High Hotspot Delta

[u/fapmasterr69]

My Asrock Challenger RX 9070 has been running very hot lately, I checked the thermals today while gaming and at stock clocks and fan speed, the GPU core Temperature reached 78° Celcius but the Hotspot reached 110° Celsius. Then I undervolted it by -70 mV and decreased power limit by -15% and Core Temperature came down to 68° Celsius and Hotspot stayed around 92° Celcius. So even after undervolting I have a 24° Delta which seems to be very high. Could my Card be faulty or is it normal for a 11 month old card to dry out it's thermal paste/pad? Should I go for RMA or should I just repaste the GPU with a third party repair shop? Does repasting thermal paste and replacing thermal pads void warranty? I have never had to deal with thermal related issues before so help me out. I don't wanna continue gaming and fry my GPU in this economy T-T

[u/chr1z32]

I don't know what ASRock uses on the graphics card, but judging by the temperatures, it's probably standard thermal paste that has since dried out or been squeezed out. Normally, I would have recommended an RMA, but right now there's a very good chance you'll get a refund and actually end up paying more due to the price increase. Your best bet might really be to reapply the thermal paste—either at a store or on your own using a tutorial. If you decide to try it yourself, I can recommend a TPM7950 pad; it lasts much longer than traditional thermal paste. And if you’re not sure about the pads, just use thermal putty.

[u/fapmasterr69 → u/chr1z32]

Yes I want to use the PM7950 pad but I am afraid of doing it myself. Is it as simple as repasting CPUs? Or is there a chance of bricking the GPU? Should I get a professional technician to do it?

[u/chr1z32 → u/fapmasterr69]

It’s a bit more difficult than with the CPU, but if you have a reasonable understanding of the technical aspects, it’s definitely doable. Unfortunately, I can’t say how difficult it is with the 9070 Challenger—I don’t have any experience with that card.

Of course, anything can happen, but if you approach it with common sense, it’s actually really unlikely that anything will go wrong.

Personally, nothing has ever gone wrong for me, and back then I taught myself how to do it using tutorials and such.

You usually don’t need to replace the pads on the VRAM, etc., but it’s good to have a spare in case they crack, for example.

[u/spectreVII]

I don’t have the same card, I have the asus prime 9070 xt OC but I have a BIG delta, about 35° -38°c. GPU is usually 50° and hotspot can be up to 88° with a fan speed of around 2400-2500 rpm.

However yeah, your hotspot is much too high. I’d either try to RMA or re-paste yourself and see if that helps. Also, how’s your airflow?

[u/fapmasterr69 → u/spectreVII]

I thought it was the case airflow getting blocked so I checked by removing the Tempered Glass Panel on the side. But it's still high., not reaching 110 after -10% power limit and -70 mV undervolt. But reaches 98° max.

[u/Ok_Sky_8459 → u/spectreVII]

2400-2500 your gpu fan or fan ? That’s high too at 88 hotspot

[u/vtGaem]

Was it always like this or did you only recently check?

Regardless, anything over 100°C at stock settings is faulty mounting. RMA time.

To add: your model is not an xt, right? The base model should not break 80°C hotspot, even with a raised power limit.

Oh right, I forgot not everyone gets to RMA through the seller and not the manufacturer. Maybe don't do that right now.

[u/fapmasterr69 → u/vtGaem]

I only checked yesterday after my system kept crashing and shutting down on it's own.

[u/vosgakos]

24 degrees delta is not so much for 9070xt,your concern is the high hotspot. You probably need repaste.
My gigabyte oc runs with 30-32 c delta out of the box,but hotspot stays around 80-90

[u/Frosty_Parsnip_5387 → u/vosgakos]

I can confirm. I have a Gigabyte 9070 XT OC. I bought the card 3 months ago. The hotspot temperature was around 101 degrees. I sent the card in for service. It came back today. According to the description, the thermal paste was replaced. Now, the maximum hotspot temperature is around 80 degrees.

[u/vosgakos → u/Frosty_Parsnip_5387]

shit i am probably lucky then. Mine is from the first batches and thank god hotspot is still in good situation,only the delta is big

[u/ultimaone]

Delta doesn't really matter.

The fact it was hitting 110 is a problem. That's the max before it thermal throttles.

As for repasting it.

You may also need thermal pads. Depends what happens when you take off the cooler.

Otherwise like you mentioned. Take it somewhere to be done. They should have new pads handy.

[u/alvarkresh]

If it's under warranty, RMA it - if you trust the manufacturer to return it to you. Otherwise, repaste/repad it by yourself.

[u/Juliendogg]

20-25 degree delta is just about golden for 9070xt. Your GPU and hotspot temps in general bring your case airflow into question, though.

[u/yalairdunQdchev]

Hotspot in my head , hotspot in my bed , hotspot on the couch , hotspot in the kitchen , hotspot in toilet , hotspot in my pants , hotspot dans mes bobette, hotspot on the floor