My RTX 3070 idles at around 45°C, with a hotspot temperature near 55°C. However, while gaming, the hotspot climbs above 100°C and the fans become extremely loud. They repeatedly ramp up and slow down, making games difficult to enjoy because of the noise rather than poor performance.
This seems like it could indicate aging thermal paste or damaged thermal pads, but I'm unsure because the idle temperatures still look normal. The card is about five years old and hasn't been used for mining or unusually demanding workloads. For the past 18 months, though, I've regularly used it with a 57-inch 4K display, which puts it under fairly significant load during gaming.
I also recently experimented with a custom GPU fan curve using Fan Control. The temperature problem appeared a few weeks later, although restoring the original fan curve didn't resolve it.
Before I disassemble the card, are there other likely causes I should check? Would undervolting or improving the case airflow help, or is repasting—and possibly replacing the thermal pads—the sensible next step?
2 Answers
A hotspot over 100°C combined with sudden, loud fan behavior can be a sign that the cooler isn’t making ideal contact with the GPU die anymore. Repasting is a reasonable next step, but be careful with the thermal pads: different areas may use different thicknesses, and replacing them with the wrong size can make cooler contact worse. Photograph everything and record each pad’s location before removing them.
A 100°C-plus hotspot isn’t automatically abnormal on an RTX 3070, but a sudden change after years of normal operation is worth investigating. Before opening the card, check that the fans are spinning properly, clean out dust, verify case airflow, and monitor the GPU core-to-hotspot temperature difference. Undervolting can also reduce power consumption, heat, and fan noise without much performance loss.
The high hotspot only started recently, which is why I’m reluctant to assume it’s simply normal behavior. I’ll check the fans and airflow and try an undervolt, but if the temperatures remain the same I’ll proceed with the repaste.
That was my main concern. I’ve ordered replacement materials and plan to document the original pad placement carefully before taking the card apart. I’m hoping the existing pads can be preserved, but I’ll replace any that are damaged or no longer usable.