Guide - How I measure the exact size of Thermal pads

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  • Опубліковано 12 лис 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 104

  • @bgtubber
    @bgtubber Рік тому +3

    I really appreciate this in-depth demonstration on how to approach this problem. Thanks! I will follow this guide when replacing my graphics card's thermal pads.

  • @sectsin
    @sectsin Рік тому +27

    Kris, I really like the unbelievably demanding, maniac way you approach to repairing electronics. This video was very helpful for me as I did not know how to approach the thermal pad thickness sizing problem before. There is one other thing I am wondering about: Your cards come out in beautiful and in an excellent condition after ultrasonic cleaning. Could you please do a video on how you do the ultrasonic cleaning of your PCB's? I am asking because I have watched a lot of videos on PCB ultrasonic cleaning, but most of them are either superficial, or use chemicals not available in the EU. Thank you very much in advance, and keep up the good work!

    • @KrisFixGermany
      @KrisFixGermany  Рік тому +17

      Sure, in future video

    • @btwbrand
      @btwbrand Рік тому +1

      @@KrisFixGermany Been 8 months. Not seeing this happen yet.
      You aren't the only card repair channel that has said this and produced nothing.

    • @celerun
      @celerun 11 місяців тому +9

      lol wtf dude, entitled much? 🤣 @@btwbrand

  • @taXicity
    @taXicity Рік тому +3

    I was gonna re paste my trusty old 5600xt and i was looking for guides and stuff. this is as good as it gets. Thanks Kris

  • @pp3v42_g3h
    @pp3v42_g3h Рік тому +14

    On 2080ti 3080 3080ti 3090 and similar tightly spaced cards it helps to cut the thermal pads for each memory chip 0.8mm thiner than the chip, this way when you apply pressure it doesnt have to squeeze between the VRAM chips.
    Just laying a 3-4 chip wide pad on the chips can be a problem even when using Gelid or Thermalright pads. Especially for cards with thin VRAM pads like some Palit 3080 cards or older Gigabyte cards with that 0.4mm thermal pads (I hate them, so much cracked boards and BGA problems)
    I've heard some people use pasta maker machines to get the needed thickness with cheap hard thermal pads, but I prefer using higher quality pads. Chinese Wowibo pads are really good too.

  • @andxang
    @andxang 7 місяців тому

    Excellent explanation and reasoning, this video gave me a lot more confidence in replacing my thermal pads

  • @shiftctrlhack
    @shiftctrlhack Рік тому +5

    Another great video Kris!!!! Thanks for everything you do.

  • @danielhauck7598
    @danielhauck7598 9 місяців тому

    Simply WOW. THANK YOU for doing this, to show us how this stuff could work!!!

  • @illuposerioso
    @illuposerioso 7 місяців тому +1

    i saw this in 2024, personally I apply the thermal paste 2 times to see if I put the right amount and if it makes good contact with the heatsink. According to temperature after benchmarks and stress tests this method is working quite well :)

  • @ericmaddox6275
    @ericmaddox6275 6 місяців тому

    Thank you very much for repairing my INNO3D RTX 3080 DEAD water cooling issue ... hard to believe that the WATER COOLING system DIED in less than 3 years... thx for the fast service ... I HIGHLY recommend KRISFIX for GPU repairs

  • @ricma9710
    @ricma9710 Рік тому +4

    Useful knowledge shared is the best. Thank you!

  • @Maxximilian
    @Maxximilian Рік тому +6

    Excellent Job ! I have seen some brands with advertised thickness that is not correct when you measure them out of the box, I mean they should be for example 1.5 but they are 1.6 actually.

    • @Dandan-tg6tj
      @Dandan-tg6tj Рік тому +3

      It de[pends on the softness of the pads. If you put 1,5mm softer pads you'll end up with bad cooling properties. If you use 1,6mm hard pads you make a 0,1mm thicker than normal layer of the thermal paste on the GPU which is super-bad.

  • @LazyQ8i
    @LazyQ8i Рік тому +1

    Thank you Kris, we appreciate ur effort

  • @ACOnetwork
    @ACOnetwork Рік тому

    I will need to put thermal pads in to my laptop, I just searched the youtube for methods and your video was first one up and thank you. That method never came in to my head 🙃. Thank you for this dude 😁👍

  • @vaiosmastroyiannis
    @vaiosmastroyiannis Рік тому +2

    Awesome job thank you very much !!!!!!
    Also I have never see this kind of damage ever

  • @RickJuniorO
    @RickJuniorO 6 місяців тому

    This video is so amazing and so quintessentially German: "This will be short he says." haha, but seriously, you definitely made it feel short, so thank you. You may have not just saved my GPU, but my life as well. A fire here in the US in our all-wood houses could be detrimental. Thank you, again! 🤜🤛

  • @Constantin314
    @Constantin314 Рік тому +38

    hey, Kris, i think der8auer needs your help with repairing a 4090 (or 4080, not sure), he broke :)

    • @Wimpelmann
      @Wimpelmann Рік тому +4

      He sure does now 😁

    • @KrisFixGermany
      @KrisFixGermany  Рік тому +20

      We will try to help

    • @Cygnos360
      @Cygnos360 Рік тому

      I think he damaged the chip permanently

    • @FoxvoxDK
      @FoxvoxDK Рік тому +3

      I look forward to it, Roman was looking really sad about it too! :D
      Hopefully Kris can fix it, but the heatgun might have killed it, unfortunately.

