Understanding 3080 VRAM temperature

stevemont7 · July 27, 2021

Hello! I have been the lucky owner (even if I had to pay double the MSRP on eBay) of an 3080 Founders’ Edition graphics card for a few months now. It’s performed quite well for me in gaming/video editing/rendering, but I read that its VRAM can get very hot, and even cause the card to thermal throttle. Sure enough, my card’s memory junction temperature would stay between 106C and 110C under load, according to HWiNFO.

At the suggestion of other users who’ve shared their experiences online, I replaced the stock thermal pads with Gelid pads. My card’s memory junction temperature has indeed decreased, but here’s the thing:

After replacing the thermal pads, the memory junction temperature will be about 100C under load with all stock settings. Yet if I apply a +1000 MHz memory overclock with MSI Afterburner, the memory junction temperature will decrease and remain around 90C.

Adjusting the settings and leaving the card to run under full load for 30 minutes yielded the same results.

Card at stock settings under load? VRAM around 100C.
Fans fixed at 100%? VRAM still around 100C.

Stock settings except -502 MHz memory UNDERclock? VRAM at 100C.

Stock settings except a +750 MHz memory OC? VRAM at 90C.

+750 MHz Memory OC and fans fixed at 75%? VRAM at 88C.
+1050 MHz memory OC and fans fixed at 75%? VRAM at 88C.

I’m really curious why this is the case. I haven’t encountered any issues with the VRAM overclocked, so I’ll just leave it to keep the temps lower. But if someone knows why it behaves like this I’d love to know!