My GPU hotspot has suddenly increased to a high level.
My GPU hotspot has suddenly increased to a high level.
Curious if there are any ideas or fixes for why your GPU is becoming a hotspot and overheating so much that it sounds like an alarm. I assembled my PC in 2021 and everything worked well until about a year ago, after which nothing has changed. The surrounding temperatures are normal, except for the GPU hotspot, which can reach up to 105°C during heavy games. It stays within safe limits during benchmarking but overheats when playing intense titles like Space Marine 2.
It generally happens when thermal paste fails*, or gpu sag causes uneven mounting pressure.
Just like the cpu + cpu cooler, there is a temperature ceiling where fan curves will be disregarded and fans run full speed - it's one of the thermal protections.
The typical solution is a repaste.
[The stock paste really seemed to fall off come the 30 series; it doesn't seem to hold up as long. The manufacturers don't appear to have changed it, but thermal density of the more recent dies has continued to go up...]
It differs for GPUs. The more fluid paste usually drains during hot and cold thermal changes. Almost anything can be applied to CPUs. NT-H2, Arctic MX4 or 6 are decent choices. Thermal Grizzly's Duronaut might also be suitable. I personally recommend NT-H2, since that's what I've used most recently.
It’s definitely achievable, though the temperature gap is usually around 10 to 15 degrees at most – often near 10. I’ve tracked GPU and CPU temps for years, and only significant variations appear in rare situations. Still, it’s wise to stay alert. A sensor malfunction might also be the cause. What monitoring tools are you using? Which game did you observe this in?
The issue has been resolved after repasting. The temperature gap between the GPU and hotspot was extremely high, often around 50-60°C, while the hotspot reached 105°C. The PC would then produce very loud noises. After repasting, the difference is now consistently within 10°C.
Want to wrap up this thread with more details about what happened? I experienced roughly two months of stable temperatures, but then suddenly the hotspot reached extreme heat again. Within a day, the GPU failed completely and stopped working. I swapped it out for a 9070 XT, and since then there have been no more problems.