Gigabyte 3080 Thermal Pads are Garbage

Spartacus09 said:
Problem for alot of folks is the 30 series cards are already almost comically long, the powerlink puts it off the end of the board instead of behind it.
Even in the example above you couldnt fit a powerlink in that sliver of space, but the 180 degree connectors fit.
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Oh yeah, that makes sense. I always go for super, super deep cases.
 
Bought the nkomax 2mm Thermalright Thermal Pad from Amazon:
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Removed the old from backside of the EVGA 3090 XC3 Ultra and installed the new Thermal pads:
Remove.jpg NewPadsInstalled.jpg
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My 3090 vram Junction temperature is worst by about 2c. I kept the temperature at or below 100c using MSI Afterburned by locking the GPU frequency and memory speeds. Hashrate prior was around 90mh/s due to this and now to get 100c or less it is around 85mh/s. The original thermal pads made perfect contact and was aligned well with the memory modules etc. The new Thermal pads also makes good, not excessive contact with the backplate. Did not expect a worsening of performance here. Note the backplate has copper heat spreaders on it above. I also bought some heatsinks but due to how close the video card is to the air cooler, I could not install those.

Build.jpg
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Looks like I will be getting another Artic Freezer II 280, have one for another machine with a 3900x and it works really good. The above air cooler, NH-D15S barely cools sufficiently the 5800x when mining Monero, maintains less than 90c and that is about it. Plus how close it is to the backplate to the video card is probably not helping those backside 3090 memory modules. Once a better CPU cooler (water cooled), which I have sufficient space on the front side of the case, I should be able to install the heat sinks and get better airflow across the backplate.
 
^ That pad mod to the 3090 is a little perplexing, no offense. Doing only the back VRAM modules on a 3090, I'm not surprised TJ temp actually went up.

The backplate is not a heatsink, and most of the benefit from these 2mm pad swaps comes from doing the front VRAM modules since EVGA stock pads don't transfer heat as well as the thermalright pads.

I haven't needed to do a 3090 yet, but if that GPU were mine I would've swapped only front 2mm pads and tested, and then maybe done back modules with low expectations, and then only if I also had actual airflow across the backplate for it to even matter.

3090 is the wrong card for that particular case and CPU cooler setup while also trying to do memory OC intensive mining, and new pads can't perform miracles.
 
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Can you tell me what thermal pad did you use and how many for each. Just got Thermalright 1x1mm 1x2mm 1x3mm but they too small.
 
If you have a metal backplate (every 3080 but the MSI) it is, of course, a heatsink, if it makes contact with your card. Question is how much that matters.
 
Have an Aorus 3090 Master here, and after hearing about these issues with ram temps just recently myself I started paying more attention to my cards temps. After a decently long gaming session my memory temps were in the high 70's to around 80C. Just posting this in case anyone had the same card for comparison purposes.
 
DPI said:
^ That pad mod to the 3090 is a little perplexing, no offense. Doing only the back VRAM modules on a 3090, I'm not surprised TJ temp actually went up.

The backplate is not a heatsink, and most of the benefit from these 2mm pad swaps comes from doing the front VRAM modules since EVGA stock pads don't transfer heat as well as the thermalright pads.

I haven't needed to do a 3090 yet, but if that GPU were mine I would've swapped only front 2mm pads and tested, and then maybe done back modules with low expectations, and then only if I also had actual airflow across the backplate for it to even matter.

3090 is the wrong card for that particular case and CPU cooler setup while also trying to do memory OC intensive mining, and new pads can't perform miracles.
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Well the front side of the card has the cooler so my view is the hot vram is on the backside of the card. Anyways the EVGA pads were better than the ones I installed. It is more likely the original was 1.5mm pads while I put thicker ones, 2mm on, which is my thought or the rating of the pads is incorrect. Once I get the CPU water cooler, I will install the heatsinks on the backside for the vram and that will tell clearly if I need to do the front side of the card.
 
I was on the fence about water-cooling or buying the generic thermal pads, but Im buying them today.
Do I need to put pads on the backplate side as well?
Also what a good thermal paste to use?
 
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Bassman99 said:
I was on the fence about water-coo=ing or buying the generic thermal pads, but Im buying them today.
Do I need to put pads on the backplate side as well?
Also what a good thermal paste to use?
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Don't bother with backplate side. Just the VRAM pads 2.0mm, and a non-conductive paste for the core (Noctua NH-14). Watercooling not needed.

I now have two of those Gigabyte 3080 Eagles and they're both fantastic after re-pad. Theyre also way easier to take apart and put back together than other AIB brands of 3080s that require a lot of additional steps (TUF 3080 for example is a nightmare to take apart).
 
