Can't get good mounting pressure after replacing thermal pads on 9070 XT PURE

[Ilan Yakov]

Hello!

 

I got a SAPPHIRE 9070 XT PURE a few weeks ago and finally decided to change the thermal pads for the VRAM and VRM after the VRAM got to more than 90C during use.

My friend has a similar model - SAPPHIRE PULSE, and he didn't have this issue with temps, so I decided to do it.

There is no information on the pad height necessary for this model, but after a quick chat with ChatGPT, I got 1.5mm and 2mm pads. 1.5mm for the VRAM and 2mm for VRMs. The size seems to fit the stock ones, so it seems to check out.

After I changed the pads, the GPU hotspot got up to more than 90C and the memory temp didn't get that much cooler. The hotspot was around 83C before.

I realized the issue was mounting pressure, but no matter what I tried, it's still the same.

Does anyone have any idea what I can do? The issue is, AFAIK, that no one has tried that with a 9070 XT yet, or maybe not with my model.

I have been trying to fix this for hours today and gave up for now, as I will be away from now until Saturday night.

[strange13930]

5 hours ago, Ilan Yakov said:

Hello!

 

I got a SAPPHIRE 9070 XT PURE a few weeks ago and finally decided to change the thermal pads for the VRAM and VRM after the VRAM got to more than 90C during use.

My friend has a similar model - SAPPHIRE PULSE, and he didn't have this issue with temps, so I decided to do it.

There is no information on the pad height necessary for this model, but after a quick chat with ChatGPT, I got 1.5mm and 2mm pads. 1.5mm for the VRAM and 2mm for VRMs. The size seems to fit the stock ones, so it seems to check out.

After I changed the pads, the GPU hotspot got up to more than 90C and the memory temp didn't get that much cooler. The hotspot was around 83C before.

I realized the issue was mounting pressure, but no matter what I tried, it's still the same.

Does anyone have any idea what I can do? The issue is, AFAIK, that no one has tried that with a 9070 XT yet, or maybe not with my model.

I have been trying to fix this for hours today and gave up for now, as I will be away from now until Saturday night.

With being that new and over heating you should have rma the Gpu.

[Ilan Yakov]

20 hours ago, strange13930 said:

With being that new and over heating you should have rma the Gpu.

I thought about doing that. However it technically wasn't overheating

Some would say it was doing completely fine.

I like to tinker and do this stuff myself. I replaced my 3090's pads successfully so I thought it will be as easy...

Apparently all I need is better mounting pressure which I don't know how to get without modifying the GPU's cooler. Something that I don't want to do.

[Mihle]

Maybe its the wrong thickness pads?

[Ilan Yakov]

1 hour ago, Mihle said:

Maybe its the wrong thickness pads?

I also considered that.

So I removed the pads completely. Yet still, even without them, there is not enough pressure. I can see that the thermal paste barely gets squished on the GPU die.

When I opened the GPU for the first time, there seemed to be plenty of pressure, and the stock thermal paste application seemed to be excellent with very good pressure. I have no idea what I'm missing. I tightened the screws as much as I could.

The hotspot can get to up to 110C while the core is sitting at less than 60C .