    • @shiftctrlhack
      @shiftctrlhack Рік тому +2

      I was just about to tell Kris this !

  • @JorgeForge
    @JorgeForge Рік тому

    I measured thickness of the old thermopad in relation to thickness of the base of the radiator in my RX570. I was reluctant to do anything with it, because I didn't know which one I should use. Fortunately everything works. I believe the fact the main cooler is separate from the radiator with thermopad helps as well.
    To think it was so easy to measure. Perhaps not too easy, but easier than guessing :)

  • @GoingShirtless
    @GoingShirtless Рік тому

    I would like a thermal pad primer video if there is such a thing. What is considered "soft"? What is the naming convention for a soft vs hard pad.
    If there are links to relevant Ebay listings then that would be great as 99% if all of us are getting our stuff from Ebay for the ease and predictability of delivery - with a Ebay guarantee if nothing shows up in the mailbox :)
    Also, Ebay is near 100% reliable as to the correct marking of packets with the VOEC scheme number - without which a $1 item suddenly is a $20 item after the customs officers forward an invoice here in Norway.

  • @tourmaline07
    @tourmaline07 Рік тому +3

    0:25 - holy shit , that's not just a cracked GPU core as much as one which looks like it's been shot! That card must have been reassembled with considerable force!

    • @joshashe2087
      @joshashe2087 Рік тому

      I think the core exploded because of temperature. Poor guy used too thick/hard thermal pads so the cooler wasn't making connection with gpu core resulting in overheating and exploding. Anyway that pop sure made him shit his pants I bet lol.

  • @Justifier
    @Justifier Рік тому +4

    Very appreciated :)

  • @bobthomas8342
    @bobthomas8342 Рік тому

    I'm glad I watched this before I removed a water block and reinstalled the stock cooler on my gpu. I was just going to assume the ones that came with the block would work.

  • @josephchristianruiz6581
    @josephchristianruiz6581 Рік тому +1

    Have you considered trying to use thermal putty like the "Upsiren U6 Pro"? Since K5 Pro is known to be really messy and the bond weakens overtime once there are alot of micro airpockets within the application itself. As for the U6 Pro it's not messy and can be easily removed without having any kind of residue onto the surface of the ram chips, inductors, caps and mosfets.

    • @SianaGearz
      @SianaGearz Рік тому

      Interesting but i would eye it with a truckload of suspicion. I mean there's a Greek company website listed on U6 Pro, the same one responsible for K5 Pro; however the Greek company says this claim is a lie and this is not their product, so it's technically a counterfeit since origin is misrepresented. As such i think it's best to throw out the window any product claims such as thermal conductivity specs on such a product from a suspicious fly-by-night operation, and long term durability can very well be questionable as well. 90% of of thermal interface material engineering difficulty is about making it durable under use, and who is to say they actually put in the effort? It's a very lengthy process by the very nature, since even with accelerated testing, there is a lot of waiting and testing involved.

  • @Chr0meTiGeR
    @Chr0meTiGeR Рік тому

    After using slightly too hard and thick pads, and causing a cracked solder ball on a ramchip on my 1080Ti, this has just become the most interesting video I've ever watched. :D

  • @TheLateral18
    @TheLateral18 Рік тому

    I didn't know the pads were so important, that's why I'm looking for the right size

  • @dexheavy85
    @dexheavy85 Рік тому +4

    Awesome video. What is considered a soft thermal pad, and what hard thermal pad in the Shore Hardness Scale? Thank you.

    • @WENEVERLEFT
      @WENEVERLEFT Рік тому +1

      Gelid GP Extreme is good. There's also Ultimate, that one is harder.

  • @Bruce73X
    @Bruce73X Рік тому +1

    Thank you so much for this!

