MSI Twin Frozr 7 - replacing thermal paste/pads?

[ORLY]

Hello everyone, I've got a problem - my GTX 1660 Ti is running really hot when playing CS:GO ( ! ), just look at the "GPU Hot Spot Temperature" sensor readings:

And since its warranty is almost expired, I'm scared of the GPU going to hell too soon and me being forced to hugely overpay for another GPU of the same performance (or worse!) but costing like 200+% of what I spent on this one almost 3 years ago, it would be a huge waste!
Sending it to the local shop that sold it to me would mean having no PC to use for a month and it's pointless anyway - they will most likely just blow the dust off the radiator and apply some garbage thermal paste which will fix pretty much nothing.
I mean, I'm planning to wait for the warrantly expiration and just take off the cooler and clean it and replace thermal paste and if there's any thermal pads there - replace them all too. Don't know if there's any though.

But how to do that right?
Will Arctic MX-4 (2019) do its job well enough or should I buy some other paste (don't want liquid metal)?
What thermal pads to buy and how many of them? There's only these sold in here that got 12W/mK (GP-Extreme) and 15W/mK (GP-Ultimate) thermal conductivity:

GELID Solutions GP-Extreme 80x40x0.5 mm (TP-GP01-A)
GELID Solutions GP-Extreme 80x40x1.0 mm (TP-GP01-B)
GELID Solutions GP-Extreme 80x40x1.5 mm (TP-GP01-C)
GELID Solutions GP-Extreme 80x40x2.0 mm (TP-GP01-D)
GELID Solutions GP-Extreme 80x40x3.0 mm (TP-GP01-E)
GELID Solutions GP-Extreme 120x20x0.5 mm (TP-GP05-A)
GELID Solutions GP-Extreme 120x20x1.0 mm (TP-GP05-B)
GELID Solutions GP-Extreme 120x20x1.5 mm (TP-GP05-C)
GELID Solutions GP-Ultimate 90x50x0.5mm (TP-GP04-A)
GELID Solutions GP-Ultimate 90x50x0.5mm (TP-VP04-A)
GELID Solutions GP-Ultimate 90x50x1.0mm (TP-GP04-B)
GELID Solutions GP-Ultimate 90x50x1.5mm (TP-GP04-C)
GELID Solutions GP-Ultimate 90x50x2.0mm (TP-GP04-D)
GELID Solutions GP-Ultimate 90x50x3.0mm (TP-GP04-E)
GELID Solutions GP-Ultimate 120x20x0.5mm (TP-GP04-R-A)
GELID Solutions GP-Ultimate 120x20x0.5mm (TP-VP04-R-A)
GELID Solutions GP-Ultimate 120x20x1.0mm (TP-GP04-R-B)
GELID Solutions GP-Ultimate 120x20x1.5mm (TP-GP04-R-C)
GELID Solutions GP-Ultimate 120x20x2.0mm (TP-GP04-R-D)
GELID Solutions GP-Ultimate 120x20x3.0mm (TP-GP04-R-E)

 

[Colddecked]

That's hotspot temp and completely normal. You don't have to open it up and change the thermal pads. Just clean out the dust with some compressed air.

 

[xtreemchaos]

agreed, id worry if it was over 110-15, i think the max temp is 120c for the hotspot and you still have some headroom bud.

 

[Blaeza]

MX4 works fine mate.

 

[mstenholm]

MX4 works fine mate.

No need to do anything. Temps are fine. No need to replay to all posts. You have aired your lack off knowledge plenty of times. Blocked.

 

[Blaeza]

Well, I was simply saying MX4 was fine. Bye lol!

 

[mstenholm]

Well, I was simply saying MX4 was fine. Bye lol!

And that some memory didn’t work with AMD. Your are clever, you proved that already.

 

[95Viper]

Stay on topic.
Take your petty bickering to PMs and stop trashing threads.

 

[eidairaman1]

MX4 works fine mate.

Well, I was simply saying MX4 was fine. Bye lol!

With the way mx4 is made, its meant for IHS application (not direct touch dies) mX 5 was supposed to be for direct touch dies.

I know AS5/Ceramique, and I believe Kryonaut work on dies, in close tolerance (.0001-.0020") outside of that Id suggest a Thermalpad from ThermalRight, Akasa.

 

[Blaeza]

Wasn't aware of that. Think I'll stop answering questions.

