One of the fans on my Gigabyte RTX 3070 Eagle started wobbling and making a lot of noise, so I replaced it and removed the original shroud. While the card was apart, I cleaned off the old thermal paste and applied new paste. All three fans are spinning and appear to be running in the correct direction.
Before the repair, I was seeing roughly 50–60°C in situations where the GPU was under moderate load. Now similar loads reach 70–80°C, and even idle temperatures seem slightly higher. The card is no longer making the old wobbling noise, but the fans run much faster because of the higher temperatures.
I have already disassembled the card again to check the paste coverage, replaced the paste a second time, and reassembled it, but the temperatures did not improve. The paste is several years old but still looks properly soft, and it is the same paste that worked when I replaced the original dried-out paste.
Could the paste have degraded despite still looking usable? Or is the heatsink possibly not making proper contact because the screws are too loose or too tight? I'm also wondering whether damaged or compressed thermal pads around the GPU die could be preventing good contact.
2 Answers
The first things I’d check are heatsink mounting pressure and thermal-pad thickness. If a pad was torn, shifted, or replaced with one that is too thick, it can hold the heatsink slightly away from the GPU die. Tighten the heatsink screws gradually in a cross pattern, and make sure every screw and spacer is back in its original position. The paste itself is less likely to be the problem if it still spreads normally, although old paste can eventually perform worse.
A replacement fan can still cause different temperatures even if it fits correctly. The blade shape, motor speed, and airflow pressure may not match the original, so it might move less air through the heatsink at the same reported RPM. Compare its speed and airflow with the original specifications if possible. Also make sure the card is being tested with the same case airflow, power limit, fan curve, clock speeds, and game settings as before; a higher GPU boost clock can easily account for part of the temperature increase.
The replacement fans look identical and were listed as compatible with this card, and I can feel air moving around the heatsink. The idle temperature is higher too, so I’m still leaning toward a contact or thermal-pad problem rather than just the fan curve.
All three fans are running and spinning in the correct direction. I’m starting to suspect the thermal pads may have been damaged or changed thickness when I took the card apart.