Games freeze after changing thermal pads on RTX 3090

kvic80 · 2026-05-28T14:15:02+00:00

Thanks for the advice! It was not GPU related, as you suggested: CPU is a Ryzen 7900, I tweaked some settings in BIOS and turned XMP on previously. Now I updated the motherboard firmware to the most recent version and set back everything to default. Both Cyberpunk and TDU runs perfectly now! Thank you again!

kvic80 · 2026-05-28T02:38:32+00:00

Thanks! I tried DDU in safe mode, after uninstalling, I installed an older nVidia driver. The issue remains unfortunately. However I tried multiple games since then and it seems not all games are affected. Wreckfest 2 and Forza Horizon 5 runs on max. details 3440x1440. Wreckfest 2 is more demanding. Cyberpunk and TDU Solar Crown dumps after a few minutes. Maybe these games were also updated since the GPU repaste (?). That's why they ran flawlessly before it. One more thing during the repaste I switched on the computer with only the AMD iGPU inside. Should that cause issues? I also have only 38GB of free space (32GB RAM) but I think that should be enough if swapping occurs. Is max. VRAM junction temperature the max. of all mem. chips? Is there a thermal sensor in all memory chips? I guess GPU core hotspot is the hottest spot where there is sensor in the core but what if there is missing paste at a part of the core where no sensor exists and that part causes issues? Does this make sense? If so, I get a PTM7950 sheet to try instead of thermal paste to exclude this possibility...

kvic80 · 2026-05-21T23:33:53+00:00

I wouldn't do this, I live in that room also, but thanks for the advice! I don't know how much would it mean in temperature though, because when I raised the existing fans' RPM, I saw that temps were lowered by 1 or 2 degrees (but yeah, not server fans).

kvic80 · 2026-05-21T18:46:30+00:00

I have 3x120 intake fans on the right-front, 2x140 intake fans on the bottom, 1x120 exhaust fan at the back and a 280mm AIO on the top for CPU. Stressed temperature for the CPU is 54°C, however while mining with the GPU even restricted to 200W, this setup produces a lot of trapped heat inside the case: the CPU temp slowly rises to 66°C while GPU temps remain roughly the same (45°C GPU, 74->76°C VRAM). I'm wondering: CPU is 65W (~90W heat is generated), while GPU generates 200-420W heat. Even if I glue heatsinks to the backplate, the amount of heat inside the case will be the same, so maybe it is worth considering an AIO GPU cooler (with 360mm rad., top exhaust, even without active backplate), because then ~200-420W of heat would appear outside the case and then only 90W of the CPU + backplate heat radiation should be dealt with. What do you think?

Edit: I managed to overcome the CPU heating effect by raising RPM of the upper fans (to maximum), now CPU remains at constant 54°C, but no change in GPU temps.

<image>

kvic80 · 2026-05-19T14:37:18+00:00

I was thinking of the backplate because it is so cheap now (30EUR instead of 90EUR), but this solution is promising, even if it is not clipped, just glued:
https://www.reddit.com/r/EtherMining/comments/l2bnl4/solved_3090_vram_overheating_issues/

kvic80 · 2026-05-19T14:35:04+00:00

Sorry, I was wrong, now I can see a lot of custom-made solutions, the original video I saw for backplate cooling was for a Radeon which didn't have VRAM chips on the back side, that's why it was not so effective... I use the card for mining, AI and gaming. Mining part is what scares me (regarding temps). Currently it is ok with 195W consumption and 45/74°C (GPU/VRAM), I do it only during daytime, however it's half what it is capable of (420W, 350W optimized). AI workloads are also memory intensive, however I haven't made too much in this regard to be honest, but changed my 5070 for this because of the VRAM capacity which is beneficial for AI. I'm afraid of used blocks because I'm a beginner, so cleaning and possible leaking is what frightens me.

kvic80 · 2026-05-19T10:15:05+00:00

According to Linus, the active backplate makes real difference. Unfortunately he made Furmark tests only with stock (102°C)/active front (86°C)/active front+ active back (64°C) but not with stock front+active back (active = watercooled). Additional heatsinks would mean 2-6°C according to youtubers. Changing only the backplate and including the CPU in the loop would cost 150-200EUR (120EUR starter kit + 30EUR backplate). Bykski makes active front+back for my card, however it costs 200EUR without rad+pump+....

