Can I stack thermal pads?

[mclaren85]

I'm going to buy thermal pads for my rtx 3080's vram but since there is no 2mm thermal pad available in my country I decided to buy Arctic TP-3 1mm. So if I stack two pads to get a 2 mm pad, will the thermal conductivity worsen?

Thermal Pad - TP-3 | Premium Performance Thermal Pad | ARCTIC

The ARCTIC Thermal Pad ACTPD00052A is a perfect and soft bridger of unevenness for an even cooling surface. Easy to use and safe to handle | Fast processing and delivery | ARCTIC Store

www.arctic.de

 

[notahack]

should be fine

 

[dgianstefani]

Works fine, but you can also buy thermal putty and use that instead.

 

[theFOoL]

From CHATGBT

Can you stack thermal pads
ChatGPT said:
Yes, you can stack thermal pads, but it's generally not ideal. Here are some things to consider:

Reduced Thermal Conductivity – Each layer adds resistance to heat transfer, making it less effective than a single, properly sized thermal pad.
Air Gaps – If not stacked perfectly, air pockets can form, reducing heat dissipation.
Compression Issues – Some devices require firm contact, and stacked pads might not compress evenly, leading to poor heat transfer.
Best Practices:
Use a single pad of the correct thickness whenever possible.
If stacking is necessary, try to use high-quality pads with good compression.
Consider using thermal paste in combination with a single pad for better results.
If you're trying to fill a large gap, you might also look into thermal putty or shims (like copper plates) to improve conductivity. What are you trying to cool?

 

[mclaren85]

Well I hope this solution would work better than stock.

Works fine, but you can also buy thermal putty and use that instead.

Is it better?

 

[LabRat 891]

I would recommend looking into <1mm copper shims and bond the shims to the cooler with paste, shim<->RAM with the 1mm pad.

Alternatively, as dgianstefani suggested,
Putty is less guess work, and typically still better than most thermal pads.

 

[mclaren85]

Ps. Stock pads are oily, sticky and hard to compress. Much of oil has been spreaded on the PCB.

I would recommend looking into <1mm copper shims and bond the shims to the cooler with paste, shim<->RAM with the 1mm pad.

Alternatively, as dgianstefani suggested,
Putty is less guess work, and typically still better than most thermal pads.

I have copper shims already but not brave enough

 

[xtreemchaos]

it will be fine and dandy but i once left the plastic on one pad and wondered for a while why my vram was getting hot but dont tell anyone eh ;-]..

 

[Redwoodz]

If there is no air in between it should function well enough. Not as good as 1 but it should keep temps in check.

 

[mclaren85]

it will be fine and dandy but i once left the plastic on one pad and wondered for a while why my vram was getting hot but dont tell anyone eh ;-]..

Well that's a good lesson to me

Btw, I'm still in shock that even "good and nice" manufacturers use shitty thermal interfaces.
Before changing GPU Tim with thermalright ptm, the fan was spinning like crazy.

 

[Carlyle2020hs]

From my experience with a dozen 3080s running with either 2mm or 1+1mm pads on the Vram for a prolonged time:

Sure you can stack pads.

Do it correctly, and the numbers will show no difference:

The idea is to help the pads to dry out evenly over time. To fuse , so to speak.

Scissors are the enemy here.
Box Cutters the hero !

1) align both pads and (removing the thinner cling film) put them together first.

edit: Same procedure as with applying vinyl stickers - the goal is to avoid trapping bubbles (thanks Dammeron!)

2) use a cutting board and cutter knife to cut the pads to size.

Scissors deliver a smushy, wrinkly cut that helps the pads ends to maybe dry up differently and maybe even part if you use oversized pads.
A cutter knife kinda smears both pads together evenly IF cut with even pressure in one swoop starting away from the pad and moving towards it.

fyi:
IF changed completely every year those pads go well with thermal paste on both sides that touch metal.
-2c is what you get for a lot of yearly recurring cost and maintenance (since the paste will dry out into the pad)

 

[Dammeron]

The conductivity will definitely worsen compared to a single 2mm pad, since You introduce another gap between surfaces filled with micro air pockets. But by how much...? Too many variables in play to specify. Just do it and monitor the temperatures for the first few days - if everything stays within normal margins, just leave it.

 

[mclaren85]

From my experience with a dozen 3080s running with either 2mm or 1+1mm pads on the Vram for a prolonged time:

Sure you can stack pads.

Do it correctly, and the numbers will show no difference:

The idea is to help the pads to dry out evenly over time. To fuse , so to speak.

Scissors are the enemy here.
Box Cutters the hero !

1) align both pads and (removing the thinner cling film) put them together first.

2) use a cutting board and cutter knife to cut the pads to size.

Scissors deliver a smushy, wrinkly cut that helps the pads ends to maybe dry up differently and maybe even part if you use oversized pads.
A cuter knife kinda smears both pads together evenly IF cut with even pressure in one swoop starting away from the pad and moving towards it.

fyi:
IF changed completely every year those pads go well with thermal paste on both sides that touch metal.
-2c is what you get for a lot of yearly recurring cost and maintenance (Since the paste will dry out into the pad)

What a perfect guide for me thanks!
Should I also change the phase change material that was applied to GPU die?

 

[mclaren85]

Hello everyone. I changed the thermal pads with Arctic TP3 (1mm stacked to get 2 mm) and the results are impressive. I got nearly 10 degree celsius lower than to stock. That is massive. Taking into account that the MSI Suprim is the top tier GPU series of MSI, I never understand why they use such low quality of thermals for vram and gpu die. Here are the results. (measurements were recorded during flight sim in highest settings with 2k)