Should I repaste my 2070 Super?

[KrazedOmega]

I have a MSI Gaming X RTX 2070 Super that I purchased new back in 2019 that has always ran in the high 70's to low 80's. It's not a dust or airflow issue because it's been like this since day one and it's in a well ventilated case.

The review of the card from here at TechPowerUp (although not an apples to apples comparison) shows the max temps at 71C.

My only real concern in trying to repaste the card is the thermal pads. I haven't dealt with any in the past and I don't have any replacements should I happen to damage one.

Is it worth it to give it a try?

 

[dgianstefani]

If you repaste you need to replace pads too.

Thermal Grizzly and Gelid have good options.

 

[eidairaman1]

Check clearances using a feeler gauge to know what thickness is required. Also the washer trick might help too

 

[Veseleil]

Yes, you should repaste and repad the card. Use high quality paste and pads and it will make a world of diference in temps.
And please if you decide to do so, check out and contribute to the GPU thermal pads thread as well. Thanks.

 

[KrazedOmega]

Thanks for the replies.

I was hoping I could get away with not replacing the pads.

If the information from a quick Google search about the pad thickness is accurate they range between .75mm and 3mm. Although the ones on the main heatsink are 1mm, 1.25mm, and 1.5mm. Unless I'm mistaken the heatsink can be removed without removing the backplate or the separate heatsink that's covering the memory, so those pads could be left alone for now.

It's not that I don't want to change them, it's just more time and an additional cost.

What are my chances of not destroying these pads by carefully removing the heatsink?

 

[P4-630]

What are my chances of not destroying these pads by carefully removing the heatsink?

Some pads may tear when you get the heatsink off..

 

[dgianstefani]

If cost is the concern, don't bother. Your temperatures are fine.

Low temperatures are the domain of enthusiasts, who can afford the ten bucks for new pads.

 

[Veseleil]

not destroying these pads by carefully removing the heatsink

It doesn't work that way. Some of them, and especially the thin ones (and from my perspective, everything below 2mm is thin) will be torn.
You can try to make it less prone to damage by heating up the card to maximum by some tools like Furmark, and be quick with the unmounting and the rest. The other one is to use a heat gun or a hair dryer.
Still, your best bet is to replace them with a higher quality ones, the stock pads are usually a POS quality.

 

[64K]

@KrazedOmega Have you tried setting a more aggressive fan curve using Afterburner? I've run a lot of cards in my time and I've never needed to repaste a GPU. In fact I'm running a MSI 2070 Super right now and it never gets that hot.

 

[Veseleil]

If cost is the concern, don't bother. Your temperatures are fine.

Low temperatures are the domain of enthusiasts, who can afford the ten bucks for new pads.

Nice one.

I like living on the edge.

 

[eidairaman1]

@KrazedOmega Have you tried setting a more aggressive fan curve using Afterburner? I've run a lot of cards in my time and I've never needed to repaste a GPU. In fact I'm running a MSI 2070 Super right now and it never gets that hot.

Yeah it's strange I never had to unless if I was changing heatsinks

 

[Vya Domus]

If the information from a quick Google search about the pad thickness is accurate they range between .75mm and 3mm. Although the ones on the main heatsink are 1mm, 1.25mm, and 1.5mm. Unless I'm mistaken the heatsink can be removed without removing the backplate or the separate heatsink that's covering the memory, so those pads could be left alone for now.

It's not actually necessary to change the pads unless they're completely destroyed, you can just repaste it, it's fine.

 

[Lei]

@KrazedOmega
I would change, if you do it carefully, you won't tear the pads and they can be reused.
Thermal paste even if your temps are not too high, it's a good start to learn how to apply new paste.

I mean come on, you will put the paste or you'll never do, why not today.

An amateur usually puts more paste than it's necessary. Anyway, less is more.
I like thermalright TF7 and I highly dislike grizzly

I have no problem with Germans or @dgianstefani , but grizzly is too wet for my taste (he's talking about pads though)
You can explore and fall in love with whatever pleases you.
It's a shame to be alive and not have applied thermal paste ever imo
Whether necessary or not, you must start before death meets you. Because afterlife is disputed and highly unlikely

It itches you to repaste, just do it. Curiously overdose.
It's better to lose playing badly than to lose as a coward - Ronaldo
You'll regret what you didn't try more than what you tried - Mark Twain

 

[Lew Zealand]

Are you sure the source of the temps aren't a case airflow problem?

I have a Pulse 5600XT (has an overkill cooler) that runs under 60C in an external eGPU case (ridiculously good airflow), 65C in a case with reasonable airflow, and over 77C in a very restricted case. This may not be your problem as I see your GPU Hotspot temp is 25C above your edge temp, which suggests a cooler contact or thermal density problem, but I don't have a Turing GPU to compare that to.

 

[P4-630]

but I don't have a Turing GPU to compare that to.

