Gpu cooler contact?

[Todd Greene]

Hi, porbably a stupid question but
is there anyway to notice if proper contact is being made? to the gou die
I just replaced the thermal pads and paste on a zotac gtx 970 dual. the pads I used were 1mm and maybe a little thicker than the old ones. though i squished them a bit first to help with that.
I am just nervous that i may have messed up as first time doing that. My idle temps are 30 deg and at load it hits 80 deg.
How can I check without re opening up the gpu?

 

[Distracted]

Take the cooler off and look at cold plate to see if the thermal paste is making a nice even square or whatever the shape of the gpu die is. If it is, you have good contact, if not then you'll see paste missing compared to the shape of the die and you'll know where more pressure or paste is needed if the application wasn't quite right.

That is the only way I'm afraid.