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3090 FE RMA opinion?

Associate
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10 Feb 2021
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608
Interesting.. I wonder if when you’ve added the replacement pads they’ve been thicker and made up for the poor contact of the stock ones?

I would open mine but I’m unsure on where that leaves 3 year manufacturer warranty with Nvidia? I’d like to keep that intact if possible.

Something that makes me think is this widespread is that without the contact my cards VRAM temps top out around 106-8c, which I hear is normal? I haven’t seen many cases of people getting temps down to sub 94c without mods while mining or gaming with stock pads. Could be wrong though..

Maybe I should RMA with Scan and do this again for the sake of science :D

I only changed the rear pads, and for those I used 1.5mm. I wouldn't have thought that would improve contact on the front of the card though. And I can only think that adding a support improves contact for the front pads.

There is a lot of hersay about warranty and changing pads. The offical line from nVidia of course is that if you open or modify the card in anyway, your warranty is void.
However, I have not personally seen a single instance of nVidia refusing an RMA for any reason.
In one case on this board a user even admitted to them he had opened the card. In another reddit case, the user simply didnt mention the changed pads.
Personally, I tend to believe that nVidia operates by simply not checking.
If a card comes to them that appears physically perfect, and fails its bench testing I imagine they just move on and approve the RMA, send a replacement.
I could only see them rejecting a claim if either the user admits they modified the card to them when opening the claim, or the card arrives at nVidia obviously damaged or modified.
If I ever need to RMA my card, I certainly wont mention the changed pads. IF nVidia then tried to reject my claim based on changed pads, Id put up a fight. Hoping they back down. But yes, I would say the risk exists they dont and I am out of pocket. Still, I consider that risk to be miniscule.

Thats just my $0.02 on it.
 
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Hmmm, this is a very interesting thread and i'm going to see if squeezing the GPU reduces temps for my vertically mounted 3090. I have bought Thermalright Thermal Pads already as i'm ready to risk it. If it is a crappy contact issue i'd rather address that than take apart the GPU, but shall see after testing the OP's trick.
 
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Hmmm, this is a very interesting thread and i'm going to see if squeezing the GPU reduces temps for my vertically mounted 3090. I have bought Thermalright Thermal Pads already as i'm ready to risk it. If it is a crappy contact issue i'd rather address that than take apart the GPU, but shall see after testing the OP's trick.

Please let me know!
 
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Hmmm, this is a very interesting thread and i'm going to see if squeezing the GPU reduces temps for my vertically mounted 3090. I have bought Thermalright Thermal Pads already as i'm ready to risk it. If it is a crappy contact issue i'd rather address that than take apart the GPU, but shall see after testing the OP's trick.
Keep us updated.

I am going to stock up on G clamps and scalp them :D
 
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So I tried it last night, and with a firm squeeze of both the top and bottom parts of the card near the center gave a 10 Degree drop in memory temps! Tested this running a mining load. To me that's a result! Couldn't hold it for too long because the card is so hot. Now I will be trying it with clamps or anything that can apply enough pressure.

Maybe not everyone has a condom induced thermal issues in their GPUs? I'll try getting some clamps to see if it can show a consistent drop in temps and put the thermal pads to one side for now.
 
Soldato
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Yancashire
I’ve just come across this thread and I’m pretty much in the same position as OP. I found that applying pressure underneath the card drops the VRAM temps by at least 15c.

I haven’t replaced any pads, just put these two braces underneath.

The braces are applying a bit of pressure so I’m a little bit concerned it might damage the card, not sure..

I’m convinced this is the case with every 3090 FE as a friend of mine with a 3090 FE is doing the same thing.

0-E0-CA93-E-BF12-40-B0-8-F35-8423-A7095512.jpg



MCJcLhY


This is a brilliant discovery mate, and actually looks ok too. It's crazy we 3090Fe owners have to even consider doing **** like this, but if it works I'm keen to try it out (and the card is so huge and heavy it can't hurt to have extra support for it really anyway!)

Can you please tell me where you got these exact support braces from?
 
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Couldn't get the temps consistently down by applying pressure to the GPU. There probably is a contact issue because if you do it the right spot temps do drop. But I've decided to repad. Ordered some Gelid Extreme pads and will return the Thermal Right ones. Fingers crossed it all goes well. If it you're using Lego or some other support instead, that's great. Saves you time and any concerns.
 
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This is a brilliant discovery mate, and actually looks ok too. It's crazy we 3090Fe owners have to even consider doing **** like this, but if it works I'm keen to try it out (and the card is so huge and heavy it can't hurt to have extra support for it really anyway!)

Can you please tell me where you got these exact support braces from?

Just from a popular auction site! Typed in GPU brace
 
Associate
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This is a brilliant discovery mate, and actually looks ok too. It's crazy we 3090Fe owners have to even consider doing **** like this, but if it works I'm keen to try it out (and the card is so huge and heavy it can't hurt to have extra support for it really anyway!)

Can you please tell me where you got these exact support braces from?

Just from a popular auction site! Typed in GPU brace
 
Soldato
Joined
30 Nov 2011
Posts
11,370
Foounders cards seem to be a bit hit and miss with the cooling in my experience. I tried an FE 3090 for a couple of weeks and it was relativly quiet under load, but my 3080Ti FE ramped up to 3500 RPM under the slightest load to keep at 70 degrees. I ended up water blocking it anyway but if I had kept the stock cooler I would have ended up going the RMA route same as you. With the price of these cards there is no excuse for not applying the pads correctly IMO.

the 3080ti is basically a 3090 in a 3080 skin, so it draws nearly as much power as a 3090 but has the cooler from the 3080
 
Associate
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I only changed the rear pads, and for those I used 1.5mm. I wouldn't have thought that would improve contact on the front of the card though. And I can only think that adding a support improves contact for the front pads.