DPI said:
Don't bother with backplate side. Just the VRAM pads 2.0mm, and a non-conductive paste for the core (Noctua NH-14). Watercooling not needed.

I now have two of those Gigabyte 3080 Eagles and they're both fantastic after re-pad. Theyre also way easier to take apart and put back together than other AIB brands of 3080s that require a lot of additional steps (TUF 3080 for example is a nightmare to take apart).
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Definitely something to keep in mind. Some cards are insanely easy to take apart, only have 8 screws that are easy to get to. Others can be a true pita.
 
DPI said:
Don't bother with backplate side. Just the VRAM pads 2.0mm, and a non-conductive paste for the core (Noctua NH-14). Watercooling not needed.

I now have two of those Gigabyte 3080 Eagles and they're both fantastic after re-pad. Theyre also way easier to take apart and put back together than other AIB brands of 3080s that require a lot of additional steps (TUF 3080 for example is a nightmare to take apart).
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Pads ordered earlier, paste now.
Yeah it didnt look too bad, but my brain isnt as quick as it used to be. Ill take pics to refer back to on reassembly.

EDIT
I cant find that particular Noctua paste.
Is this one good?
https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NT-H1...mal+paste&qid=1619557546&s=electronics&sr=1-3
 
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After working with several more of these Gigabyte cards including the flagship Aorus 3090 Xtremes - that have the same white pads on the VRAM as the basemodel 3080s - it's become obvious why Gigabyte chose these pads: it's not because it was some oversight on their part to use "crap" pads. They were specifically chosen to limit the heat being dumped into block from the VRAM in order to preserve the core's thermal headroom. Particularly on a 3090, the amount of extra heat from VRAM that the core has to contend with if denser thermal pads are used can be significant (6-10C or more).

Gotta remember these GPUs were not designed for mining where VRAM OCd to high hell is the primary concern and the core is secondary. For most GPU applications, the core performance and therefore temp was the primary consideration.

Other AIBs have chosen slightly denser pads for their VRAM. Each company struck their own balance based on various factors. It is what it is.

At least we have the option to tilt the thermal balance one way or the other by changing the pads ourselves, and it only takes a few minutes.
 
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DPI said:
After working with several more of these Gigabyte cards including the flagship Aorus 3090 Xtremes - that have the same white pads on the VRAM as the basemodel 3080s - it's become obvious why Gigabyte chose these pads: it's not because it was some oversight on their part to use "crap" pads. They were specifically chosen to limit the heat being dumped into block from the VRAM in order to preserve the core's thermal headroom. Particularly on a 3090, the amount of extra heat from VRAM that the core has to contend with if denser thermal pads are used can be significant (6-10C or more).

Gotta remember these GPUs were not designed for mining where VRAM OCd to high hell is the primary concern and the core is secondary. For most GPU applications, the core performance and therefore temp was the primary consideration.

Other AIBs have chosen slightly denser pads for their VRAM. Each company struck their own balance based on various factors. It is what it is.

At least we have the option to tilt the thermal balance one way or the other by changing the pads ourselves, and it only takes a few minutes.
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Only can make the gpu HS so big. ESP as more and more want to use SFF cases.
They could offer a 4 slot card for enthusiasts though with enough HS to cool both properly.
The market isnt right for that right now though.

I still havent changed mine and looking at crap temps on 3080
 
I'm thinking longevity isn't so much a design bullet pt in light of current environment.

Would you want 30x0 mined on gpus living 3+ years at screwed up miner dump used prices pulling down the next few gens MSRP?

The gpus were designed for a narrow use case.

Why waste resources supporting scum bags essentially off roading a Prius?
 
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BassTek said:
I started mining on my Gigabyte 3080 Aorus Master in my off hours recently and noticed the fans would hit 100% almost instantly with memory temps at 110C. Gaming thermals were actually decent, 70% fan speed and ~65C on the core. I checked around and it seemed to be a common complaint with all versions of Gigabyte cards with most people adding 3mm thermal pads to the back (there are non on the back of the memory) and 1.5-2mm pads on the front.

I ordered some Thermalright 12.8W/mK pads off Amazon and did the swap tonight and it dropped temps on the memory by 22C!

Stock - 100% Fan, 110C Memory
New Pads - 70% Fan, 88C Memory

I can't believe how much of a difference it makes. It does raise the core temp though as now heat is actually getting through to the heatsink from the memory. I strongly recommend replacing and adding pads if you mine on a Gigabyte card, although check with local RMA policies before doing so.
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how much material did you have to buy? the $17 package seems like so little, do you need 2 of those or just 1?
 
