Some time ago, we already told you regarding a modder who had fun applying copper thermal pads to cool your RTX 3000 more efficiently. This manipulation had made it possible to lower the memory temperatures by 46°C when used in mining. Well, it seems that it is also possible to buy copper heatsinks for certain models of graphics cards, and have been for a while now.
Custom copper plates to cool the GDDR6(X) memory of the NVIDIA RTX 3000
Indeed, some specialized retailers offer copper plates for certain graphics cards. Thus, the company CoolMyGPU offers them not only for the Founders Edition, but also for custom cards from NVIDIA partner brands. The copper plates are priced at $57 to $65 excluding postage and excluding thermal paste to be applied additionally. A much higher cost than the simple copper thermal pads we saw the first time. On the other hand, the installation is facilitated.
Again, it’s DandyWorks, already at the origin of the mod with the copper pads, which shows us this in a video which is at the end of this article. The procedure is quite simple and all you need to do is clean the memory well and apply thermal paste for the magic to work. But once more beware of short circuits, copper is a very conductive element. The copper plate must not bring any component into contact, so you have to be very precise when installing it. In addition, such an operation obviously cancels the manufacturer’s warranty.
Talking regarding the results, here is what DandyWorls got (GPU/Memory Temperature):
- Cyberpunk 2077 – Before: 78°C/88°C, After: 75°C/70°C
- Ethereum mining – Before: 65°C/94°C, After: 58°C/75°C
- OctaneBench – Before: 78°C/92°C, After: 78°C/76°C
Although it is essentially the memory that rises lower in temperature, it also affects the temperature of the GPU itself, but to a lesser extent.
Recall that GDDR6(X) memory has a maximum junction temperature of 100°C and can easily go up to 120°C in some scenarios like mining. To avoid damaging the memory chips, this is the step that must not be taken. On the one hand the cards are designed not to exceed this limit (for example by using thethermal throttling), but why not make sure of it yourself by improving the cooling system if the temperatures remain too high for your taste? After all, the better the card is cooled, the longer it will live, at least in theory.
