PC Graphics

[Sp33dYg2]

Recently changed the thermal paste as well as thermal pads on my RX 590. Temperatures were pretty high so i thought changing them seemed like a good idea. Everything went fine, base temp dropped to about 2-3 degrees until i ran a game. The clock speed went full speed and the temperature jumped from 52 to 88 degrees (literally) in 5 seconds, then the GPU shuts off. I will try changing pads again because the one before were 1mm and new ones i applied are 1.5 and it might cause not enough clearance, but my main question: Is this even possible the temperature increases this fast or maybe the sensor itself is faulty?

CPU: Ryzen 9 3900X
GPU: Rx 590 Fatboy
PSU: 550W Bronze certified 

Thanks in advance for any tips.

[tenzo23 · Accepted solution]

It seems like the thicker thermal pads aren't allowing good contact between the GPU and heatsink plate. I know .5mm doesn't sound like much difference, but pads also come in different densities and manufacturers take into account how much they compress so there are no gap issues.

You can try tightening the backplate screws, but if that doesn't help, go back with a new set of original thickness pads.

[andrew3408]

are you running the card at factory settings? or over clocked setting?i got the card down from yours rx 580 but i am running it in stock form not having any issues with over heating is your fans working when running the game?

[Sp33dYg2]

Gpu is on stock settings because the weird thing is, that when I change any of the options in Tuning tab, my entire screen just starts to flicker and show artifacts. Fans are spinning and yes the Zero RPM was turned on. This is probably the thickness of the new applied thermal pads, which is sad cause I was hoping this could fix my earlier issues but well, you can't have everything. 

Thanks a lot for any reply and I will update when the other pads are applied.

[Sp33dYg2]

So i changed the pads to the 1mm ones. Gpu heats up to 82 - 84 degrees, but no other problems for the time being. I'm considering buying Liquid metal and seeing if this could help anyhow. Is this a good idea, because i do have copper heatsink and i heard that people had some good results.

[tenzo23 · Accepted solution]

It seems like the thicker thermal pads aren't allowing good contact between the GPU and heatsink plate. I know .5mm doesn't sound like much difference, but pads also come in different densities and manufacturers take into account how much they compress so there are no gap issues.

You can try tightening the backplate screws, but if that doesn't help, go back with a new set of original thickness pads.

[sm00thpapa]

Change the pads to factory spec as now they are to high and the heatsink is not making correct pressure with the GPU. I seen this before many times. Just a suggestion. Good luck. 

[ThunderBeaver]

Check to see if the Zero RPM setting is on under your custom tuning settings in Adrenaline. 

Click Performance Tab then Click Tuning.

Next click the custom tab will be on far right.

On the right side you will see Fan Tuning enable/disable. Enable it.

Under that you will see Zero Fan RPM. Disable that.

Finally below that enable advanced fan control.

I don't know why but when Global Wattman was introduced so was this feature that by default keeps your GPU fans off. 

Honestly I would like to be rid of Global Wattman. Catalyst Control Center was extremely stable simple to use and allowed for detail control.

[Geforsikus_2021 · Accepted solution]

Most likely, because of the thick thermal pads, the GPU chip does not fit strongly enough to the cooling radiator, the thermal pads should be selected millimeter by millimeter, in rare cases if there is no necessary thickness, the thermal pad should be elastic, or put thermal paste on the GPU chip and assemble the video card and then disassemble the contact should be very good. Watch the video here, turn on the subtitles(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0mUpHZw_AE&t=910s )

[tenzo23]

What kind of thermal paste did you use?

I'm not familiar with Liquid metal, but I've always had great results with Arctic MX-4 and MX-5.

[Sp33dYg2]

I bought some Chinese one for 3 dollars. It looked fine and lowered the temps a few degrees comparing to the stock one, but that might be the case. When i get some more cash I'll probably buy something better. Sadly now I'm kinda broke and my college exams starts so I'm also time limited with making any changes to my setup (but it's mostly about the money). 

[tenzo23]

Heck, where do you live? I'm sure I have some Arctic or Zalman thermal paste blister packs I can mail you.

If you used that generic white paste like you said, that's probably the cause. Too much thermal resistance.

[Sp33dYg2]

That's very kind of you but don't worry, I live in Poland and I'm not super poor, It's just that living with this issue for almost a year rendered me pretty careless about this stuff and the matter of waiting a few more weeks doesn't mean much. It sometimes just irritates me when playing a game and the screen randomly goes black, then I have to reset my entire PC just to discover I died but that's it. I really appreciate your help, but the only thing left for me is to get the money and buy this paste you recommended.

Thank you all for the help. As i thought AMD community is awesome