Hey everyone! I've been battling with overheating issues on my RTX 3070 for quite a while now. The fans go crazy when I'm gaming, and eventually, the PC crashes. For a quick fix, I've been lowering the power limit in the Nvidia settings, which worked for some time, but now it crashes even if I play older games.
Recently, I decided to repaste the GPU thinking it might help. I've noticed a slight improvement, but it's still not enough. Previously, during the Heaven benchmark, the PC would crash after just a few seconds without underclocking the GPU. After repasting, I can run it for about a minute, but the fans are still really loud and it crashes after that. GPU-Z shows around 80% usage, with a hotspot hitting 105°C and the GPU temperature around 84°C before the crash.
I reopened the card after repasting, and the thermal paste looks even. There isn't much dust, and the thermal pads look to be in place. I'm unsure if they might be out of position or if there's something else wrong. Is there anything else I can do, or should I just get rid of this graphics card?
3 Answers
Man, sounds like that GPU is really struggling. Those temps are way too high! It could be an issue with the thermal pad thickness or how the heatsink is making contact. Don't toss it just yet—it might still be salvageable! You could try checking the mounting screws for proper torque. If everything looks good, consider using a cheap AIO cooler for the GPU core and an extra fan for the VRMs.
Have you looked into your case airflow? Sometimes, just stripping the front and side panels off can help things cool down. If you’ve been testing with the case open and still having issues, then maybe it's not just airflow.
I appreciate the suggestion, but I've actually left the case open while testing, and it still overheated. So I think it might be something else.
Sounds like you might have a contact issue between the GPU die and the heatsink. If the screws are rusted and one was stuck, perhaps you're not getting enough pressure on the die anymore. You could try using some zip ties to secure a cheaper AIO cooler if you're feeling adventurous!
Great idea! I might just give that a shot. Who knew a little creative engineering could save my GPU!
That's a solid point! I didn't even think about the screws being a potential issue. I'll check the torque on those and see if that makes a difference.