Gigabyte RTX 3070 Owner Discovers Protective Film Left On Thermal Pads After Five Years
forImagine being the owner of a Gigabyte RTX 3070. Now, imagine having the card’s temperature spiking, hitting temperatures of 80°C on the GPU core and hotspots at 105°C. That’s what one Redditor experienced with their GPU for five years. The Forgotten “Protector” According to buczi94, the following situation prompted them to disassemble the RTX 3070’s […] The post Gigabyte RTX 3070 Owner…
A Redditor's Gigabyte RTX 3070 experienced temperature spikes, reaching 80°C on the GPU core and 105°C on hotspots after five years of use. Upon disassembling the card to clean and replace thermal paste, the user discovered a factory protective film still covering the VRM thermal pads. This protective film, commonly found on other components like CPU coolers, was still attached to the thermal pads.
After removing the film and applying fresh thermal paste, the user noticed a significant improvement in performance, with the peak GPU temperature dropping by 15°C and hotspot temperature reducing by 30°C. The GPU completed three hours of FurMark and OCCT testing without any errors, except for a temporary black screen during a cold boot.
When contacting Gigabyte about the issue, the user learned that the warranty had expired and that the company would not provide a replacement or compensation, as the card had been opened by the user and was not covered by the manufacturer's warranty. While the user could have faced a more severe issue, the presence of the protective film highlights a potential factory assembly defect that should warrant some form of compensation.
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