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3090FE - changing Thermal pads

xPETEZx

xPETEZx

xPETEZx

Associate
Joined
10 Feb 2021
Posts
608
Anybody here replaced the pads on the 3090FE?

https://www.tomshardware.com/uk/news/replacing-geforce-rtx-3090-thermal-pads-improves-temps-by-25c

The video calls for Thermalright Odyssey 1.5mm pads, which I have found at our favourite online bookstore.
However elsewhere people call for GELID Xtreme 1.5mm pads as they are more squishy. These seem harder to find in the UK. But said bookstore does seem to stock those too...

Wondering if anybody here has fitted either and can comment? (Or has another suggestion of pads to use instead?)

Did you change the core paste too?

I dont mine, and my only real motivation for doing this is noise. I run it undervolted 850@1845Mhz already to quiet it down.

It seems while gaming I get fan yo-yo, where the fans go from a nice quiet 1100rpm up to a very noisy 1600-1800rpm. This seems to always happen as the VRAM temp hits 102-104. (not seen it go higher) Then it goes back down to 1100rpm, and after a while back up.
The core stays cool, between 62-67 the entire time. Max of 70 after a very long session.

If you have changed the pads, did this result in near-silent gaming? (IE fans staying below 1200rpm?)

Thanks!
 
Really? Gelid ones are not squishy, maybe more than others, but they are not. Never tried the odyssey ones, give them a shot. I tried the gelid ones on my old vega 64, slightly warped once closed, you may have to compensate with sizes.
 
There is a shop selling gelids in the UK that got stock recently if you google.

Gelid Extreme is quite squishy, while Ultimate is less squishy.

The thing that will make the most difference to temperatures is actually to repad the memory on the front side.
 
Sarge2255 said:
Yes, we believe you :cry:

Say goodbye to your warranty, once you swap out those pads.
Click to expand...

The warranty is a worry. Its funny, when I first got into building/modding computers, I routinely changed the stock cooler on my graphics card. Taking apart a GPU was just part of the process.
I have always strived for a silent PC, and stock coolers where never much good. Blower style ones being common, or even single slot.

The last card I took apart though was a GTX285! Funny enough...(and hopefully not related..) that was also the last card I hard to RMA. I just put the stock cooler back on and got a replacement no issues.

And yes there is very conflicting information on the internet about if changing pads affects warranty. I think if NVidia spot you changed the pads, they will probably try and reject the claim. The question is whether they would bother to look. For example if the card starts artifcating or just does not boot, I would expect the warranty centre probably just puts it in a test system and confirms the fault.
Taking each card apart as part of the claim process in an attempt to reject the claim seems unlikely.

I am also curious what the right-to-repair laws coming into affect later this year will have on this kind of practise.
We dont and never would accept if ford or VW told us the warranty is void on our car because we fitted an aftermarket radio. Not unless the fault I was claiming for could be directly linked to my swapping the radio...

Guessing nobody that has commented so far changed the pads on there card? (Even if not a 3090fe?) Would love to hear from somebody that has.
 
Something's wrong if such a prestige product needs maintenance to run properly. The manufacturer should fix their own defects.

I can understand a noob buying one who didn't realise they had heat issues.
 
CuriousTomCat said:
Something's wrong if such a prestige product needs maintenance to run properly. The manufacturer should fix their own defects.

I can understand a noob buying one who didn't realise they had heat issues.
Click to expand...

Just run it with the heat issues, if it bricks, sent it back to manufacturer etc for a new one.
 
CuriousTomCat said:
Something's wrong if such a prestige product needs maintenance to run properly. The manufacturer should fix their own defects.

I can understand a noob buying one who didn't realise they had heat issues.
Click to expand...

The problem is its not technically a defect for your average user/gamer. Fans are supposed to go up when components get hot. You can argue the memory shouldn't get that hot, but hence they have the card then throttle as to not cause damage. I admit they could have done a better job on the thermal pads, I doubt it would have cost them a huge deal more. But if you look at the top end AIBS I think some of them have done a better job of it, but then you are also paying a huge deal more for those.

The people that are mostly impacted by this are the miners, but you can either then apply new thermal pads or just run it a bit under clocked.
And worse case even if you do not mod it and it dies on you it will be covered by warranty without any issues.
 
xPETEZx said:
Guessing nobody that has commented so far changed the pads on there card? (Even if not a 3090fe?) Would love to hear from somebody that has.
Click to expand...