There is a lot of hersay about warranty and changing pads. The offical line from nVidia of course is that if you open or modify the card in anyway, your warranty is void.
However, I have not personally seen a single instance of nVidia refusing an RMA for any reason.
In one case on this board a user even admitted to them he had opened the card. In another reddit case, the user simply didnt mention the changed pads.
Personally, I tend to believe that nVidia operates by simply not checking.
If a card comes to them that appears physically perfect, and fails its bench testing I imagine they just move on and approve the RMA, send a replacement.
I could only see them rejecting a claim if either the user admits they modified the card to them when opening the claim, or the card arrives at nVidia obviously damaged or modified.
If I ever need to RMA my card, I certainly wont mention the changed pads. IF nVidia then tried to reject my claim based on changed pads, Id put up a fight. Hoping they back down. But yes, I would say the risk exists they dont and I am out of pocket. Still, I consider that risk to be miniscule.

Thats just my $0.02 on it.

The stock REAR pads are 1.0mm and the stock FRONT pads (VRAM) are 1.5mm.
The stock front VRM pads are 1.8mm-2.0mm (apparently left is 1.8mm and right is 2.0mm. Not sure about the 'solo' isolated VRM pad, probably the same as the right one).
The heatsink is obviously one piece (it can move freely like a couple of mm or so within the shroud when you have the PCB removed) and the PCB obviously attaches directly to the heatsink via the X bracket "Leaf spring".

HOWEVER
it appears that *ONLY* the leaf spring X bracket is what attaches the PCB to the heatsink!

oVrb1EE.jpg

Look carefully.
You can see that the I/O (Torx T8) screw on the bottom left, and the four Torx T5 screws (around the edges of the heatsink on the left) ONLY attach to the OUTER SHROUD and NOT to the heatsink!!!!!!
The same goes for the four phillips screws on the V section.

And what does the backplate screw into?

The OUTER SHROUD. NOT to the heatsink! So those "backplate screws" that you screw in, while there IS a connection for the screws on the edges of the PCB, those screws have no connection to the heatsink itself. So the backplate doesn't have any real "secure" mount to the PCB and none to the heatsink. Yes it goes on but...

So the heatsink has some play (X/Y axis) with the PCB removed, but also some Z axis play too. (what's keeping it in place from falling out completely seem to be two hidden latches, shown in GamersNexus' teardown video, which are extremely difficult to reach, which are also required to unlatch if you ever need to remove the fan cable that is taped to the shroud (one of them is not taped and comes out just by unscrewing the fan).

Now, it's obvious that the heatsink attaches to the PCB and there's not going to be any play on the PCB to heatsink itself.
But the backplate has no direct connection to the heatsink. Only to the shroud. So if the backplate thermal pads are too thin, the heatsink is still going to have some play.

When you guys are pushing the 'front' area in (from the bottom), you're pushing the heatsink up towards the backplate. Which would then improve the connection of the *PCB* to the backplate.

Whoever swapped the 1.0mm backplate VRAM pads for 1.5mm or 2.0mm is automatically reducing or removing the amount of Z axis play as the thicker thermal pads will compensate for any sort of give.
So this stands to mean that 2.0mm VRAM backplate thermal pads (Gelid Ultimate or Gelid Extreme) would entirely solve this problem here. While even 1.5mm pads would still be better than the stock 1.0mm original Nvidia pads.

NHKE7oo.jpg

Looks like the left and righit "hotspot" strips have a larger impression than the VRAM pads in the middle, implying firmer contact. Once those sections are compressed, they won't decompress. Oh whatever.
 
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20 Jan 2021
Posts
1,337
Hmm, that mushta, gave me nonsense advice, I stand by this. It made my card run 10c hotter.

I worked out what happened. Because I pressed down hard on the card near the power connector when it was hot, the already runny Nvidia thermal pads compressed and smudged. I reckon that's what happend to my 3090 following mushtas advice.

I had no choice put to repad the card :mad:.I bought 4 packs of Gelid Ultimate , to replace pads on the front and back of the card, cost £40 in total ( ripp off). I used all of the pads and they were just about enough ( 80x40s). They were 1.5mm. The whole replacement took hours.

Bit Glad that it fixed my card and un did Mushtas terrible advice. Now my card runs 2c-6c cooler than before on the T Junction, but 6c hotter on the core! Simply no where near the gains Internet trolls post to get more views on their videos (20c cooler wow!).
Putting screws underneath the card and claiming 20c drop, people who do that probably already had defective cards. I can see why miners are rushing to do this but for gaming it's just not worth all the hassle.
 
Last edited:
Associate
Joined
7 Apr 2006
Posts
292
Location
USA
Hmm, that mushta, gave me nonsense advice, I stand by this. It made my card run 10c hotter.

I worked out what happened. Because I pressed down hard in the card near the power connector when it was hot, the already runny Nvidia thermal pads compressed and smudged. I reckon that's what happend to my 3090 following mushtas advice.

I had no choice put to repad the card :mad:.I bought 4 packs of Gelid extreme , to replace pads on the fron and back of the card, cost £40 in total ( ripp off). I used all of the pads and they were just about enough ( 80x40s). They were 1.5mm. The whole replacement took hours.

Bit Glad that it fixed my card and un did Mushtas terrible advice. Now my card runs 2c-6c cooler than before on the T Junction, but 6c hotter on the core! Simply no where near the gains Internet trolls post to get more views on their videos (20c cooler wow!).
Putting screws underneath the card and claiming 20c drop, people who do that probably already had defective cards. I can see why miners are rushing to do this but for gaming it's just not worth all the hassle.

6C hotter on the core? What thermal paste did you use? Did you replace the VRM Thermal pads?
 
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