Hey all! I've been dealing with an overheating issue on my 3060ti (8GB OC Eagle with 3 fans), where it used to hit temps as high as 88°C. To address this, I've been using a heavy undervolt strategy while waiting for a new GPU. My brother suggested I change the thermal pads, so I ordered the Honeywell PTM7950, which is 0.25mm thick. I saw mixed opinions about thickness, with a lot of people saying to avoid 1mm ones, but I went with the 0.25mm anyway. I only swapped out the thermal pad on the GPU core, but now I'm seeing even worse temps. While I could get around 70-71°C with some undervolting before, it's now jumping straight to 84-88°C. Help would be greatly appreciated! Sorry for any grammar mistakes; English isn't my first language. Thanks!
3 Answers
Also, just to clarify, the PTM7950 is more of a phase change material than a traditional pad. When heated, it turns liquid, which helps with cooling. People often mislabel it as a thermal pad, so don't worry too much if you read conflicting info. The usual thickness for GPUs is around 0.2mm to 0.25mm, which is perfect for cooling with that material!
Did you happen to remove the plastic from both sides of the PTM7950? It often comes with that protective layer, and forgetting to take it off could definitely lead to overheating issues. Just a heads up to double-check that!
Oh no, I think my brother didn't remove it! I’ll check right away. Thanks for pointing that out, I really appreciate it!
Haha, no worries! Just make sure you look for that foil! Good luck!
It sounds like you're running into some common issues with GPU thermal pads. If your temperatures are worse now, it could be because the old thermal paste wasn't completely removed, or you might have forgotten to take off the protective plastic from the PTM7950. That stuff is crucial! If your VRAM temps are also high, consider replacing the thermal pads around the GPU too, as those can dry out over time.
That makes sense! I wasn't fully sure about the phase-change part. Thanks for explaining! I hope this helps lower my temps!