My MSI 2070 Super Gaming X Trio runs at around 62C~ when gaming with a 10 degrees higher hotspot, ok mine has 3 fans though.

Never took off the heatsink, obviously not needed since my temps are still in check....
And the airflow seems good through my case.

 

[Lei]

What are my chances of not destroying these pads by carefully removing the heatsink?

500%

you can do that 5 times in a row without harming them.

 

[KrazedOmega]

If cost is the concern, don't bother. Your temperatures are fine.

Low temperatures are the domain of enthusiasts, who can afford the ten bucks for new pads.

It was never my intent to achieve enthusiast levels of performance. My only goal was to hopefully repaste the GPU to bring the temps down to what multiple sources say they're supposed to be close to.

The two brands of pads that you recommended are barely available at a decent price. There was only one type that looks to be available without insane shipping costs or high exchange rates. I found some other brands that I'll have to look into.

@KrazedOmega[/USER] Have you tried setting a more aggressive fan curve using Afterburner? I've run a lot of cards in my time and I've never needed to repaste a GPU. In fact I'm running a MSI 2070 Super right now and it never gets that hot.

I did try a higher RPM at one point but it didn't seem to help much. Maybe one degree or so. The minimal improvement didn't justify the increase in noise levels.

Are you sure the source of the temps aren't a case airflow problem?

I have a Pulse 5600XT (has an overkill cooler) that runs under 60C in an external eGPU case (ridiculously good airflow), 65C in a case with reasonable airflow, and over 77C in a very restricted case. This may not be your problem as I see your GPU Hotspot temp is 25C above your edge temp, which suggests a cooler contact or thermal density problem, but I don't have a Turing GPU to compare that to.

I'm currently using a Phanteks Eclipse P500A with three 140mm intake and three 140mm exhaust. Previous to that I had a Fractal Design Meshify C with two 140mm intake and one 120mm exhaust. Temps were the same with both cases, so I doubt adequate airflow is the problem.

 

[Lei]

@KrazedOmega
It's not good that your hot spot is 105° and things can get worse in August.

 

[Frick]

Sure. I repasted and my temps dropped like 20C (93C/103 hotspot load to 73C/<90C hotspot). Kept the pads even though they ripped though, didn't even thing about replacing them tbh, but I did line them up so they covered the chips better.

 

[P4-630]

My MSI 2070 Super Gaming X Trio runs at around 62C~ when gaming with a 10 degrees higher hotspot

I wasn't all correct... My GPU hotspot gets about 80C while gaming.

 

[dgianstefani]

I wasn't all correct... My GPU hotspot gets about 80C while gaming.

View attachment 295018

That's fine and completely normal for an air cooled card.

Honestly, unless you're actually thermal throttling, which the OP is not, I don't see much point in replacing pads/paste on anything other than a xx80/90 tier card, or if you are moving to a waterblock.

 

[P4-630]

That's fine and completely normal for an air cooled card.

I think so, I'm in no need of repasting.

 

[Udyr]

My only goal was to hopefully repaste the GPU to bring the temps down to what multiple sources say they're supposed to be close to.

Unfortunately, unless you have the exact same conditions of those sources, like some commercials say: "your experience may vary".

My 1070ti has been with me for 5 years and I haven't done any in-deep maintenance, except for the regular dust off when needed. Temps with a +/- 10C variance depending on the season and dust conditions.

 

[KrazedOmega]

So I went ahead and did a repaste. Dissembled the card with only one small section of a thermal pad that wanted to stay attached to the VRM. Carefully detached it without any of the other pads moving.

The stock thermal paste wasn't in horrible condition. What was left on the core and the heatsink still had good consistency. The paste that had squeezed out on the sides of the core was a bit dry and stretched like warm bubble gum when removed.

I did a run of Heaven Benchmark before and after to record the changes. Let the computer idle for at least 30 minutes before each run. 15 minute run for each test with the fans set at 75%.

Stock paste:

• 25°C Ambient Temp
• 79°C Core Temp
• 104°C Hot Spot
• 1905 MHz Core Frequency

Repaste with Arctic MX-6:

• 24°C Ambient Temp
• 58°C Core Temp
• 69°C Hot Spot
• 1965 MHz Core Frequency

20° temperature drop accounting for the difference in ambient and 34° less on the hot spot!!! I was hoping for maybe 5 less, 10 at most.

I really wish I had done this as soon as the the warranty expired.

I played a game for an hour or so to compare the results with the image in my original post.

Stock paste:

• 80°C Core Temp
• 105.5° Hot Spot

Repaste:

• 69°C Core Temp
• 80.8°C Hot Spot

Fans on auto were running around 700 RPM slower and I wasn't hitting the Temperature Limit.

I'd say this was a huge success!

 

[Lei]

I'd say this was a huge success!

Cool, Now I should get one more downvote