Should i repaste my GPU?

[ayazam]

so i just bought 2nd hand, 3.5years Gainward RTX 3060Ti Ghost for an equivalent of $180

out of the box, on heaven bench the temp goes up to 80ºC for gpu & 92ºC for hotspot
its also on the high 70ºC almost 80ºC for games with high usage of GPU

 

the fan is pretty loud, so i decide to adjust it in AB with -10% setup,

means at 40ºC the fan is at 30%, while at 70ºC the fan is at 60% and so on

but the temp is still on the high 70ºC almost 80ºC too

 

i also tried to undervolt but keeping the sustain boostclock at 0.9v and it still also reach 77ºC

i'm not used to this kind of temp since my last gpu is 1660S (that i also uv & oc)

 

should i repaste my GPU? or this is still fine?
because i plan to repaste my CPU too (its been 2.5 years)

[Levent]

Yeah definitely do it.

[ayazam]

7 minutes ago, Levent said:

Yeah definitely do it.

it should be pretty safe... right?

i've done countless cpu cooler mounting (buildin pc for others as side)
but 0 experience on gpu repaste, what should i be concern about...
probably just thermalpad thickness... right?

[leclod]

(77° in benchmark is ok)

Does your case have enough airflow ?

Did you check the gpu heatsink for dust ?

You also plan to change pads ?

Repasting gpu is pretty safe indeed, just be wary of the cables and pads.

 

 

Edited January 21, 2025 by leclod

[OddOod]

1 hour ago, ayazam said:

it should be pretty safe... right?

Definitely! If you do it properly. 
 

1 hour ago, ayazam said:

i've done countless cpu cooler mounting

This is a different beast entirely. CPUs are *meant* to be end user serviceable. GPUs are not. 
Go slow, have a safe work area with good lights (keep the pets away), and pay attention to where all the screws came from and you should be fine. 
If you're also gonna repad it, know that you have to figure out pad thickness for each strip and it'll be expensive to get all the pads, but you could just go with K5Pro if you're okay with how messy it is (see the LTT vid on that stuff)

[ConfidentGuy32]

If I was you let a computer technician do it if your not qualified. There is more circuitry in the gpu that is valuable that you could possibly spill thermal paste all over such as the capacitors and end up cleaning it off damaging them. You have to use the correct thermal paste that is non conductive and fresh thermal pads that are very fiddly to do. Just let you be aware if you have no clue on how to do it then do not. Let someone that is qualified to do it for you. I literally opened my rtx 4080 today and had no clue cause I was overly confident and ended up using the wrong thermal paste and damaged the pads. This ain't nothing like changing the CPU thermal paste.

[ayazam]

ive done it... its cool ... ~75ºC on heaven with all default, never reach 80ºC at all
using thermalright TFX thermal paste, spread it using the included spatula
also using 12.8W/m.K thermal pad that i found online

Spoiler

this why its still a bit "warm" because of all the disk on the front

 

 

[Dedayog]

On 1/21/2025 at 12:17 PM, ayazam said:

so i just bought 2nd hand, 3.5years Gainward RTX 3060Ti Ghost for an equivalent of $180

out of the box, on heaven bench the temp goes up to 80ºC for gpu & 92ºC for hotspot
its also on the high 70ºC almost 80ºC for games with high usage of GPU

 

the fan is pretty loud, so i decide to adjust it in AB with -10% setup,

means at 40ºC the fan is at 30%, while at 70ºC the fan is at 60% and so on

but the temp is still on the high 70ºC almost 80ºC too

 

i also tried to undervolt but keeping the sustain boostclock at 0.9v and it still also reach 77ºC

i'm not used to this kind of temp since my last gpu is 1660S (that i also uv & oc)

 

should i repaste my GPU? or this is still fine?
because i plan to repaste my CPU too (its been 2.5 years)

Fuck no, don't do it.  Temps are fine.

 

A GPU isn't meant to be pulled apart and maintained like a CPU and cooler.

 

You can rip a fan header off, ask me how I know. 

 

Card works, leave it alone.