GIGABYTE AORUS RTX 5080 MASTER Starts Leaking Thermal Gel After Four Weeks of Light MMO Gaming

[T0@st]

An unlucky owner of a GIGABYTE AORUS GeForce RTX 5080 MASTER ICE 16 GB graphics card has reported a baffling instance of thermal gel leakage. A forum post—titled: "5080 oh my god thermal problem"—on the Quasar Zone BBS alerted the wider world to this bizarre fault. The South Korean MMORPG enthusiast described circumstances up until the point of critical liquefaction: "it's been exactly a month since I bought it. I use it for (Blizzard's) World of Warcraft. Two hours of use per day. I set up the card with a riser kit. Thermal (material) is crawling out?!" Early 2025 press coverage has largely focused on other types of unwanted high temperature events involving GeForce RTX 50-series cards, but the seeping out of "server-grade thermal conductive gel" compound is something new. As reported by several PC hardware news outlets, GIGABYTE has utilized fancy thermal conductive gel within flagship SKUs—instead of traditional/conventional thermal pads. This gel was placed over the card's VRAM and MOSFET sections; following fairly light usage (as described above) some of this material started to head down—getting ever closer to the unit's PCIe interface.

Assisted by the AORUS RTX 5080 MASTER ICE's vertical orientation, the (apparently) highly deformable, but non-fluid thermal gel was susceptible to the effects of gravity. JC Hyun System Co., Ltd.—GIGABYTE's official domestic importer (for South Korea)—weighed in with a separate bulletin: "we are aware of the thermal gel issue with the GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 50 series, which was first posted on Quasar Zone—(we) are currently discussing the thermal gel issue with GIGABYTE HQ and future customer service regulations. In addition, we sincerely apologize for the confusion caused to many customers who love and use GIGABYTE products due to inaccurate guidance provided to customers who received the products due to unclear customer service regulations regarding the issue that occurred this time. Lastly, when the manufacturer's customer service policy regarding this thermal gel issue is finalized, we will also forward the service policy to CS Innovation so that it can be processed smoothly in accordance with the service policy. We will also provide information through a separate post so that more customers can be aware of the information." As mentioned by Notebookcheck, GIGABYTE uses this special thermal gel solution on other highly expensive custom: "RTX 50-series cards like the GeForce RTX 5090 XTREME WATERFORCE 32G, RTX 5090 MASTER ICE, RTX 5070 Ti MASTER, and others."



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[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

QA/QC is failing world wide. It's stupid. So many companies cutting corners to do whatever it takes to get the product out the door faster. Shit like this costs them money in the long run. IDK why they just dont do it right the first time.

 

[wNotyarD]

Certified Gigabust moment. They can make incredibly good products (my motherboard proves that), but they also commit inexcusable blunders.

 

[TRIPTEX_CAN]

Vertical mounted? Not the first leaky vmount GPU I've seen.

 

[jonup]

In the words of Apple executives, "He is mounting it wrong"

 

[Chaitanya]

Things like this have accelarated since pandemic shortages, remember some AIB makers had forgot to remove plastic cover on thermal pads. Speaking of Gigabyte while motherboards have been fine but looking at issues around cracking PCBs and now leaking thermal Putty will avoid them like a plague.

 

[OneMoar]

and this is why we don't use PTM in production.

 

[GhostRyder]

This is probably more a problem with the way nVidia gets the samples out to board partners versus just a bad/cheap design. Its the reason EVGA got off the bandwagon and we see less innovation on the coolers from the third party people. They need to be given these test samples significantly longer in advanced to be able to work out the cooling solutions better.

 

[TRIPTEX_CAN]

and this is why we don't use PTM in production.

Thats not PTM though. Thats the thermal gel which is much more likelty to run when it get hot and mounted vertical. PTM doesnt run the 2 years I've been using it both vertical and horizontal.

 

[Event Horizon]

Prices keep going up while quality keeps going down. This is supposed to be a premium product. Who wants Gigglegloop seeping out of their card?

 

[YoRkFiElD]

Problem is the MMORPG/World of Warcraft. Never play such shits and no problems will happen.

 

[evernessince]

Just in time for all these people to find out that Gigabyte's warranty is now prorated. Gigabyte can choose to refund you only a portion of the original purchase price based on the remaining warranty.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Things like this have accelarated since pandemic shortages, remember some AIB makers had forgot to remove plastic cover on thermal pads. Speaking of Gigabyte while motherboards have been fine but looking at issues around cracking PCBs and now leaking thermal Putty will avoid them like a plague.

- Yep. I had figured this would happen during and post pandemic with companies shifting to lower quality parts and materials to work around supply chain issues, and then realizing dopamine addicted gamers will buy whatever trash you put in front of them for whatever price you want.