 

[ORLY]

mX 5 was supposed to be for direct touch dies

I guess I'll try that one when the time comes.

Id suggest a Thermalpad from ThermalRight, Akasa

Not sold here so I'll probably end up with some GELID Solutions GP-Ultimate, looks like the size I need must be 120x20mm, but:
1) What thickness? 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3mm?
2) How many of them?

 

[Imperator]

Hello
In order to change those thermal pads you need to open the card.
Since you will do it anyway, it is the best moment to measure the thickness of those pads.
Use a tool to do that.

After that you will choose the exact match for your card.(For your info it could be more than one thickness on a video card)
Gelid is a good choice, so yeah go for it.

 

[Blaeza]

With the way mx4 is made, its meant for IHS application (not direct touch dies) mX 5 was supposed to be for direct touch dies.

I know AS5/Ceramique, and I believe Kryonaut work on dies, in close tolerance (.0001-.0020") outside of that Id suggest a Thermalpad from ThermalRight, Akasa.

I used MX4 on my GPU when repasting and it's doing alright. Not doubting you or anything but it is safe isn't it? Or I'll get some Kryonaut and re-do it.

 

[Toss]

I had same garbage, I repasted and temps dropped from 100C to 70C. Just repaste and don't listen to peasants who say it's "normal"
Also don't touch Thermal Pads, Just use the same ones

 

[Colddecked]

I had same garbage, I repasted and temps dropped from 100C to 70C. Just repaste and don't listen to peasants who say it's "normal"
Also don't touch Thermal Pads, Just use the same ones

lol ok, he's talking about switching thermal pads for hotspot temp that's why we're saying its normal. repasting is totally different. 95 hotspot is normal though, especially with low fan speed which gaming x is known for.

 

[Imperator]

I used on my cards MX4. Trust me it worth the money.

 

[ORLY]

he's talking about switching thermal pads for hotspot temp that's why we're saying its normal. repasting is totally different.

No, I also said about repasting it:

I'm planning to wait for the warrantly expiration and just take off the cooler and clean it and replace thermal paste and if there's any thermal pads there - replace them all too

And who said the hot spot sensor is somewhere within the part covered with thermal paste? I mean, it's just one of the sensors that reports the highest temperature, it can be anywhere, so reapplying thermal paste may not help, may be it's a part covered by a thermal pad that gets hottest?

 

[xtreemchaos]

hotspot is measured from a network of thermal sensors across the GPU die, its about 10c to 15c higher than the die sensor so if the gpu is saying the card is at 80c the hotspot will read between 90c to 95c which is well within the range of normal, I'm not saying don't repaste i do mine once a year when i change the water in my loops if its need it or not I'm just saying its normal.

 

[Colddecked]

No, I also said about repasting it:

And who said the hot spot sensor is somewhere within the part covered with thermal paste? I mean, it's just one of the sensors that reports the highest temperature, it can be anywhere, so reapplying thermal paste may not help, may be it's a part covered by a thermal pad that gets hottest?

95 for hotspot is not terrible and pads are for memory or vrm not part of the chip. I stand by what i said theres no need to change pads for hotspot temp but if you want to repaste it could help the hotspot temp i dont deny that. But have you tried anything like fan tuning or undervolting or cleaning with air? Things that are alot cheaper than replacing all the thermal pads for some expensive pads that may or may not shave afew deg off. And we are talking a 1660 ti so not some power hungry 3090 or something. I wouldnt change pads on that but its up to you.

 

[ORLY]

Cleaned off its factory thermal paste and applied MX-5. Hotspot temps (while playing CS:GO) dropped from 95-96°C to 78-79°C.
I'm glad I did it, to lose a GPU now when the prices are like 200-300% higher than they should've been would be a huge huge bummer.

Thermal pads were additionally covered with some metal plate or whatever with like more than 10 screws and I was too lazy to unscrew them all so I just left them alone.
P.S. MX-5 might be better for "direct touch" but MX-4 seems to be better for CPU. The "CPU CCD1 (Tdie)" sensor reported 65.5°C max with MX-4 and 68.3°C max with MX-5 while performing 3DMark CPU test.

 

[mclaren85]

I have the MSI gaming x 1660 GPU. While temps were not very high during gaming (70 c), the fans used to spin like crazy. So I did re-apply the paste using mx4, and it has been working silent ever since.