MrModZix
Bought it in 2016. Highest it reached back then was about 50-55C when overclocked with the values I still use today. I used the pre-applied thermal paste and hadn't changed it till last year when my temps started to reach 85+C in the summer. The temps were gradually increasing 2 years after I got the GPU before it reached that point. Idle temps are between 32-34C. Were below 30C when I first had the GPU.

The thermal paste I used to replace the old one was Arctic Silver 5. It was really old thermal paste, probably like 7-10 years old. It kind of worked because it got my temps down to 70C but only temporarily. It didn't take long for it to reach 80C again under full load. I replaced it once more with the same paste before I used Arctic MX-4 which I recently put on.

The issue I'm now having is quite weird. No matter how much thermal paste I use or how I apply it, I can't get it to not overheat. It'll reach up to 84C now under full load. I've applied the paste using the star method with more than enough thermal paste (probably too much since I used pretty thick lines), which is an X and a + so it covers every bit of the GPU die.

I've searched pretty heavily on what kind of issues others were having when reaching temps as high as I am and most people had a faulty water pump. I checked one of the hoses of the water pump and it's warm when I touch it under full load. The other one is cold. The air coming out of the radiator is warm as well but not as warm as I'd expect it to be at 84C though. The amount of air being pushed out seems to be rather weak too compared to when I first had the card. I noticed hot air comes out after the GPU reaches 70C.

Some people in other threads speculated on air bubbles getting stuck and suggested to shake the pump around a bit. I tried but to no avail. I can hear the water pump buzzing which means that it's working. One of the hoses is vibrating a little too.

The radiator is mounted to the back of my case blowing air out. Before it is a CPU cooler that blows air through it. I've checked the air blowing out of the CPU cooler and it's not hot so that's not the reason for my temps. Recently cleaned my case too which was pretty dusty but it didn't help with GPU temps.

I've tried putting all case fans and the GPU's shroud fan on max speeds but it barely helps. Maybe gets the temp down by 1-2C.

One other thing: ever since replacing the thermal paste on my GPU (year ago) I've been getting a weird ticking noise coming from it under >80% load, no matter how much I clean the GPU die and around it before applying thermal paste. My guess is that I keep using too much thermal paste when I'm applying but is this harmful? I didn't have the noise before I replaced the thermal paste for the first time.

I'm at a point where I'm considering buying a new card out of desperation but the card's performance still holds up today and hasn't disappointed me. Does anyone know if there's a way to get the pump working properly again?

MrModZix
Thanks for your reply.

I actually did some research about MX-4 vs Kryonaut and read that they only differ by about a few degrees C. That's why I just went with MX-4. It cost me half of what Kryonaut would cost me.

I read that when applying thermal paste on a GPU, the entire die should be covered because the GPU doesn't have an IHS like a CPU. That's why I kind of went overboard a little this time but I'm pretty sure the whole die is covered since I used as much as last time. When I reapplied recently the coverage was really good.

Cool GTX
Your removed the radiator fans & vacuumed the radiator ... when you cleaned your PC ?
 
- heatsink needs to be kept parallel & properly tightened .... this maximizes the contact between heatsink & GPU die
 
- 1 hose warmer than the other .. liquid is circulating
 
- over time the coolant level could evaporate .. its happened - or - some sort of sediment has formed & impacting the flow
 
As long as your not using any type of Conductive TIM .... too much is not an issue

Cool GTX
Sometimes the coolant has been know to "escape" right through the hose ... your 980Ti Hybrid might be old enough ... I'm not say - it Is the issue - but making you aware it can happen & impact cooling capacity
 
 
Open the side of PC case, does the temp drop - if so, that indicates airflow issue with your PC case fans
 
 More fans should blow in than out (size, design & RPM all matter .. its the Volume of air In vs Out that matters) Positive case pressure cools best
 
 

HeavyHemi
The rad fan is a single speed fan that is supposed to run at 100% speed all the time. The fan should be spinning around 2000 rpm and should have noticeable fan noise and air flow. If not perhaps your fan is failing and not providing adequate flow. Personally one of the main reasons I switched out the fan to using two in push/pull is because the stock fan was too loud.

bob16314
Me too.
 
There are cooling solutions out there like I said in Post 5 above.

HeavyHemi
Loss of power filtering caps (which is what those are) on the GPU could cause higher temps. Unlikely the chips on the die surface are causing a problem. However, you DO apparently have an issue with air entrapment as you DID report.
"I previously mentioned I had shaken the radiator before but I had actually shaken the GPU instead.) Upon booting the GPU was idling at ~45C. Starting up a game got it to 90C in a matter of seconds. Quit the game and turned off my PC. Looked it up and saw someone suggesting to shake the GPU to get rid of air bubbles (caused in my case by shaking the radiator) and now I'm back at my previous temps.
 
Over time the fluid loss in the AIO does cause issues. It might be 3 years or 10, but they eventually all fail. Your issue isn't that uncommon. I'm on my second AIO and I have a brand new one still in box. The first one failed after about 6 months.

xenkw0n
Evaporation.  Definitely sounds like an evaporation issue considering the age and the fact that the pump is still working.  If the pump had failed you'd have much higher temperatures and be throttling.  Could look into methods of re-filling AIO liquid with distilled water or go the route of an air cooler.  Arctic Cooling makes nice aftermarket coolers but then you're spending $70+ for the high end ones and have to install VRM heatsinks / take apart your card.  Would personally try adding more liquid to the AIO if you're not trying to spend much money or have to dismantle and mod the entire card.
 
Those temps will only get worse over time before the pump finally fails and/or damages the card.

xenkw0n
The liquid wouldn't be completely gone, it's evaporating, gradually escaping, so your temps will continue to get slightly worse and worse until you start throttling.  I'm honestly not sure how to exactly fill them, I know there are people who have done it and I would assume with the large tech community now that there's a few videos out there where people were successful.  I tend to stick away from AIO's because of the potential break-points.
 
Well if you just wanted to get a top of the line air cooler I would recommend the Arctic Cooling Accelero III.  It should come with VRM and memory heatsinks as well, which you'll need to account for when you take off the hybrid cooler.  Overall it's an amazing cooler and extremely silent, just make sure you run the fans fast enough so the VRM's can stay cooled if you go with this option, they can spin near max speed before you even hear them.  Cool thing about this cooler is it's still compatible with pretty much the last 5 generations of cards from NVidia and AMD, so it's not something that will only work for the 980ti.