See-Fu said:
how much material did you have to buy? the $17 package seems like so little, do you need 2 of those or just 1?
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I ended up using one pack of 3mm for the back and 1 pack of 1.5 mm for the front. 2mm on the front is probably safer though. You should have just enough if you don't make any mistakes.
 
BassTek said:
I ended up using one pack of 3mm for the back and 1 pack of 1.5 mm for the front. 2mm on the front is probably safer though. You should have just enough if you don't make any mistakes.
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Is the back necessary?
 
BassTek said:
Not really, some people said adding to the back with stock pads on front only dropped memory 1-2 degrees.
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Ill judge by the front pads difference then.
If I drop from 110 to 80 with front pads alone then I wont bother, but if it only drops to 90 then that 1-2 makes a bigger difference.
 
See-Fu said:
wow what a difference this makes. dropped 40c on the vram for me and the fans went from 100% to like 45%.
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Yeah its night and day difference.
I have he repadded 3080 in the garage and it runs +-30c cooler than it did previously in the house with the AC
 
I have a Aorus waterforce 3080 and the temps have been creeping up on the GPU itself for the past few weeks. It was up to +20C over the other card on the same cooling system....another gigabyte that I had re-padded and pasted from the start because it was so incredibly sucky. It works really well now. Anyway time to repaste I figured. So yesterday I tore it down and re-padded and repasted. Interesting on my card, all the pads look to be 0.5mm pads. I added pads to the back while I was at it, buttoned it up and fired it up again.

Now the GPU is still running hot and the RAM temps just sky rocket and are throttling. I have no clue what is going on. I am pretty sure I'm making contact everywhere. I can read nvidia in the thermal paste on the waterblock when I disassemble, so I knw I'm squished tight there. And I can see imprints on the pads. I truly am baffled.
 
I did the back pads on my friend's air cooled 3090FE using Fuji Poly pads. Temps did go down, but when he played this game "Control" (it really takes advantage of the card), he hit 92C. He does have a Vornado fan blowing on the side of his PC, side cover is obviously removed.

I also water blocked his 1st 3090FE using EK's water block using 1.5mm, 1mm, and 0.5mm Fujupoly pads on the front and back. Well, needless to say, the temps were amazing. He bought like $300+ of Fujipoly pads though. But if you can afford two 3090Fe's, what's $300?
 
kirbyrj said:
No. You'd be fine if you weren't mining.

Mining is just a convenient way to offset the cost of the card for a lot of people.
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Also don't forget this generation the consoles are so powerful and near parity with top end gaming PCs and only cost around 400-500, so the opportunity cost to not gaming on the PC is very low. When RTX 40 series/RX 7000 series comes out it will be a harder choice to make. If mining was a thing in 2005-2006 I probably would've done it and just game on a Xbox/PS3 or something.
 
applegrcoug said:
I have a Aorus waterforce 3080 and the temps have been creeping up on the GPU itself for the past few weeks. It was up to +20C over the other card on the same cooling system....another gigabyte that I had re-padded and pasted from the start because it was so incredibly sucky. It works really well now. Anyway time to repaste I figured. So yesterday I tore it down and re-padded and repasted. Interesting on my card, all the pads look to be 0.5mm pads. I added pads to the back while I was at it, buttoned it up and fired it up again.

Now the GPU is still running hot and the RAM temps just sky rocket and are throttling. I have no clue what is going on. I am pretty sure I'm making contact everywhere. I can read nvidia in the thermal paste on the waterblock when I disassemble, so I knw I'm squished tight there. And I can see imprints on the pads. I truly am baffled.
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I half way figured out my problem...

I was sort of using the wrong thickness of pads...maybe. I changed everything from 0.5mm to 1.0mm pads and the ram temps are now where they should be I think. BUUUUUT, now the GPU is way too hot. Probably because it isn't touching. Who designed this thing?
 
What pads would you recommend for an asus tuf 3090? It runs completely reasonable numbers while gaming and during daily use, but during the summer, I started noticing the mem temps approaching 105-110c after long mining sessions. I'm just looking to reign it back so that I don't have to max out my fans while mining just to keep the memory temps from cascading into hot lava.
 
oldmanbal said:
What pads would you recommend for an asus tuf 3090? It runs completely reasonable numbers while gaming and during daily use, but during the summer, I started noticing the mem temps approaching 105-110c after long mining sessions. I'm just looking to reign it back so that I don't have to max out my fans while mining just to keep the memory temps from cascading into hot lava.
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This may help:
https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/mmquqs/asus_tuf_3090_thermal_pad_replacement_and_deshroud/

I will be doing my Gigabyte 3080Ti Eagle this week, hopefully on Wednesday when the 2mm pads come in. I have an assortment already from 3mm down except for the 2mm which I need for the VRAM. I may or may not do the VRMs, depending upon if I tear them up or not and condition.

