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Hi Folks,
I was lucky enough to get my hands on a 3090 FE for MSRP.
Initially I was really happy as coming from a 1080ti is was a big jump in performance. But I noticed in some RTX titles (Quake RTX) that the card quickly became akin to a leaf blower with the fans ramping up to 100%. A quick Google search revealed that this was probably due to the temperature of the VRAM.
Many recommended replacing the thermal pads which I am not keen to undertake. However I found that by exerting upward force on the cooling shroud the temperatures and fan speed dramatically reduce. It would appear that the cooler and VRAM are not making enough contact without the upward force.
I have now made a Lego tower to support the GPU and keep the cooler in contact with the VRAM and now the fan rarely goes above 60 - 70% which is much more in line with expectations.
However to have paid £1,400 for a GPU that needs a Lego prop is not ideal. I asked the retailer if this was acceptable and they didn't comment, but rather started the RMA process. I certainly don't want to go and send this card back if this is normal, and then at best get a replacement that does exactly the same thing, or at worst be stuck with no card for however long.
The card is great, and with my Lego mod it is nice and quiet, but my OCD has me annoyed that I may have a duff card. What is your opinion. Keep it, or send it back?
Just repaste it and avoid dealing with RMA. It's not hard to do. Just follow the video carefully and pay VERY CLOSE ATTENTION to 5:32 on the below video which is the "unlock" position for the RGB power cable latch. Take your time and this will be an easy job.
Get some thermal paste. Arctic MX-5 seems to be okay for these chips (terrible for laptops BGA intel chips though!). Thermalright TFX appears to be the best. Avoid MX-4, it's garbage. Kryonaut Extreme is also good but is VERY expensive unless you buy the 33g sample.
Get Gelid Extreme 1.5mm pads (80mm * 40mm * 1.5mm, x2), 2 packs, for the core side (first pack will do VRAM with a small section left over, 2nd pack will do VRM's with a large section left over, save the leftovers for the future). Do not use Gelid Ultimates or EC360 Silver or Thermalright pads on the front side--they are not soft enough. Use Gelid Extremes.
Two packs Gelid Ultimate 1.5mm for the backplate side, two packs (90mm * 40mm * 1.5mm, x 2) (better than Gelid extremes on the backplate because of the intense heat on that side).
Watch this video for disassembly. (Igor's video), pay attention to 5:32
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWhqmP5eE_0
Back plate:
https://i.imgur.com/cndlWrl.jpg
Front (core) side:
https://i.imgur.com/SvVBVH0.jpg
(full spread of thermalright TFX is the best results. 9 large dots method is 2nd best results).
When you disassemble the card, take some pictures of the atrocious thermal padding so we can see what was wrong with the factory job