I have a 3080 Founders Edition that I've had for about five years, and recently it's been experiencing some serious overheating issues. It jumps up to 83°C and the fans spin up to 4500 RPM right when I start up the main menu for a game called The Finals. Just a couple of months ago, everything was perfectly fine, with temps not exceeding 3000 RPM. After noticing the spikes, I decided to repad and reapply thermal paste, following a good guide specific to my GPU. The inside was pretty dirty and long overdue for maintenance, but I got everything cleaned up and figured it would solve the issue. Unfortunately, it still overheats in The Finals. I know that 83°C isn't dangerously high, but it's concerning that this change happened so suddenly without any substantial modifications on my part, aside from maybe rolling back some drivers. I'm really not sure what to do next and would appreciate any suggestions!
2 Answers
Have you considered switching to a more effective cooling solution? Some users recommend using PTM 7950 for GPU cooling—many say the thermal pastes generally used in GPUs just don’t cut it. If you try this, it might help lower the temp significantly!
It sounds like your thermal paste might not have been applied properly the first time, or it could be that it's just not effective anymore. Since your GPU is around 5 years old, it's normal for thermal paste to degrade and lose its effectiveness. I suggest giving it another go with a high-quality thermal paste like Thermal Grizzly. Also, make sure to check that your fans are working properly and that the airflow in your case is good. You shouldn't be hitting thermal throttling at 83°C, so something's likely off with either your paste or your cooling setup.
I just reapplied the thermal paste again using some quality brands like Gelid Extreme and MX4! I even did a Superposition benchmark and hit 90°C but the fans didn’t max out this time. I’m really confused about what’s going on.