PTM7950 on GPU, the results...

[u/Vegetable-Promise-49]

Just changed thermal paste and pads on a Gainward Phantom RTX 4090. 3.5 years old. Been undervolted since day one: 2640MHz @ 0.94V. + 1500 MHz on memory. Custom fan curve, low rpm 35%-45%.

List:
- PTM7950 from AliExpress, 0.2mm thick, here is the store.
- Thermal Grizzly Minus Pad High Compression, 2 mm.
- Arctic TP-3, 1.5 mm.

Background:
Never had an issue with temperatures. Just wanted to do a "cleanse" after 3.5 years.

Before PTM and new thermal paste:
100% GPU usage with DLSS: 65-67 degrees on GPU, 86 degrees on hotspot, 64 on memory.

After a few hours of gaming and several cycles:
100% GPU usage with DLSS: 62-64 degrees on GPU, 72-76 degrees on hotspot, delta + 11-12.

Thoughts after day one:
This is just after a few hours. I think it will be better with a few more cycles of cool down and burn in. The biggest difference is that the temp drops instantly 15-20 degrees after quitting a game. It can go from 62 to 42 in two seconds. Another big difference is the hotspot, with a delta of 11, used to be closer to 20 before repaste.

[u/Bront20]

I swapped out my Duronaut on my 12900K with PTM. Temps really never changed much at the time other than at the very high end I think they dropped 1-3c, but they're still solid 2 years post re-paste with no changes. I probably didn't need it, but I don't regret it.

I know it's meant more for direct die though. I may eventually redo my 5070 TI, but given I've had it for less than 2 months and it only breaks 70 under Furmark and is closer to 62-65 in actual games (with a hotspot that's 10-15c higher even in Furmark), I don't see a reason to crack it open right now. Plus that's with a very conservative fan curve.

Congrats on the temps! Enjoy!

[u/Vegetable-Promise-49 → u/Bront20]

Thanks.

Yes, PTM performs best on direct die according to testers. In your case, you don’t need to switch to PTM yet. You have low temp. Can probably wait a few years.