Hey guys,
 
I wanted to check if i had to replace the thermal paste on my new EVGA 3070 XC3 Ultra Gaming, didn't found any pictures or video of this card yet on the net (probably because it's hard to get your hands on one right now, got lucky with this one) so i thought i'd share my work here ;)
 
Disclamer: dont try this with your card if you dont know how to properly do it. Incorrect dissasembly (ripping with screwdriver, excessive force on pcb, ...) could damage your card and would void your warranty. As the EVGA FAQ says, it's allowed to do it but that doesn't mean they'll replace it if you kill it by mistake :)
 
(Note: i've hidden my card serial numbers with black squares for confidentiality)
 
So here we go, Need to remove the backplate screws starting with the 4 ones that are not the center GPU screws:

 
Ok all backplate screws removed but it won't come off... Bad start! Oh wait what's this evga sticker? 

 
 
Sneaky sneaky EVGA, hidding last screw behind a sticker so you have to remove it to remove the backplate. I guess that's because even if removing this wont void your warranty, if you send back your card one day at least they'll know you dissasembled it at least once so they have to check if you didn't damage anything more closely. Fair enough! Removing the sticker without scratching anything was difficult thought, i had to be very careful because the adhesive is strong:

 
Alright sticker is removed and cleaned, no mark, like it was never here, we can continue:

 
Black case removed using a torx screwdriver, needed to disconnect the RGB header from the card PCB. After this was removed i removed the last 4 GPU screws but the heatsink wouldn't come off the PCB easily. I've checked 10 times that i didn't miss a screw but nothing. So i started to shake the pcb from the heatsink very, very gently and it finally came off after a few times. It was just the thermal pads that were keeping them together. 

 
Finally we can access the GPU die!

 
Closer picture of the heatsink alone:

 
Remains of the stock thermal paste (probably a thermal pad) on the heatsink:

 
A closer look to the stock thermal pad used. You can't see it very well on the picture but it was completely dry, so not very good for heat transfer:

 
A little isopropyl magic and voila, a clean GA104-300-A1!

 
Also cleaned the heatsink best i could:

 
Used noctua NT-H1 thermal paste i had left from my CPU cooler (this is not an ad for noctua, there are better thermal paste out there but this one is good enough ^^):

 
Freshly repasted GPU die:

 
After putting back the heatsink and the PCB together, shaking them a bit so that the GPU die and the heatsink surface thermal paste would join correctly then checking if we had a contact spot on the heatsink:

Success!
 
Putting everything back together properly:

 
Checking if everything is OK topside:

 
Same frontside:

 
And backside:

Done!
 
Went from 68°C / 154°F to 61°C / 141°F in full load after changing the thermal paste and the GPU clock is boosting a little bit higher thanks to running a bit cooler so it was worth it :)
 
See you around for another EVGA hardware adventure 

Thanks! Yes this exact feeling  Thought i was pretty sure i did everything right so i wasn't too much worried  But you can never be 100% sure you know the feeling haha 

Same question.
I put a service request in for the thermal pad info for the stock cooler and the hybrid cooker but haven't heard anything back still.

My card is sitting around 75C with fans at 100% running benchmarks.

Well done.
Even though I have done this on several older cards, I would personally lack the confidence to do this to a new card.  The risk, in my estimation, is simply too high for me to justify, especially in the mist of a massive shortage.  I would be terrified of making a stupid mistake (like leaving the plastic on the thermal pads) until I reached the end and saw that it was successful.
Glad it worked out for you!

that card looks like a beast
 

Thanks yes i was wearing a dressed shirt but it's not very complicated to do in the end, just gotta be gentle 
 
 

Neutro
Hey guys,
 
Done!
 
Went from 68°C / 154°F to 61°C / 141°F in full load after changing the thermal paste and the GPU clock is boosting a little bit higher thanks to running a bit cooler so it was worth it :)
 
See you around for another EVGA hardware adventure 

very good work ...with all the details....thanx

Hi, sorry if i am responding to this post a bit too late. But, I have RTX 3070 BLACK XC3, thinking of replacing the thermal pads. Had it for a SOLID year now, and been mining, and gaming on it pretty much non stop. Do yo think I should replace the thermal pads? The Core temps and I THINK my vram temps around just about the same. So not sure if I should go with this thermal pad replacement? Altogether The pads and paste will cost me $38cad to do it. 

Nicely done. As far as the sticker that reveals that you opened the card up at least once, I've taken EVGA's word on it that disassembling the card won't void your warranty. In my most recent interaction re: a 1080ti whose fan controller went south I even listed disassembling, verifying the fan connector was plugged in properly and not damaged, then reassembling as part of the steps I'd already taken trying to mitigate the problem. They recommended an RMA, approved it, and I'm awaiting the UPS delivery of the replacement today. Just a good example of why I only buy EVGA graphics cards.

FawazAbdin
Hi, sorry if i am responding to this post a bit too late. But, I have RTX 3070 BLACK XC3, thinking of replacing the thermal pads. Had it for a SOLID year now, and been mining, and gaming on it pretty much non stop. Do yo think I should replace the thermal pads? The Core temps and I THINK my vram temps around just about the same. So not sure if I should go with this thermal pad replacement? Altogether The pads and paste will cost me $38cad to do it. 

As posted above, if it's working fine then don't bother... one year is not long in the big picture.  I took my 3070Ti apart just to have a look at the design and see if I could get lower temps.  I could not.  See my thread, here.  The two cards are virtually identical when it comes to thermal pads, so hope this helps.  Good Luck 
 
 

Gembur
what is the thickness of all the thermal pads for the EVGA 3070 XC3 Black? 2mm? 3mm?

65x4.5x2.25 (1pcs)
42x14x2.25 (1pcs)
27x14 x2.25 (1pcs)
40x14x2.25 (1pcs)