During various modding sessions on the card I took the opportunity to change the pads several times. Thermal Grizzly Minus pads, despite not having the best thermal conductivity (8 W/mk), were able to improve on the stock pads. It was worth roughly +100mhz on the memory but was before the period when the Memory Junction Temp was exposed in software. The main issue there was that they are not very compressible and you need to use two thicknesses of pad, depending on the area. Make sure you test contact - a test application of the cooler won't destroy them.

After that I moved on to Fujipoly Ultra Extreme (17 W/mK), including covering the entire back of the card, which is certainly better than Thermal Grizzly. However, you have to consider that I did spend £400 just on thermal pads. It's compressible but not very resilient, so re-mounting the cooler means re-padding.

Under heavy, sustained load (Timespy Extreme stress test loops for some hours) my memory junction temp peaks around 50c. This is on a 24/7 chilled loop but without an active backplate cooler, for now. How much are the pads alone worth? It's difficult for me to say, since at the time I repadded the cad (early October last year, within a week of launch) the Memory Junction Temp was not yet exposed in software and thermocouples were giving me clearance issues.

My guess would be that if you are hitting 100c right now, a repad to a good 'firm' thermal pad will give you about 10-15c if you do a careful job it. Running at 90c instead of 100c seems worth it me. A glance at reddit has people claiming improvement of anywhere from 5c to 30c - but in the extreme cases we don't know whether their thermal pads were applied correctly to begin with. I suspect a 30c improvement would be down to an improperly applied pad at the factory causing a very high Junction temp reading on one of the modules, and amplifies the effect of repadding.

If you use a canvas-type pad you can probably get more than 10-15c but it'll cost more and need to be re-done if you remove the cooler again for whatever reason.

Would it cause your fan to be less erratic? I think so. The FE cooler is good but the rear memory temp is the weakness.
 
Maldoror said:
...

Would it cause your fan to be less erratic? I think so. The FE cooler is good but the rear memory temp is the weakness.
Click to expand...

I am thinking of just replacing the pads on the back as it seems like it will not require me to take the card fully apart, from you experience do you think it is worth it just doing the pads on the back or I need to do the full front and back to see a decent drop?
 
Robi_uk said:
I am thinking of just replacing the pads on the back as it seems like it will not require me to take the card fully apart, from you experience do you think it is worth it just doing the pads on the back or I need to do the full front and back to see a decent drop?
Click to expand...

Most likely the Memory Junction Temp that you are seeing reported, is from a module on the back of the card. So yes, repadding the back may be enough to see a drop and it makes sense to start with the lowest hanging fruit, so to speak.

Removing the backplate is very easy. Lever up the V-shaped silver bracket and use a little sticky tape to pull off the little magnetic screw covers. Then you have 8 screws and you're done. The hard part about the FE cooler is removing the fragile connectors they use for fan and LED power (the latter especially) and none of that needs to be touched for removing only the backplate.

Some people even add heatsinks on the backplate for a bit more cooling, though it may ruin the aesthetic a bit.

You can also add thermal pads between the back of the gpu die area and the backplate, which tends to drop core temps by a degree or two.
 
xPETEZx said:
Guessing nobody that has commented so far changed the pads on there card? (Even if not a 3090fe?) Would love to hear from somebody that has.
Click to expand...


OP - Few people have in the FE thread we didnt really need a new thread this sort of stuff is readily discussed in the FE owners thread where all the info and pictures are available.

Some just wack a heatsink and fan on the back.

Also here

https://www.overclock.net/threads/possibly-widespread-cooling-issues-on-rtx-3090-fe.1775245/

for me not worth the warranty risk.
 
JohnG7 said:
@ OP there is plenty posts on this topic for 3080/90's in this forum.
Click to expand...
My bad... I just find scouring a topic of 60+ pages for a specific issue isnt best. I thought new post about a specific question is better, not just for me but future searches too.
Sarge2255 said:
Just run it with the heat issues, if it bricks, sent it back to manufacturer etc for a new one.
Click to expand...
For me I want the card to be quiet, as much as last longer. Plus a warranty replacement is a process id rather avoid if I can. I hope the right-to-repair legislation coming will make this kind of thing easier. Or at least prevent warranty claim rejections because somebody repaired/improved something on a product.
Maldoror said:
During various modding sessions on the card I took the opportunity to change the pads several times. Thermal Grizzly Minus pads, despite not having the best thermal conductivity (8 W/mk), were able to improve on the stock pads. It was worth roughly +100mhz on the memory but was before the period when the Memory Junction Temp was exposed in software. The main issue there was that they are not very compressible and you need to use two thicknesses of pad, depending on the area. Make sure you test contact - a test application of the cooler won't destroy them.

