Thermal Pads Recommendations

[Leooooo1061]

So I have this Sapphire Nitro+ RX590 8G SE that I use for pretty light gaming and had only replaced the thermal paste once, about two year ago. It has been working pretty smoothly. However, recently I noticed the temps running really high (about 80˚C even in Minecraft), and sometimes even though I underclocked the memory it still artifacts and crashes the game. Adjusting the fan curves have next to no effect. Constant stutters in Forza Horizon 4 and FPS is almost always under 50. It also drops lower than a Mac in Minecraft with no mods whatsoever. I suspect it's got something to do with the thermal pads, because I can literally see them crumbling apart under the radiator, although they're pretty fine when I was replacing the thermal paste. I already bought new thermal paste and is planning to replace it when I have the time. However, I have literally no idea what type and what brand of thermal pads to choose. Any recommendations?

Or, maybe the issue is something with the memory itself? Or the core? I used to overclock the card with a 4x core frequency multiplier and set the memory frequency at 2200 when I first started playing Forza Horizon 4; could that have messed them up somehow?

I usually game on my Xbox, and my pc is just for homework and sometimes gaming when Mum takes away my controllers(I hide my games in an SSD under the printer so she don't know about it). However, it would be nice to have a graphic card that actually works and does not act like a heater. Any advice would be welcome.

 

[Macro Device]

Unless your VRAM goes 110+ it's not overheat causing you this headache, it's your GPU just gave up. This means buying a new one, RX 590 isn't worth repairing.

 

[Chrispy_]

Underclocking the memory doesn't reduce the core temperatures, and the memory modules get hot because they're driven by and physically connected to the core by copper (heat-conducting) traces.

The best bet for a factory an old, overclocked 590 is to try running it at standard RX480 speeds and a lower voltage.

In the Radeon driver's performance > tuning menu, set a manual tune and edit the Freq/voltage states.

You'll see something like this, I've scrubbed out the values because they're from a random Reddit post.

I would try the following values which should be very safe and stable for a working 570/580/590 Ellesmere GPU like yours.

• State 0 - 300MHz - 750mv
• State 1 - 600MHz - 850mv
• State 2 - 900MHz - 950mv
• State 3 - 1000MHz - 1025mv
• State 4 - 1100MHz - 1050mv
• State 5 - 1200MHz - 1050mv
• State 6 - 1225MHz - 1075mv
• State 7 - 1250MHz - 1075mv

That ought to reduce temperatures of the core and the memory. If an Ellesmere GPU like the 580/590 isn't happy at 1250MHz and 1075mv then it's probably physically dying and there's not much you can do to save it. I used to tune many RX480 and 580 cards and most of them only need 900-950mv at 1250MHz, but I'm making the assumption that your silicon is old and tired if it's been running its high-voltage, factory overclock for the last 6-7 years.

 

[Leooooo1061]

Underclocking the memory doesn't reduce the core temperatures, and the memory modules get hot because they're driven by and physically connected to the core by copper (heat-conducting) traces.

The best bet for a factory an old, overclocked 590 is to try running it at standard RX480 speeds and a lower voltage.

In the Radeon driver's performance > tuning menu, set a manual tune and edit the Freq/voltage states.

You'll see something like this, I've scrubbed out the values because they're from a random Reddit post.

View attachment 402158

I would try the following values which should be very safe and stable for a working 570/580/590 Ellesmere GPU like yours.

• State 0 - 300MHz - 750mv
• State 1 - 600MHz - 850mv
• State 2 - 900MHz - 950mv
• State 3 - 1000MHz - 1025mv
• State 4 - 1100MHz - 1050mv
• State 5 - 1200MHz - 1050mv
• State 6 - 1225MHz - 1075mv
• State 7 - 1250MHz - 1075mv

That ought to reduce temperatures of the core and the memory. If an Ellesmere GPU like the 580/590 isn't happy at 1250MHz and 1075mv then it's probably physically dying and there's not much you can do to save it. I used to tune many RX480 and 580 cards and most of them only need 900-950mv at 1250MHz, but I'm making the assumption that your silicon is old and tired if it's been running its high-voltage, factory overclock for the last 6-7 years.

Thanks a lot. Will definitely try that later.
Anyway, what graphic card would you guys suggest? The RX590 has certainly been struggling along lately, and I guess it's time to let it retire. It shouldn't be too powerful, but it should at least be able to run games like Forza Horizon 5 at 1440p with FPS higher than 60.

 

[Chrispy_]

what's your budget and what's your PSU?

1440p60 in games that are a few years old doesn't need too much right now, but given that you're running a 7-year-old card right now, you probably don't want to buy an 8GB graphics card since those are pretty short-term investments today and they're going to struggle for sure in the next few years (they already struggle in plenty of new games at 1440p unless you disable some of the graphics options).

 

[Leooooo1061]

what's your budget and what's your PSU?

1440p60 in games that are a few years old doesn't need too much right now, but given that you're running a 7-year-old card right now, you probably don't want to buy an 8GB graphics card since those are pretty short-term investments today and they're going to struggle for sure in the next few years (they already struggle in plenty of new games at 1440p unless you disable some of the graphics options).

I could upgrade my psu along with the graphic card since the current one is 650W and have a lot of messy cables. For budget, I guess anything around 250$ is fine, although I guess that's not a lot. However, I can also accept secondhand ones so hopefully that'll give me more options. I'm thinking about buying a secondhand 3060 or something but my cpu, mobo, psu, and a whole lot of other stuff needs to be replaced as well, which is way over the budget. Are there other cards that would hopefully deliver similar levels of performance while costing less than $270 max?

 

[Macro Device]

It's truly not a lot. I'd recommend 2060 Super or 2070 Super. If possible, 2080 Super. Focus on Super models because non-Supers sometimes have messy VRAM chips that can give up at any moment. In Supers, this problem was fixed, these are solid.
Also 6600 XT isn't that bad but where I live, these are terribly overpriced like anything AMD.

 

[Leooooo1061]

I guess I'll have to save up and stop buying games for a while then. Maybe if I manage to get a higher GPA I can get my parents to double my pocket money. It is lucky that I'm still in school.

 

[Chrispy_]

Used 3060 12GB seems like it would fit your budget. It's not an amazing GPU but it'll be a huge improvement on an RX590 if you do need to replace yours.

It's truly not a lot. I'd recommend 2060 Super or 2070 Super. If possible, 2080 Super. Focus on Super models because non-Supers sometimes have messy VRAM chips that can give up at any moment. In Supers, this problem was fixed, these are solid.
Also 6600 XT isn't that bad but where I live, these are terribly overpriced like anything AMD.

I'm not seeing any 20-series cards selling for sensible prices on Ebay in Europe or the US. Given that all of those are 8GB anyway, it probably makes more sense to just recommend the 8GB 5060 if it's available for $300. If you're going to have an 8GB card, you might as well get a brand new one that's fast, efficient, and supports the latest features - even if it means you need to turn down some settings because of the mere 8GB of VRAM.

Nothing new is available with more than 8GB for less than about $350 right now, even the Intel Arc B580 is selling for more than that wherever I look. The 9060XT is due out any minute now but I suspect that will also have a $350 MSRP and appear on shelves at $400.

 

[Macro Device]

I'm not seeing any 20-series cards selling for sensible prices on Ebay in Europe or the US

Welp. We're having 2070S for $200 in Russia:

Not exactly awesome but at least it's reasonable. 5060 is twice as expensive at the very least.