I'm having some trouble with my secondary PC, which is primarily used by my wife. It's kinda old but functional for both gaming and testing. Recently, it started crashing when running demanding games or benchmarks—no blue screen, just sudden shutdowns or reboots. This all began while I was playing Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
Here's what I'm working with:
- NVIDIA MSI RTX 2080 Duke OC (7 years old, never repasted or repadded)
- Current PSU: Corsair RM650x (also about 7 years old)
- I plan to replace it with a Corsair RM850x (3 years old, higher quality, fully modular)
I want to swap in the RM850x first to see if the power delivery is the issue, especially since the RM650x might be failing with age. While I'm at it, I'm considering whether it's worth replacing the thermal pads and paste on the RTX 2080, given it hasn't been opened in all this time. The GPU needs to last at least another year to keep the wife happy! Should I go ahead and do the repadding and repasting, or just wait to see if changing the PSU fixes the crashes?
2 Answers
You should definitely check the GPU temps when it's under load. As for Ori, it’s not usually tough on a 2080, so that crash might be linked to power delivery. Running a monitoring tool could help pinpoint any other issues before you dive into replacing thermal pads and paste. If it turns out the PSU is weak, that might explain the sudden crashes.
You definitely want to check the thermal pads and paste on your RTX 2080 since it's seven years old! While some GPUs can last without issues, older cards often need maintenance, especially if they've never been opened. If it's been running okay temperature-wise, you might get by with just giving it a good dusting, but doing the repasting could help it last longer. If you're already swapping out the PSU, doing the pads would be a good idea while you have access to the card.
Thanks! I really just want to avoid tearing it apart more than necessary, but I guess it’ll be worth it in the long run.
Great suggestion! I’ll keep an eye on the temps and see where I stand after swapping the PSU.