I recently bought a refurbished PC from ACER and it wouldn't boot properly, so I removed the 5070ti graphics card. I found what looks like gunk on it, and I'm wondering if this is normal. Could anyone advise on what I should do in this situation? I'm also concerned because there was a little bit of the gunk on the motherboard too and there's a red light on the motherboard when I try to power it on.
3 Answers
Gigabyte is known for having thermal gel issues, so it's possible someone mishandled it during a previous repaste. If this is the case, you may want to return it since it sounds like you got a non-functional system.
From what I see, it seems like someone improperly replaced the thermal pads with paste, which isn't effective and just causes a mess. Since you purchased it from Acer, I wouldn’t invest more time into it. Definitely consider returning it as it’s not functioning.
That looks like thermal gel to me. If it’s a Gigabyte GPU, it might not be a serious issue, but it's best to check. Just keep an eye on the performance after cleaning it up. If you're worried, consider sending it back or filing a warranty claim.
Should I try wiping it off with an alcohol wipe or just let it be?