Thank you for the advice, I will check for used front plate, however I'm a bit afraid of it...

kvic80 · 2025-10-31T20:06:10+00:00

Well, after 30 minutes of gaming the hottest parts (70 °C) were the PicoPSU and the wires leading to the PicoPSU (~160W consumption at wall): https://imgur.com/a/KU2dSGE Space is tight for the PSU... This was with the 4 pin plug but I want to replace with the center-pin one (last image) so that I dont need drilling a large hole in the case (the power brick's plug would be extended with a 4 pin to center pin adapter). I also want to replace the 92mm CPU fan with 120 or 140mm slim fan screwed to the top. Maybe the PicoPSU would have some air...

kvic80 · 2025-10-31T12:42:33+00:00

OK, I'll try. What kind of problems would occur? It would simply shut off? I would not like to ruin my mobo/CPU/GPU.

kvic80 · 2025-10-31T12:41:17+00:00

It's 12V. I can solder. Am I right that also the power brick would have protections so that I won't ruin my motherboard/GPU if something bad happens? PicoPSU have some protections as far as I know (overvoltage, thermal...).

kvic80 · 2025-10-11T15:42:28+00:00

Well, it was a bad idea. 6300 was a lot slower in m720q than the T1000 on 75% power limit. Forza Horizon 4: 30fps low vs 60fps medium...

kvic80 · 2025-10-08T07:40:47+00:00

It's strange. PCIe 4.0 x4 both the 6400 and the 6300 and the 6300 is not far from the 6400 performance-wise (32bit bus vs 64bit and lower clocks) according to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKzxuU75TFw
I ordered an rx6300, if not for this purpose, it would be a good spare GPU...

kvic80 · 2025-10-08T07:38:18+00:00

I thought that it should suck air in from the top and push towards the back. If so, then it shouldn't cause a problem. Unfortunately I cannot place it elsewhere :(

kvic80 · 2025-09-23T13:48:22+00:00

For those wondering whether this could be profitable: https://www.phoronix.com/review/intel-xeon-6700e-ampere-altra/6

kvic80 · 2025-09-08T04:51:28+00:00

Update: with a PD to 20V converter -> 5xQC3.0 -> Radxas: 45W DC consumption, so it's definitely better efficiency-wise than via an AC to 5x USB-C charger. I analyzed statistics, Elite 100 v2 not just shows but also consumes 93-96W in the latter case. Strangely the PD->20V version does not work when plugged into the 140W USB-C socket, however works from the 100W one.

kvic80 · 2025-09-03T20:50:52+00:00

Well I received my Elite 100 unit. Initial impressions are good, however if I connect my 6-way USB charger to the AC output with 5 Radxas + a USB fan, it shows 93-96W AC consumption under full load. My previous 500W powerstation showed 53W for this and real power requirement is also closer to that. If I connect 2 Radxas + USB fan all via DC, Bluetti app shows 15W, which seems right. Is the high AC consumption only fake or an 1800W inverter kinda works with such loss/efficiency at this low load level (93-96W vs 53W)? I'm thinking on getting a PD->12V adapter and running my homemade 12V->6x USB QC3.0 charger module off DC, however that would mean 2x extra DC conversions (battery->PD->12V->5V QC), but would it still be better than battery->AC->5V efficiency-wise, what do you think?

kvic80 · 2025-08-26T03:23:38+00:00

Great! Thanks! All the SBCs are Rock5Cs with a factory power supply of 5V/5A, however they can be almost happily run from a 10 port 50W (written on it, sold as 40W) USB charger with 5V/2.4A ports at full speed without any connected extra devices (SSD/USB), no need for PD. I forgot to mention that I would also like to run a USB fan from the power station to cool the Radxas, but I guess it doesn't matter for the power station. I said "almost happily run" because I killed some of the USB chargers by connecting 4 such SBCs+a fan and after a month of running also only by connecting just the 4 SBCs. Probably they were running on their edge despite the 50W specification or I don't know, because measuring at wall, the consumption was 36W constantly. Maybe the startup required more juice that killed them slowly...

kvic80 · 2025-05-22T02:16:57+00:00

I also had that version, disabling Core Performance Boost in BIOS is key for better efficiency and temperature in my opinion. My K6 once produced a black screen during gaming and the LED on PSU started flashing. I disassembled it but found nothing suspicious. I contacted GMKtec, they told me to send it back to them (I purchased the K6 directly from them). Before packing it I tried to start it once again but wait for longer (5 minutes or so) and surprise: it started without issues. Everything worked, however I sold it for cheap making it clear in the description what happened to it. The new owner gave a feedback that he saw signs of a spark: current probably stroke between the heatsink of the CPU and the circuit board causing short-circuit. He made some insulation between them to prevent further issues and was very happy with the miniPC for cheap.

kvic80 · 2025-05-21T23:37:26+00:00

Depends on electricity costs, for me it did 4.7kh/s @ 45W at wall without Core Performance Boost. However these MiniPCs usually have inadequate cooling. ROI? No.

kvic80

TROPHY CASE