Info Geforce RTX 4000 users may need to re-paste their GPUs

[igor_kavinski]

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

Most (if not all) AIB partners allegedly use this dirt-cheap paste that looses performance in months.

www.tomshardware.com

Most, if not all, of Nvidia's partners seemingly use the same thermal paste supplier. The company supplies a cheap thermal paste to Nvidia partners, delivering superb day-one performance but deteriorating much faster than standard thermal paste.

Oh but there's good news implying that Geforce users will get to spend quality bonding time with their GPU by manually re-pasting it!

The good news is that this issue is relatively easy to rectify. Most aftermarket graphics cards aren't incredibly difficult to tear down, and replacing the paste is done with the same method as applying thermal paste to a CPU. Good thermal paste is also very easy to come by, with many good options under $10.

Had this been a Radeon issue, the article author would probably be recommending to avoid those cards altogether.

 

[MrTeal]

Taking apart a GPU to repaste is a whole other level from a CPU, and the application is a little different since you need 100% coverage of the die.
For the average person hanging out in here it's not a big deal, but they're kinda glossing this over saying people can just repaste their GPUs.

 

[blckgrffn]

Taking apart a GPU to repaste is a whole other level from a CPU, and the application is a little different since you need 100% coverage of the die.
For the average person hanging out in here it's not a big deal, but they're kinda glossing this over saying people can just repaste their GPUs.

Right. It’s essentially the equivalent of repasting a laptop CPU.

Cards are essentially bespoke in terms of screws, how to remove them, etc. Some GPUs may have coolers essentially built to be installed once and aren’t really intended for end user servicing.

I also agree if this was Radeons Tom’s would be taking a star off of every review, listing it as a con and generally giving them the grief needed to spur dissatisfaction from the customer base to force change. Oh well.

 

[CP5670]

This is common with a lot of cards, both nvidia and AMD. You can get big temp drops by changing the paste. It was common to get 20C off on 3090 vram like this.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

They have to cut every corner they can to make a buck with the skinny margins we are told big green partners have. EVGA cashing out and walking away from the game lends some credence to that. Another layer of the planned obsolescence onion, even if unintentional. I've seen tech tubers buy not working/for parts cards dirt cheap and all they needed was a cleaning and repaste. Speaks to owners not being able or willing to DIY.

As we keep saying; caveat emptor.

 

[gdansk]

At least most of the AIB cards are easier to take apart.

 

[Tup3x]

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

Most (if not all) AIB partners allegedly use this dirt-cheap paste that looses performance in months.

www.tomshardware.com

Oh but there's good news implying that Geforce users will get to spend quality bonding time with their GPU by manually re-pasting it!



Had this been a Radeon issue, the article author would probably be recommending to avoid those cards altogether.

It's a known problem that chiplet RDNA3 cards have this issue. I'd say it's even more common and happens quicker. Hot spot temps rise thanks to thermal paste pump out.

 

[poke01]

This is also on Radeon cards as well, my 6750XT came with crappy paste too. Nvidia gets clicks. That said AIB should stop using cheap paste.

Had this been a Radeon issue, the article author would probably be recommending to avoid those cards altogether.

 

[DaaQ]

It is Tom's HW article.

I've read many a post of 3000 and 4000 owners having pump out too.

Use Kryosheet or equivalent, almost as good as liquid metal, temp wise. I will say the Kritical thermal pads I used on VRM and memory have been solid. This is through the summer temps as well.

 

[reb0rn]

I had this on one 7900 xfx but it sorted itself after a few weeks

 

[Tech Junky]

On my laptops I usually just clean all off that out and put a graphite pad in instead. Doesn't degrade over time and makes cleaning easier since there tends to be a lot of gunk in the cooling fins that's easier to clean by removing the sink. The pads don't really make a difference on brand as the cheap ones work as well as the $20 version.