Why go back to the higher quality parts when you can sell lower quality parts for a higher price and pocket the extra margin?

Its been wild watching everything just get enshitified in almost real time for the last 5 years.

 

[N3utro]

I don't see too much where is the problem in these photos. Sure, the thermal compoud expanded a bit over the surface, but it looks like it still makes perfect contact with the area it is supposed to make interface with.

Looks less clean than stock card i guess, but if it was my card i wouldn't make a fuss about it

 

[freeagent]

I saw the forum post of this awhile ago.. I am not shocked. Corporations are experimenting in ways to increase profit.. rather than just making a good product the first time.. noo they have to come out with multiple revisions for everything they make.

 

[HairyLobsters]

Problem is the MMORPG/World of Warcraft. Never play such shits and no problems will happen.

You must hate fun.

 

[JustBenching]

You shouldnt be using this card vertically, it is what it is.

 

[katzi]

Problem is the MMORPG/World of Warcraft. Never play such shits and no problems will happen.

Is that you Asmongold?

Why do you even care?

 

[Hecate91]

I'm curious if this has anything to do with Nvidia 50 series cards being affected with parts on the PCB going over 100C, or Gigabyte is just cutting costs using low grade thermal putty.
I would go with the latter since Gigabyte has been having issues with their GPU's for a while.

 

[ThomasK]

I'm curious if this has anything to do with Nvidia 50 series cards being affected with parts on the PCB going over 100C, or Gigabyte is just cutting costs using low grade thermal putty.
I would go with the latter since Gigabyte has been having issues with their GPU's for a while.

My guess is that it could be both.

But I owned a Gigabyte RX 6700 XT in the past, which had its hotspot constantly running above 100°C. Had to wait for the warranty to expire, just to unscrew it and find out the thermal paste was poorly applied. Repasting it solved the issue.

Gigabyte's quality control is appalling.

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

Problem is the MMORPG/World of Warcraft. Never play such shits and no problems will happen.

How unenlightening.

 

[remekra]

Can confirm it happens:

I have mine mounted in Lian Li SUP01 case, so GPU is basically standing that's why it drips into the direction of ports. So far it does not overheat on memory modules. I will hold off sending it to Gigabyte service as I don't have good memories of them, so until it overheats or stops working I will use it. But if you have a vertical case or stand then be aware.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

Damn, the whole gel blobs are just sliding down and leaving the components bare.



(cropped from the above photo posted by remekra)

This is a major disaster, Gigabyte will need to recall all the cards they sold with this TIM application.

 

[remekra]

Damn, the whole gel blobs are just sliding down and leaving the components bare.

View attachment 397754

(cropped from the above photo posted by remekra)

This is a major disaster, Gigabyte will need to recall all the cards they sold with this TIM application.

They claim it's only cosmetic:

Gigabyte acknowledges excess Thermal Gel in early GeForce RTX 50 Series batches, says it's not a cause for concern - VideoCardz.com

Gigabyte confirms thermal gel application variance, but says excees gel is just a cosmetic issue No recall, no problem. We are returning to the report from South Korea, where a user noticed that his GeForce RTX 5080 AORUS Master, a high-end graphics card priced well over $1600, had thermal gel...

videocardz.com

And so far in fact memory is not overheating. I won't send it to RMA until it does or card just burns out, because knowing Gigabyte service they will:

a) Do nothing and say it's fine

b) Reapply the gel, that will just leak out the same after 2/3 months.

c) As above, but somehow make it even worse than before.

All while taking their sweet time so I would get GPU back in 2 months.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

They claim it's only cosmetic:

Gigabyte acknowledges excess Thermal Gel in early GeForce RTX 50 Series batches, says it's not a cause for concern - VideoCardz.com

Gigabyte confirms thermal gel application variance, but says excees gel is just a cosmetic issue No recall, no problem. We are returning to the report from South Korea, where a user noticed that his GeForce RTX 5080 AORUS Master, a high-end graphics card priced well over $1600, had thermal gel...

videocardz.com

There is no excess gel, it is clearly visible in your photo that the whole gel body just slides down leaving just grease residue behind. It already travelled quite a long way, and it is supported by the post from below now, just slowly flowing around it!



How long do you own this card already and is your case well ventilated, are not you baking the card too much?

And so far in fact memory is not overheating.

If this goes this way, you will have all the RAM packages and VRM chips bare soon.

I won't send it to RMA until it does or card just burns out, because knowing Gigabyte service they will:
a) Do nothing and say it's fine
b) Reapply the gel, that will just leak out the same after 2/3 months.
c) As above, but somehow make it even worse than before.
All while taking their sweet time so I would get GPU back in 2 months.

I think the best course of action is to wait now, they will need to deal with this somehow, you may get in some unfavourable position if you tried to RMA it now, before GB realises in how deep sh*t they are...