Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 Super Thermal Pads and Paste Replacement

Written By: Caleb Ellenburg

Comments: 4

Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 Super Thermal Pads and Paste Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

No estimate

Introduction

Follow the steps below to thoroughly clean your 2070 Super video card and replace thermal paste and thermal pads.

Tools

Step 1

Using the #1 Philips screwdriver, remove the two screws below the fan shroud
Turn the video card to face the display ports
Remove the four screws using a #0 Philips screwdriver

Step 2

Using a #0 Philips screwdriver, remove the two screws holding the fan shroud to the heat sink, then flip the card over and remove the identicaltwo screws from the other side of the card
Disconnect the two fan connectors from the video card
Separate the fan shroud from the video card

Step 3

Flip the card over so the back plate is facing up
Using a #0 Philips screwdriver, remove the four screws with springs from the back plate
Using a #0 Philips screwdriver, remove the three remaining screws from the back plate
Flip the card back over and carefully remove the heat sink from the card

The backplate and heatsink were stuck on super hard, very difficult to separate. My tips are: use a hair dryer to soften up the thermal pads and grease, and pry at the extreme end of the backplate/heatsink instead of in the middle.

fezzo -

Step 4

Using a #0 Philips screwdriver, remove the three screws from the front of the card
Carefully remove the back plate from the card

Step 5

Using 90% or higher isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs, carefully remove all old thermal paste from the heat sink and CPU
Be sure to completely remove any remnants of the old thermal paste

You can unscrew the plate from the heat sink to get easier access to remove the thermal paste and do deeper cleaning.

fezzo -

Step 6

Using a high quality thermal paste, such as Thermalright TF thermal paste, carefully apply a small amount to the video card
Use a thin spreader, or credit card-like tool, spread the thermal paste evenly over the card, ensuring no excess paste leaks over the edge
Heating the thermal paste in warm water may help it spread more evenly

Step 7

Remove the old thermal pads and clean the VRAM chips with 90% isopropyl alcohol
Using the 0.5 mm thermal pad, place one strip, measured at 6 cm x 1.5 cm along the top VRAM
Using the 0.5 mm thermal pad, place two strips, measured at 3 cm x 1.5 cm along the VRAM on either side of the CPU

Step 8

Remove the old thermal pads and clean the heat sink with 90% isopropyl alcohol
Using the 1.0 mm thermal pad, place three strips, measured at 9 cm x 1.3 cm, along the heat sink as outlined in red
Using the 2.0 mm thermal pad, place one strip, measured at 9 cm x 1.3 cm, along the heat sink as outlined in green

The measurements here are wrong, each strip is not 1.3cm wide - more like 7mm wide.

I also found a 1.5mm thermal pad is a better fit than a 2mm thermal pad (for the third strip in this picture).

fezzo - 05/02/24

Step 9

Remove the old thermal pads and clean the back plate with 90% isopropyl alcohol
Using the 2.5 mm thermal pad, place one strip, measured at 5 cm x 1 cm on the back plate as outlined in red
Using the 2.5 mm thermal pad, place one strip, measured at 3.5 cm x 1.5 cm on the back plate as outlined in green
Using the 2.5 mm thermal pad, place one strip, measured at 6.5 cm x 1.5 cm on the back plate as outlined in blue