Former mining 3070 with high temperatures

[ErikLed]

Hello!

I just bought two Asus Tuf 3070 for me and my buddy.

Theyre running quite hot 85% GPU core and 105 Hot Spot during Heaven, Furmark and Unigine Superposition and lowers clockspeeds from around 1950 to 1700 mhz.

The fans are at 100%

This happens during more demanding games aswell.

 

Theyre both running stock with unchanged power limit and Ive checked with HWInfo recording that the fans are working as intended.

Card looks good and clean physically, no damage to the pins either.

 

You guys reckon it could be bad thermal paste?, Or something else?

Theyve probably been mined on for 1-2 years.

 

I bought it on a selling platform here in Sweden where we can still return the item within 14 days, im not sure whether I should open it and ruin the sticker (seller might be peeved)

 

Thats why im asking for advice.

Thanks in advance for any help

[Radium_Angel]

If you are happy with the price and performance of the cards, then yes repaste.

If it's still a problem after that, tell the seller why you broke the seal.

[ChrisLoudon]

2 minutes ago, ErikLed said:

Thanks in advance for any help

Hi buddy, if they are working as expected then the chances are, you're correct is thinking its just bad thermal paste or contact.

 

Lol, was just writing that when @Radium_Angelchimed in.

[ChrisLoudon]

Forgot to mention, don't expect miracles with the 30 series cards as they run hot even when brand new.

 

They do however respond pretty well to undervolting so use Afterburner's curve optimiser to knock off a few mV and you should see temps drop dramatically.

[ErikLed]

Thank you both!, Ill try repasting!

I am aware that they run quite hot, ive taken that into consideration, the hot spot temp just doesnt sit well with me

Ill also look into undervolting!

 

[Radium_Angel]

Let us know how the repasting works out

Cheers!

[ErikLed]

Hello again!

I repasted the thermalpaste and undervolted to about 900mV, kept the same clockspeed but bumped the memory by 1000.

Dropped 20-25 degrees

(I dont really go past 65°C now with the hotspot at a cool 75-80max) and got higher scores on heaven and superposition.

 

Do any of you know the science behind undervolting?

If so do you mind giving me the short and simple? (If theres anything other than the fact that I left more thermal headroom to maintain the boostclock)

 

Im not quite sure how it all works to be completely honest but i really appreciate the advice I got.

 

Thank you!

[Sir Beregond]

2 hours ago, ErikLed said:

Hello again!

I repasted the thermalpaste and undervolted to about 900mV, kept the same clockspeed but bumped the memory by 1000.

Dropped 20-25 degrees

(I dont really go past 65°C now with the hotspot at a cool 75-80max) and got higher scores on heaven and superposition.

 

Do any of you know the science behind undervolting?

If so do you mind giving me the short and simple? (If theres anything other than the fact that I left more thermal headroom to maintain the boostclock)

 

Im not quite sure how it all works to be completely honest but i really appreciate the advice I got.

 

Thank you!

You've essentially got it. The idea being that for any given clock in your voltage curve, you are using less voltage than you would at stock which like you said, gives you a bit of thermal headroom. Most usually just cap the max voltage as well once you find the clock limit for stable boosts before it starts bouncing around a lot.

 

I'll warn you though, most of the videos you find on youtube for undervolting in Afteburner are doing it way wrong. See the chart below. Most will do the method that gives you the red line which actually overvolts most of the frequency curve. Remember that in afterburner, the frequency is on the left while the voltage is on the bottom, so to undervolt, you are actually raising the line, not lowering it. See the green line.

 

[ErikLed]

15 hours ago, Sir Beregond said:

You've essentially got it. The idea being that for any given clock in your voltage curve, you are using less voltage than you would at stock which like you said, gives you a bit of thermal headroom. Most usually just cap the max voltage as well once you find the clock limit for stable boosts before it starts bouncing around a lot.

 

I'll warn you though, most of the videos you find on youtube for undervolting in Afteburner are doing it way wrong. See the chart below. Most will do the method that gives you the red line which actually overvolts most of the frequency curve. Remember that in afterburner, the frequency is on the left while the voltage is on the bottom, so to undervolt, you are actually raising the line, not lowering it. See the green line.

 

Thank you for the tips!

I did follow a youtube video that did exactly what youre warning me of here.

 

Ill try and look into how to do it properly now that I have this info (very helpful image btw)

 

All of this is quite new to me, ive done a little overclocking in the past but mainly just some basic afterburner stuff.

 

I appreciate the help!