After that I moved on to Fujipoly Ultra Extreme (17 W/mK), including covering the entire back of the card, which is certainly better than Thermal Grizzly. However, you have to consider that I did spend £400 just on thermal pads. It's compressible but not very resilient, so re-mounting the cooler means re-padding.

Under heavy, sustained load (Timespy Extreme stress test loops for some hours) my memory junction temp peaks around 50c. This is on a 24/7 chilled loop but without an active backplate cooler, for now. How much are the pads alone worth? It's difficult for me to say, since at the time I repadded the cad (early October last year, within a week of launch) the Memory Junction Temp was not yet exposed in software and thermocouples were giving me clearance issues.

My guess would be that if you are hitting 100c right now, a repad to a good 'firm' thermal pad will give you about 10-15c if you do a careful job it. Running at 90c instead of 100c seems worth it me. A glance at reddit has people claiming improvement of anywhere from 5c to 30c - but in the extreme cases we don't know whether their thermal pads were applied correctly to begin with. I suspect a 30c improvement would be down to an improperly applied pad at the factory causing a very high Junction temp reading on one of the modules, and amplifies the effect of repadding.

If you use a canvas-type pad you can probably get more than 10-15c but it'll cost more and need to be re-done if you remove the cooler again for whatever reason.

Would it cause your fan to be less erratic? I think so. The FE cooler is good but the rear memory temp is the weakness.
Click to expand...

Thanks for detailed post! Is that a FE card you modded? And Im not looking to spend £400 on pads. Thats more than a waterblock, which is probably how I will address the noise if re-pad doesnt do it.

varkanoid said:
OP - Few people have in the FE thread we didnt really need a new thread this sort of stuff is readily discussed in the FE owners thread where all the info and pictures are available.

Some just wack a heatsink and fan on the back.

Also here

https://www.overclock.net/threads/possibly-widespread-cooling-issues-on-rtx-3090-fe.1775245/

for me not worth the warranty risk.
Click to expand...
Thanks. As above, I thought making a new topic about a specific issue is better as it keeps the conversation specific. Large topics for all discussion on 3080/3090fe is hard to get the info from. Hopefully the answers in this topic will help not just me but future searches too.

I have seen people put the heatsinks on the back and also fans right below the card, but it seems both of those solutions net really negligible if any gains.
I did try a 140mm fan right below the card but also made no difference for me. With the Dark Rock Pro 4 just above, Id only be able to fit a very slim heatsink anyway, so cant see if helping enough to lower the temps.


I have found the GELID Xtreme 1.5mm pads in stock £7.20, so I can get 5x packs for £40 shipped. That should be more than enough to re-pad both sides of the card with left overs for mistakes.

I think If I take it apart, I might as well do both sides.

In the video on the article I linked above, the guy does not appear to change the core thermal paste at all. I wasnt sure if thats a good idea?
 
Alt0153 said:
as soon as you open it up no one will honour your warranty so might as well change paste while you are at it
Click to expand...
While they could reject a warranty claim based on changed pads, I dont think its as clear cut as you make out here.
The card has no "warranty void if removed" stickers, so its not immediately obvious if a card has been opened.
Depending on why you RMA the card, I personally cant see them opening up every card they get back to check the pads. Not unless they have reason to suspect physical damage.
I might be wrong, but I just cant see that being a useful investment of resources on there side.

Especially in todays climate, where reddit/twitter and other social media could allow a story to be widely shared fast.
I am also curious what the legalities are around void a warranty.
For example if Ford or another car manufacture tried to void your warranty because you changed the brand of tyres on the car, or used a different (but still correct spec) engine oil.
I know its car not PC parts, but just seems odd to me the law would view either case any differently.

As I said, when I was younger, I wouldn't think twice about changing a GPUs stock cooler. Even reverted a card to its stock cooler for RMA.
Yet now, I am hesitant.

I think on balance, its probably worth doing still. IT should result in a much quieter card, and hopefully extend its life too. If it does not... my next step might be a custom loop water cooling setup anyway. So id be opening up the card then regardless.
If It did fail on me in the future, I would be rolling the dice to hope they dont check.
 
i wouldnt waste my warranty for the sake of running it cooler if there was any chance it will break in a few years and be rejected, you dont think they will bother to look but i doubt it costs a lot to take a card to pieces and then they save the money on replacement by declining your rma

its the reason i have no interest in a founders model cause its a hairdrying egg fryer
 
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