It depends on the shape of the heatsink -- alot of them are imperfect, and the screws put imperfect pressure on the gpu, add to that some thermal expansion and contraction and there you go. So the pump out effect, even if they use PTM 7950 like on the 4090FE is a real thing. I was at 100C hotspot after a few months across 2 different applications. Then just went to kryosheet and never had an issue since then.
- But is that really *an issue*. Tens of Millions of GPUs have never had their heatsinks removed since they left the factory and they more or less work fine.
My 980Ti is a relic from a bygone era and it still trucks along just fine with ~80c temps in a cramped Silverstone Sugo SG-03 case and I've never once bothered to repaste it (to some extent because the used GPU market has been perpetually fucked since I got the idea in my head to try, and I don't want a paperweight in one hand and a $400 replacement in the other).
I've repasted plenty of GPUs over the years, pump out always seemed like much ado about not much, one of those marketing terms used to pitch the latest and greatest thermal pads or whatever.
This is not an indictment or attack against those who choose to repaste/apply pads, just an observation of my own.
