Thermal Pad Replacement - EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 Black Edition

[Brightonrock]

Hello,

For the past few months, I have been experiencing system instability - games will sometime close without error. While running under full load, I notice the following. See screenshot below.






I spent the morning doing research about "GPU Hot Spot" and found conflicting thoughts. Some folks argued the metric is worthless and all that matters is GPU Core and Memory Temps. Others argued a high enough hot spot temp could cause instability.

I was thinking of taking the card apart and making sure thermal pads have not deteriorated and to also check on thermal paste. I then researched which thermal pads to use by sending a message to EVGA. They simply told me the following and did not answer my question, "Hello, Hot Spot readings are not an indication of overheating. You must pay attention to the core temperature of the GPU die.

Regards,
EVGA"

Does anyone have any thoughts and\or know which thermal pads I should purchase if I want to replace them on my card?

Thanks for your time!

Brightonrock

 

[EarthDog]

I don't know offhand. Ask them again.. You can also buy varying sizes... 0.5mm, 1.0mm, 1.5mm should cover most gaps.

What power supply do you have? Maybe list the system specs (and create a signature so your hardware follows).

 

[Brightonrock]

I don't know offhand. Ask them again.. You can also buy varying sizes... 0.5mm, 1.0mm, 1.5mm should cover most gaps.

What power supply do you have? Maybe list the system specs (and create a signature so your hardware follows).

In the modern era, I have not removed a GPU Heatsink\Deal with thermal pads. I did ask them for a follow up but they have not responded yet. I added my rig to my signature, how could I have forgotten that!?!?!?!?

Thanks.

Brightonrock

 

[EarthDog]

PSU is plenty of wattage and good quality. So long as it isn't failing that shouldn't be the issue.

 

[Brightonrock]

Ya. I am chasing sporadic issues. I can turn on a benchmark\burn in like Furmark and not bump into any issues. I play games, often they simply close, no error, nothing in the event log. It's as if I hit Alt + F4. The instability made me check temps, which lead me down this path.

 

[EarthDog]

If you have a spare drive (of any sort), try a fresh OS install and see if that helps... (remember to disconnect/disable yours so Windows boot thing doesn't bork).

 

[Brightonrock]

Just as an FYI to anyone who cares, EVGA would not tell me the size of the thermal pads used on the RTX 2080 nor do they sell them.
I ended up installing Windows 11 - took the plunge. I must admit, thus far, I have liked it. It is snappy, looks nice, and has been stable.

 

[EarthDog]

That's surprising they won't share that information.............

Like I said, buy a couple of sizes (0.5/1.0/1.5mm pads) and you should be good.