Inno3D 2080 Ti thermal problems

[kureta]

I have had this card for the past 3 years or so. It's fans have been really quick to ramp up to 100%. I thought it was due to bad fan curve, and since I am on linux, I didn't have an easy way to customize it, so I let it go. I am using the card mainly for deep learning, and lately, the card started to turn of 15-30 minutes into training. I thought it was a driver issue and waited for an update. But when I monitored it's power draw, I saw that it 100% GPU use, it starts with around 260 watts and quickly drops to 170-180 watts and stays there. Also, the fans start to go crazy at 64C. I thought, maybe it was the VRAMs or voltage regulators that were heating, only I couldn't see their temperatures.

 

So I teared down the card and saw two things. First, the metal backplate had a plastic cover between the thermal pads and the plate. It doesn't seem right, but I am not sure. Second, there are cutouts over what I think are GPU voltage regulators. I have seen the same PCB on an EVGA model and it didn't have cutouts there. It had thermal pate over these components. I am attaching a photo of the overview of my situation. I would be happy to provide additional information. Also, I bought new thermal paste and new thermal pads and will replace all the old ones before closing it back up.

[kureta]

It turns out there are cutouts under the thermal pads on the backplate. Soo that was not the problem. It leaves lack of thermal pad and contact between the voltage regulators and the front plate as the most plausible cause. I can't think of anything else.