How to repaste your graphics card

Getting a new graphics card for its MSRP in 2022 is nearly impossible, so it’s more important than ever to take care of your current GPU. Sure, a nice dusting with an overpriced can of compressed air works, but there’s more you can do: Repaste it. Replacing the thermal interface material, or thermal paste, on your graphics card can lower temperatures, reduce noise levels, and improve performance, and in the case of old cards where the original paste has dried out, extend its lifespan considerably. A graphics card Alcohol prep pads Any PH1 Phillips head screwdriver Thermal paste Anti-static wrist strap Although it might be a little intimidating to do, it’s not as hard as you might think. Here’s how to repaste your graphics card. Before you can actually repaste your GPU, you need to disassemble it. Since the exact method for doing so is different for every card, a good idea would be to look up videos on YouTube of your GPU being disassembled. You can also look up forums or social media threads on your card to see if others have documented their experiences there. If you cannot find one, don’t worry — the chances are that whether or not you’re using an Asus ROG Strix GTX 1080 or an AMD Radeon Vega 64, there are some general rules of thumb that should get you through the process. Take a picture of your card when it’s still assembled because that’ll help you reference which screws go where when you need to reassemble the card. In this example, I am using is an EVGA RTX 2080 TI XC Ultra. Fortunately, this card only has four screws that separate the cooler from the PCB itself. Yours may have more, especially if you’re using a blower-style cooler, in which you’ll need to remove the PCIe bracket. There are two things to pay attention to once your cooler is separated from the PCB: fan connectors and thermal pads. Depending on what company makes your card, the thermal pads might be more brittle, causing them to rip upon separation. The same can be said about the fan connectors, but if you slowly separate the cooler from the PCB with due care, you should be OK. If you meet resistance, stop, and double-check everything before continuing. If your thermal pads do rip in the process, not to worry — you can purchase higher quality Arctic thermal pads for less than $20. Note: Some graphics card warranties are voided when you remove the cooler, so if that’s of concern to you, double-check with your card documentation, or on the manufacturer’s website before beginning. Step 1: Get an alcohol prep pad and remove the thermal paste. Don’t worry about cleaning the capacitors — you only need to clean the die as much as possible. Be sure to clean the cooler’s cold plate, too. Step 2: Grab your thermal paste. I tend to lean more towards higher-end pastes, like Arctic MX-4, Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut if you can afford it, or Noctua NT-H1, which is one of thebest thermal pastes you can buy. If you’re using Thermal Grizzly, make sure to buy Kryonaut, not Conductonaut — the latter is a liquid metal solution that is excellent, but it is far from beginner-friendly. Step 3: Put a pea-sized drop of thermal paste on your card’s die and you can either spread it on or drop the cooler back on and let pressure do the spreading for you. Don’t worry too much about this step, though, as you can’t really put too much on — it’ll just make a mess, rather than risking damaging anything or having an overtly negative effect on cooling performance. Step 4: Now it’s time to reassemble your GPU. Pay attention to any fan cables or RGB cables that you may have disconnected during disassembly because I’m sure you don’t want to have to take the card apart again to plug your fans in. Just go in reverse order and you’re good to go. All you need to do is reinstall your graphics card and you’re done. Congrats! You can never be too prepared for any experiment or clean-up, right? Luckily, you may have almost all of the parts you need to get started. I happened to have the on-hand from air coolers I’ve purchased. The , , and an can be found on Amazon. When I bought my EVGA RTX 2080 TI XC Ultra back in 2019, I never would’ve thought that three years later it’d still be getting the frame rates I need in-game. However, with a quick repaste, I can still get my card to run at 100% without high temperatures. Now you can too. It’s like it’s 2021 all over again. The prices of the best graphics cards are through the roof, and frankly, even the worst GPUs we’ve seen in the last few years are expensive. Every single card from the current generation is selling well above the recommended list price (MSRP), and unfortunately, what little remains of the previous gens is pricey, too. If you’re struggling to buy a GPU right now, I can relate. I’ve been through this myself in the last cryptocurrency mining-fueled GPU shortage when my old GTX 1060 was on its last legs and I was desperate to snag a new card. Here’s what’s happening right now and what you can do to still buy a graphics card right now.
New report says the MSRP is pretty much dead Nvidia’s getting ready to expand its list of the best graphics cards soon, and thanks to leakers, we now have a rumored date for when these new GPUs might hit the shelves. The date is not the part that excites me the most, though. According to the leak, Nvidia will require that its add-in channel (AIC) partners will have to offer at least one model at the recommended list price (MSRP) — something we desperately need right now. But how long will it last? The scoop comes from HKEPC, a Hong Kong-based publication. According to HKEPC, Nvidia revealed the release dates for the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB, RTX 5060 Ti 8GB, and the RTX 5060 (which will likely come with 8GB VRAM, although some sources say 12GB). Keep in mind that the following is still a rumor until Nvidia itself confirms otherwise, which, by the sound of it, won’t happen for a while. ​Recent data indicates that prices for Nvidia’s RTX 5090 graphics card are gradually stabilizing, though they remain significantly above the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP). A Reddit user compiled eBay sales data, revealing that average selling prices have decreased from around $6,000 at launch to approximately $4,000 in recent weeks. The RTX 5090, part of Nvidia’s latest Blackwell series, has faced severe supply shortages since its release, leading to inflated prices on secondary markets. Initial listings on platforms like eBay saw prices reaching up to $10,000, far exceeding the MSRP. This scarcity has been reminiscent of previous GPU shortages, where high demand and limited supply led to significant price hikes.​