Will I benefit from changing the thermal pad?

[mclaren85]

I have an MSI Suprim x RTX 3080 model GPU. In order to prevent throttling in some demanding games, I wanted to lower the memory temperature values (if possible). The Vrams are running at 85 degrees of celsius.
But my question is, since this type of GPU is the flagship of MSI (suprim is the most expensive gpu of MSI), will I get considerable benefit in changing the pads? Or the stock pads are already the best in the market? Does it worth for but for my time and cost?
I'm planing to buy Thermal grizzly minus pad:

Here how the stock pads are look like:

 

[Macro Device]

I don't think you'll win more than 5 degrees. Let the fans blow harder and relax, 85 isn't gonna destroy it before your GPU grows obsolete.

 

[mclaren85]

I don't think you'll win more than 5 degrees. Let the fans blow harder and relax, 85 isn't gonna destroy it before your GPU grows obsolete.

But the pads has leaked tons of oil..

 

[Prime2515102]

I don't think that squeeze-out will effect performance. If anything, pads will get better over time as they 'melt' around their target.

 

[Ruru]

We talked about this on your other thread and I'll still say the same, 85C is totally fine with GDDR6X. Even ~100C is in specs (like with 3090 FE).

Also the stock pads look totally fine, I wouldn't change those.

 

[redeye]

most important is the thermal paste on the GPU, second important are the thermal pads on the ram, third important are the ones on the power circuitry…

what speed to you have the fan at?. is it full speed. if it’s 85 at full speed fan, you’re gonna need to water cool it.

i prefer to keep gpu temp below 60. was able to do that on air with the case side removed and fan at 100%.(speedway stress test, 450 watts) fans too loud,(as in dangerous to your mental health loud ha ha) but the temps were 60gpu. if i remember correctly…

 

[mclaren85]

most important is the thermal paste on the GPU, second important are the thermal pads on the ram, third important are the ones on the power circuitry…

what speed to you have the fan at?. is it full speed. if it’s 85 at full speed fan, you’re gonna need to water cool it.

i prefer to keep gpu temp below 60. was able to do that on air with the case side removed and fan at 100%.(speedway stress test, 450 watts) fans too loud,(as in dangerous to your mental health loud ha ha) but the temps were 60gpu. if i remember correctly…

I've just changed gpu thermal interface with phase changed material (thermalright helios pad). So far so good.
At full speed (2300 rpm) , and at full power, and only in demanding games, my vrams reach up to 85C. My gpu die is always below 70C though.

 

[mclaren85]

I don't think you'll win more than 5 degrees. Let the fans blow harder and relax, 85 isn't gonna destroy it before your GPU grows obsolete.

I thought stock tims are bad generally

 

[Cowboystrekk]

Smart choice getting pcm instead of regular paste

 

[mclaren85]

Smart choice getting pcm instead of regular paste

they is no pcm exist which has 2mm of thickness

 

[Chrispy_]

they is no pcm exist which has 2mm of thickness

PCM is for the GPU die. The memory and VRM pads are fine as long as they've not dried out.

Thermal pads aren't rocket science, they're incredibly basic porous silicone-rubber sponges saturated in silicone grease or viscous silicone oils to transfer the heat. It's normal for a bit of silicone grease to seep out as it's not electrically conductive. Thermal pads aren't for high thermal loads and only handle a couple of Watts each so there really isn't any point in changing pads unless they're damaged. The difference between the best new pad and the worst new pad on the market is likely so small that it's hard to measure, because we're talking about tiny fractions of a Watt between pads.

If there's a massive amount of oily ooze coming out of your thermal pads, then they're probably getting squeezed too hard and you should check your mounting is correct. 2mm pads will have quite a lot of flex in them, so there's likely to be a fair amount of oil in them that's potentially squeezed out if the cooler is overtightened.

 

[mclaren85]

PCM is for the GPU die. The memory and VRM pads are fine as long as they've not dried out.

Thermal pads aren't rocket science, they're incredibly basic porous silicone-rubber sponges saturated in silicone grease or viscous silicone oils to transfer the heat. It's normal for a bit of silicone grease to seep out as it's not electrically conductive. Thermal pads aren't for high thermal loads and only handle a couple of Watts each so there really isn't any point in changing pads unless they're damaged. The difference between the best new pad and the worst new pad on the market is likely so small that it's hard to measure, because we're talking about tiny fractions of a Watt between pads.

If there's a massive amount of oily ooze coming out of your thermal pads, then they're probably getting squeezed too hard and you should check your mounting is correct. 2mm pads will have quite a lot of flex in them, so there's likely to be a fair amount of oil in them that's potentially squeezed out if the cooler is overtightened.

What a beautiful explanation. Thank you.
And I understand that thermal pad technology has lagged behind thermal grease technology.

 

[Cowboystrekk]

they is no pcm exist which has 2mm of thickness

I talked about gpu, not vram

 

[inquisitor1]

I change pads once a year and clean the gpu and reapply paste twice a year. its crazy dusty and I prefer to keep my gear tip top.

if the case is closed then remove the door. you might consider doing the pads around may before summer. you could probably get it down a few degrees. see if the cooler is filled with dust. if you have a mini blower, then use that to clean that out. just hold on to the fans as the blower spins the fans at crazy speed. I also use a makeup brush to carefully clean out dust.

 

[AleXXX666]

I don't think you'll win more than 5 degrees. Let the fans blow harder and relax, 85 isn't gonna destroy it before your GPU grows obsolete.

RTX 3080. Obsolete.