I use the different thickness sizes of these:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08Y6V5JK6?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

On my EVGA 3090 XC3, it took a lot, Hybrid cooler which has all new pads + backside VRAM using 3mm pads from above + Heat sinks on backplate + fan -> 110C throttling at less than 100mh/s to low 90s at 113mh/s (I can go up to 136mh/s, really stressing card/power) and still below 100c).
 
Oh yeah I spent 15 hours water blocking my friend's 3090FE. I had to find out exactly where to place the 1.5mm, 1.0, and 0.5mm Fujipoly pads. It wasn't easy. The front side was the easy part.
You can reuse the pads. Buy a plastic razer blade and carefully lift a corner of a pad and began a sweeping scraping motion underneath while pulling away gently. The pads will come off like new. Do not pull the pads off the card like they are stickers. They will rip in half, lose thickness, and you're fucked.

https://www.amazon.com/FOSHIO-Plastic-Scraper-Stickers-Adhesive/dp/B075L4VXC6
 
i dropped my vram temps by 15 degrees C and fan speed went from 100% to 70%
 
MooCow said:
I did the back pads on my friend's air cooled 3090FE using Fuji Poly pads. Temps did go down, but when he played this game "Control" (it really takes advantage of the card), he hit 92C. He does have a Vornado fan blowing on the side of his PC, side cover is obviously removed.

I also water blocked his 1st 3090FE using EK's water block using 1.5mm, 1mm, and 0.5mm Fujupoly pads on the front and back. Well, needless to say, the temps were amazing. He bought like $300+ of Fujipoly pads though. But if you can afford two 3090Fe's, what's $300?
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That's wayyyyyy too much imo.
 
noko said:
This may help:
https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/mmquqs/asus_tuf_3090_thermal_pad_replacement_and_deshroud/

I will be doing my Gigabyte 3080Ti Eagle this week, hopefully on Wednesday when the 2mm pads come in. I have an assortment already from 3mm down except for the 2mm which I need for the VRAM. I may or may not do the VRMs, depending upon if I tear them up or not and condition.

I use the different thickness sizes of these:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08Y6V5JK6?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

On my EVGA 3090 XC3, it took a lot, Hybrid cooler which has all new pads + backside VRAM using 3mm pads from above + Heat sinks on backplate + fan -> 110C throttling at less than 100mh/s to low 90s at 113mh/s (I can go up to 136mh/s, really stressing card/power) and still below 100c).
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You sure you can sustain 136 mh/s with no rejected shares/overheating? haven't heard of anyone going above like 125-128 mh/s for 3090s lol.
 
dthree said:
You sure you can sustain 136 mh/s with no rejected shares/overheating? haven't heard of anyone going above like 125-128 mh/s for 3090s lol.
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I have a 3080 that does like 107 under water and a 3090 at126, but admittedly haven't pushed the 3090 up like I did the 3080. Never seemed to have the time...the 3090 has a full cover waterblock. I bet I can squeeze more performance out of it especially now....my water is always cool these days.
 
My 3080 is fine but a buddy had success by connecting the PCB to the backplate and attaching a heatsink to the backplate. I did the same on my 5600XT as the card would crash when reaching 100c vram. Got it down to 80c.
 
dthree said:
You sure you can sustain 136 mh/s with no rejected shares/overheating? haven't heard of anyone going above like 125-128 mh/s for 3090s lol.
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Just retried and got up to 124mh/s, not 136mh/s pushing it further caused a crash. Either I was mistaken or something changed, looks more like I did not remember right.

Behavior with MSI AfterBurner seemed different, I could not lock the clock once I pushed the memory up past 1000mhz+. Once memory was set above that the GPU clock would go to around 1000mhz. In EVGA Precision I was able to keep the GPU clock up around 1400mhz-1500mhz. Memory temperatures never got above 92c but then I did not run it for that long.
 
legcramp said:
https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/t-global-technology/TG-PP10-1000/6204865

$190 1000g tub of thermal putty rated for 10W/m-k... in stock (5 left), the putty are reusable also since you can just squish them to size and reapply.

EVGA charges $9.99 for a 8g tube for reference https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=M047-10-000003
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I have some of that stuff. it works well...and i don't remember being $190 either. I got a little bottle, i want to say it was like $24.
 
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