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Do I need thermal pads for my gpu?

gooober

gooober

gooober

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Joined
27 Oct 2012
Posts
120
Hi all I am going to be re doing my thermal paste for my gpu tomorrow. I have watched a few tutorials on YouTube as I have never done it before and some of them needed little thermal pads to sit on different places of the graphics card. Is this true for most graphics cards so I need paste and pads ? Or specific gpus.

I have a rx 580 red devil.. so not sure if I need or not.
Thanks
 
Yes, you will need thermal pads, likely around 16 of them for a card like the rx580. They will be on the VRAM and probably mosfet. You will however likely find that the existing pads are fine and can simply be kept in place after you do the thermal paste.
 
The thermal pads will already be on there and it's extremely unlikely that you'll need to replace them if you're just repasting the card. Powercolor use the soft and squishy type of thermal pads that can be reused just fine. There's no need to even touch them. Most will probably come off stuck to the heatsink, but some might remain on the PCB. Either way, just leave them where they are unless one's very obviously moved out of place, in which case move it back. You can easily wipe off the core and the coldplate without touching them and then put it back together. They'll simply go back right where they were when you put the cooler back on.

cooler_contact1uljm5.jpg


Other types exist where it can be a good idea to replace them, either made from cloth or a clay-like substance that both break up easily, but I've never seen those outside of AMD and Nvidia reference cards. AIBs always use the pliable ones.
 
Depends on the age of the card but if it’s relatively new then it shouldn’t. They start to dry out and crack after several years so within a few years it should be fine.

If you wanted to anywau then you need a specific thickness depending on the card (measure what’s already there) purchase a sheet and cut it up is the cheapest option. Just ensure you measure all as they can be a combination of thickness depending on the component.
 
Last edited:
tyler_jrb said:
Depends on the age of the card but if it’s relatively new then it shouldn’t. They start to dry out and crack after several years so within a few years it should be fine.

If you wanted to anywau then you need a specific thickness depending on the card (measure what’s already there) purchase a sheet and cut it up is the cheapest option. Just ensure you measure all as they can be a combination of thickness depending on the component.
Click to expand...

Its around 3 years old. So do u think I should just try it and hope for the best? And how do I know of if its still OK to use or need replacing? Or is it only if they are ripped you replace them ?
 
gooober said:
Its around 3 years old. So do u think I should just try it and hope for the best? And how do I know of if its still OK to use or need replacing? Or is it only if they are ripped you replace them ?
Click to expand...

Generally they dry up and crack or start to crumble. So if they are still quite soft/pliable and look slightly oily then they will be fine.

You can replace them for peace of mind though just need to know the thickness really.
 
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