 

[mclaren85]

I change pads once a year and clean the gpu and reapply paste twice a year. its crazy dusty and I prefer to keep my gear tip top.

if the case is closed then remove the door. you might consider doing the pads around may before summer. you could probably get it down a few degrees. see if the cooler is filled with dust. if you have a mini blower, then use that to clean that out. just hold on to the fans as the blower spins the fans at crazy speed. I also use a makeup brush to carefully clean out dust.

Thanks for the tip, I blow air once in two weeks, so there would be hardly an dust particle.

RTX 3080. Obsolete.

dude, I can play any games at any settings

 

[Macro Device]

RTX 3080. Obsolete.

Similarly priced and tiered GTX 1080 is now an entry level card that can't play some games without DX11/DXVK tweaks, and even then, framerates and IQ aren't quite there. By 2030, maybe 32, the same will happen to 3080. And I'm pretty sure 3080 can physically survive for this long.

 

[Chrispy_]

What a beautiful explanation. Thank you.
And I understand that thermal pad technology has lagged behind thermal grease technology.

YW,

Also, it's not that thermal pad technology has lagged behind thermal grease technology, it's just that VRMs and VRAM don't need the same level of cooling so it's not cost-effective to machine the cooler's baseplate down to the exact height of the components and then fill the gap with expensive, premium-tier thermal grease.

The GDDR6X modules and VRM MOSFETs total more than 3x the area of the GA102 die, but they're outputting much less than half the heat. Using rough Watts/area math, the memory of a 3080 is about 10x easier to cool than the GPU die, and the VRMs are about 5x easier to cool.

Some oily rubber pads do the job just fine for just a few cents so there's no impetus to change.

 

[anonuser57]

It depends. If you can accurately measure the needed thickness and can find pads at that exact thickness, then as long as the new thermal pads are better than the originals you will get benefits. However if the replacement pads are slightly too thin you will get much worse cooling. If the pads are too thick and they are high performance ones then they will probably be hard and you will get worse mounting pressure somewhere. Your best option for replacing thermal pads are to go for the slightly too thick but also squishy pads but those tend to not perform as well as the harder pads.

 

[inquisitor1]

dude, I can play any games at any settings

3080 is still a very strong card. it would hold me off for at least 4 years. and paying thieving gpu prices today is not an option.

 

[mclaren85]

It depends. If you can accurately measure the needed thickness and can find pads at that exact thickness, then as long as the new thermal pads are better than the originals you will get benefits. However if the replacement pads are slightly too thin you will get much worse cooling. If the pads are too thick and they are high performance ones then they will probably be hard and you will get worse mounting pressure somewhere. Your best option for replacing thermal pads are to go for the slightly too thick but also squishy pads but those tend to not perform as well as the harder pads.

The replacement pads have the exact same thickness with the stock ones. I got the information from MSI itself. The question is however, would the new pads function more effectively or not.

YW,

Also, it's not that thermal pad technology has lagged behind thermal grease technology, it's just that VRMs and VRAM don't need the same level of cooling so it's not cost-effective to machine the cooler's baseplate down to the exact height of the components and then fill the gap with expensive, premium-tier thermal grease.

The GDDR6X modules and VRM MOSFETs total more than 3x the area of the GA102 die, but they're outputting much less than half the heat. Using rough Watts/area math, the memory of a 3080 is about 10x easier to cool than the GPU die, and the VRMs are about 5x easier to cool.

Some oily rubber pads do the job just fine for just a few cents so there's no impetus to change.

You're correct, the die consumes much of the total power and so dissipates the heat the most. It looks memory temps are not worrying but, still I want to increase its longevity.

But why I'm worried?

Because since I purchased this card, rarely like very very really I see checkerboard like squares on the desktop (never while gaming though) so I thought my card is more susceptible to vram failure in the near future.

 

[Chrispy_]

The replacement pads have the exact same thickness with the stock ones. I got the information from MSI itself. The question is however, would the new pads function more effectively or not.

only if the existing pads are damaged or dried out, otherwise they will function exactly the same.

New pads will likely just ooze more excess silicone oil over your PCB until they are at equilibrium again. It's messy but harmless.

 

[mclaren85]

only if the existing pads are damaged or dried out, otherwise they will function exactly the same.

New pads will likely just ooze more excess silicone oil over your PCB until they are at equilibrium again. It's messy but harmless.

I doesn't look they are damaged, but there is no way to know how much silicone lubricant (or liquid) has left inside the pads. Do every thermal pad work at same principle? Like the thermal energy are being conducted via liquid?

 

[Chrispy_]

Because since I purchased this card, rarely like very very really I see checkerboard like squares on the desktop (never while gaming though) so I thought my card is more susceptible to vram failure in the near future.

Checkerboard squares on the desktop can be a number of factors - bad cable, faulty port on the display, or faulty hardware on the graphics card.

Changing the thermal pads will barely affect the temperatures, and if your temperatures are okay then they are not the source of the checkerboard squares at all. The thing about VRAM and VRM cooling is that they're always going to be close to the temperature of the heatsink they're touching. If the GPU core is at 75C then the cooler's baseplate that the VRAM and VRMs are touching is also going to be hot.

I doesn't look they are damaged, but there is no way to know how much silicone lubricant (or liquid) has left inside the pads. Do every thermal pad work at same principle? Like the thermal energy are being conducted via liquid?

yes. The silicone rubber itself is not conductive, it's rubber which is a good insulator, not a good conductor. It's the grease or oil that's a decent conductor.

Look, if you're unsure and you already have the new pads, just replace them for peace of mind but don't expect major differences because your VRAM is already within temperature spec and the heat from the GPU die will heat up the baseplate that your VRAM and VRMs are cooled by anyway.