Too scorching to deal with Igor’s Lab investigated group suggestions that some house owners of GeForce RTX 40 sequence AIB playing cards are hitting hotspot temperatures of 100° C after just a few months of working inside acceptable ranges. GPU hotspot temperature refers back to the most temperature recorded in a selected space of a GPU, normally both on the GPU die itself or the voltage regulators (VRM).
Igor Wallossek performed his check utilizing the thermal paste from a model new Manli RTX 4080 Gallardo. Wallossek used the ASTM D5470-17 customary for conducting thermal conductivity and thermal resistance together with his thermal analyzer system, TIMA5. The thermal paste was examined at 60°C with varied thickness and pressures, to imitate variability in thermal paste utility and heatsink to GPU contact power.
The outcomes present that at very skinny layers, the thermal conductivity could be very aggressive with different thermal options, akin to Thermal Grizzly Paste X and Thermalright TF8. Nonetheless, as the appliance layer turns into thicker, the thermal conductivity worsens extra quickly in comparison with Thermal Grizzly Paste X. Additionally it is necessary to notice that Wallossek needed to apply considerably extra strain to realize the perfect thermal conductivity.
The Gallardo paste composition was analyzed below a microscope. Wallossek discovered that the paste’s oily texture didn’t maintain itself and dried relatively shortly. There have been giant particles of aluminum oxide (as much as 16 µm), which carry out thermally properly at first however trigger giant gaps within the paste matrix, permitting the oil and smaller particles to bleed out, inflicting the paste to dissolve and dry shortly.
Wallossek concluded the next concerning the paste’s composition: “Along with the huge portions of largely coarsely floor aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and loads of silicone oil (silicon, hydrogen, oxygen), we even have some finer zinc oxide (ZnO) as an affordable filler materials. I am unable to discover any carbon which may have steered a extra refined silicone (facet chains). So, it truly is simply the only oil.”
Homeowners who’re experiencing excessive temps on their GPUs may try to repair it by changing the thermal paste on their card. Nonetheless, this isn’t as straightforward as changing the paste in your CPU, because it requires a full teardown of the GPU board. It is not unimaginable, however it isn’t sensible for many.
It’s unconfirmed if this thermal paste examined is affecting solely higher-end Nvidia GPUs or if it spans all AIB GPU producers. It isn’t unusual for corporations to chop corners to extend margins on the expense of the shopper. It might be attention-grabbing to see further testing throughout a bigger vary of AIB playing cards from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel to find out if that is an exception or the norm.
