Changes in video card thermal compound
Changes in video card thermal compound
Hi.
This isn't a question, but more guidance for everyone.
I'm using an EVGA 1070 OC and noticed my card consistently reaches around 82 degrees when playing games. One day I experimented with thermals and overclocking via MSI afterburner. It turned out my card never exceeded 82°C because it's already capped at that level. I set the fan to max 92 and then increased it further without affecting memory or speed settings. However, during intense benchmarks I still hit the thermal limit again. So the only safe choice for overclocking is to set the fan speed to its maximum, even though it makes the PC and card very noisy.
I considered replacing the original thermal paste with liquid metal:
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=...1573853076
But I thought it wise to watch some YouTube tutorials before doing it, so I learned how to apply the paste correctly and avoid mistakes from others.
After trying it, my PC stopped turning on completely. I almost had a heart attack.
Later, after about 15 minutes, I regained composure. I realized this would be a serious troubleshooting step for my PC. First, I reset the CMOS or removed the battery to reset settings. Once that was done, everything worked properly. But the biggest surprise was how much more performance I achieved: I added 144 MHz and reached 2180mhz on boost, and increased memory by 350 MHz. Running benchmarks with the original fan speed still kept me at a max of 72°C. I managed a roughly 30°C improvement—possibly even better.
That’s a huge difference.
My advice to any gamer or PC enthusiast is to definitely switch to a new thermal compound and fully unlock your hardware performance.
Hope this helps anyone. Just be brave.