for a GPU before, do I need to worry about thermal pad replacement as well?

Same boat with my MSI GTX 1070. 5 years, and it’s the longest time I’ve stuck with the card. Boost clocks have dropped a bit lately at ISO ambient temps - but when I opened up the case, I had more dust accumulation than usual. Switching to a new case, so I won’t quite get an apples to Apple comparison. Bottom line: MSI seems to have done a good job when selecting thermal paste/pads.

I hope to buy a new GFX card in the next year, newer games are going to flatline this one.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Crazy question but, is it possible that you are simply playing newer, more demanding games that put more load on the GPU?

Yes a good thermal paste can lower temps a few (single digit, usually) degrees. Done right it can't hurt except for the money spent if you don't need it for anything else.

Yes if you take the heatsink off and the thermal pads are torn up in the process, they'll need replaced for optimal results. Whether you actually need optimal results is going to require someone with your specific card and an infrared gun (or knows of a review that measured this) to see if anything else is near its limits.

Is it possible your fan is wearing out and the bearing has too much slop to get to the same RPM, or of course, you need to clean the dust out of the system?

I should've started out by stating that 75C wouldn't worry me, maybe put a fan in the side panel of the case to push more air past the video card? I'd try that before taking the heatsink off and repasting it but I don't know what case you have so maybe there's minimal improvement doing so. Funny thing that many modern cases have fans mounted in lots of places but not making a fan in the side panel across from the video card, the primary fan to add, especially these days with few people needing much airflow through a HDD bay since they have few if any HDDs mounted there.

I was going to say something similar. Clean the fans or replace the fans.
The above observation about more demanding games is incredibly smart.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I have never disassembled a 5yr+ old card that didn't benefit from a re-paste and pads. Noctua and Arctic MX are what I usually have on hand. Search which thickness your card needs and buy whatever thermal pad brand you want. I keep Thermalright pads in stock myself. It certainly won't hurt. And if you sell it on in a couple of years, having serviced it, is peace of mind for the buyer.

 

[Golgatha]

I recently did a full cleaning of my PC, all fans are good, and no dust to worry about.

You might be right about more demanding games taxing the GPU, perhaps its starting to show it's age in some instances more than before.

I've never had a GPU as my main for longer than 5 years, thermal pads are tricky to replace which would be my hesitation in doing a re-paste.

Those graphite pads are an interesting concept, a non degradable solution with the trade-off being somewhat less cooling performance.

I use a tiny amount of Noctua NT-H1 to hold a 40x40mm graphite thermal pad in place when I install the HSF unit, and I figure it fills in some interstitial spaces on the pad once it's in place too. Temps with and without paste are within 5°C of each other in my experiences. I have pads installed in this manner on a 5800X3D, 7700X, and 5950X. I do curve optimize and/or undervolt on all those to keep temps below 85°C with an ambient room temp of about 24°C. If you ever buy used hardware from me, know that I stress test the hell out of my setups then baby them during their lifetime with me.

 

[Golgatha]

I have never disassembled a 5yr+ old card that didn't benefit from a re-paste and pads. Noctua and Arctic MX are what I usually have on hand. Search which thickness your card needs and buy whatever thermal pad brand you want. I keep Thermalright pads in stock myself. It certainly won't hurt. And if you sell it on in a couple of years, having serviced it, is peace of mind for the buyer.

Thermalright 1.0 and 0.5mm are what I keep on hand too. Fairly priced and up to the task. I've done some repad and repaste jobs on a 3090 and a couple of 3080 cards.

 

[Heartbreaker]

I've never done a re-paste for a GPU before, do I need to worry about thermal pad replacement as well?

I used my 8800 GT for 14 years without repasting. Never saw any sign it degraded significantly. I think even dried out paste can still do a good job unless you disturb it.

CPU in the same computer I rocked the cooler a bit loose while replacing the fan and cleaning the heatsink (plastic push pins, GRRRrr). Then I had to re-paste. The CPU paste was dried out completely but it was still fine before a re-paste.

 

[fleshconsumed]

It wouldn't hurt to repaste. I repasted my rx480's before selling them - after 5 years the paste was bone dry. It did help with the temps, although I don't remember exact numbers.

 

[Artorias]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm thinking of getting Arctic MX-6, or Noctua H2 paste.

Hopefully the pads don't rip off when I disassemble.

 

[Artorias]

Following up for those that are curious.

I repasted my GPU last week with Arctic MX-6, the OEM paste was almost all dried up and pushed out to the sides. You can see for yourself in the attached image.

So far after about a week of use I've been getting cooler averages. I run my GPU in silent mode and been getting mid 40's, low 50's Celsius while idling and browsing videos, before it would usually be mid 50's.

During heaving gaming it would peak around 74-75, and average low 70's, better than before where it would be closer to 80.