  • @SianaGearz
    @SianaGearz Рік тому

    First thing i'm thinking is one can get plastic digital calipers, which will not so easily knock off or damage components or scratch the mask; however their resolution is only 0.1mm, 10 times worse than the stainless steel ones. Electronics is actually the same as many 0.01mm ones, they merely skipped a digit on the display because with flexing of the tool, the reading would wander a lot, the tool is so much less rigid than the metal version at this tool length. As you're accumulating measurements from one ledge of the cooler to the next, the decreased resolution may create an error accumulation. Then again you only need to consider the error accumulation for the heatsink which will take steel calipers just fine, on the PCB the component height 0.1mm resolution should be OK.
    I remembered i saw digital tyre depth gauges, which look like plastic calipers chopped off, very inexpensive, 0.01mm resolution, and conveniently small, but looking now, they have a metal pin, so i don't know if this solves anything.
    Perhaps if someone has to use plastic calipers for everything because that's what they have, they can create a datum plane on the cooler by putting a sheet of glass or rigid metal across it, and then maybe measure with the jaw ledge at the top rather than the pin on the bottom. Then error accumulation can be avoided.
    I seem to remember that the thermal conductivity of pads in uncompressed state is bad, small fraction of the expected one; datasheet conductivity is achieved when they are compressed either with a certain force or to 3/4th the nominal height. 1.40 gap height is such a weird spacing, it seems a little too tall for 1.50mm pads to achieve optimal heat transfer and too short for 2mm pads, with damage potential... what were they thinking?

    • @niikon
      @niikon Рік тому

      If you are worried you might rip off components when doing measurements like this, please stay away from screwdrivers in general.

  • @mihalachepatasanu7296
    @mihalachepatasanu7296 Рік тому +1

    i have to thank you,my man👏

    • @mihalachepatasanu7296
      @mihalachepatasanu7296 Рік тому

      ps,i have a gtx 1070 hp oem,if somebody knows the measure pls let me know,have good life everyone.

  • @tony359
    @tony359 Рік тому

    I like that Gigabyte had to place an arrow sticker on the board in case someone missed the exploded GPU! :D

  • @LostinMIA
    @LostinMIA 8 місяців тому

    Hi Kris!!!! I have a question. I have a gaming laptop that I have had to reapply the liquid metal a few times. Unfortunately the thermal pads for the large heatsink are damaged and gone. I have had a tuff time making sure the new pads fit properly while making sure the CPU and GPU fully meet the heatsink. Can you suggest a malleable putty I can roll with my fingers and that can compress enough to be sure the CPU and GPU touch? The laptop came with these soft almost foamy pads that I cant find. I appreciate any help!

  • @emslvmoddslv4568
    @emslvmoddslv4568 10 днів тому

    Great tutorial, I just replace today my thermal pads , BEFORE watch your video, . Got one Gigabyte Aorus water foce, (watacool) but think the principle is the same.
    Found the card in some god state, but the thermal grease on chip was applied to big for the area, I do this against some dwme.exe down falls. Hope the hardware was the problem...
    Any way thumbs up !

  • @Alpha-ms9nj
    @Alpha-ms9nj 10 місяців тому

    I'm glad this video popped up when researching this. I have 2 old GPU cards that I want to do maintenance on but never have done this before. I just ordered a variety package of thermal pads from Amazon without thinking this through. The information you provide is a great service and I thank you for sharing your professional expertise. Any recommendation on where to purchase good thermal pads?

  • @HCDVelcra
    @HCDVelcra Рік тому

    Kris, ich versteh das nicht ganz: Wie sieht das denn bei CPUs aus, bzw bei CPU und Kühler, wo ich normalerweise Paste dazwischen mache? Ich habe mich mal für Pads entschieden, weil ich dachte, dass ich erstens keine Schweinerei habe und zweitens eine gleichmäßigere Auflagefläche. Welche Dicke nehme ich denn dann?

  • @VoidOperator
    @VoidOperator Рік тому +1

    So I have a question Kris. I put a copper mod on the memory of my 3080ti. Since putting a copper shim uses thermal paste just like the GPU, to make the best contact with the memory chip, should I be using a 1.4mm copper shim or maybe something a bit thinner since the shim has thermal paste on both sides?
    For reference, what was recommended was a 1mm shim in the video I'd watched and it's worked great so far. I'm just wondering if the thickness could be optimized more

  • @cosmicp.o.m.e3460
    @cosmicp.o.m.e3460 Рік тому +2

    👍Thanks Kris. Is there a diffference in heat dissipation between the hard and soft pads or are they around the same and it's just cost? PEACE\/

    • @KrisFixGermany
      @KrisFixGermany  Рік тому +2

      It is not so big difference. Softer pads have lower w/mk

  • @l3VGV
    @l3VGV Рік тому +2

    Or u can use carbon caliper, they are much safer to use around electronic

  • @jakubszwed5446
    @jakubszwed5446 10 місяців тому

    do you think in situation like yours on DRAM with 1,4mm can you put 1,5mm hard thermal pad instead of 2mm soft? and on cap at 1,6 can you put 2mm harder pad? i bought gelid gp ultimate they are 60-70 so i guess they are harder ones also i have some thermal grizzly left overs so i can use them if needed

  • @tonict2302
    @tonict2302 2 місяці тому

    Awesome video

  • @bahadoromid3554
    @bahadoromid3554 Рік тому +1

    Good Video guide , Thank you

  • @kainatalikainatali1052
    @kainatalikainatali1052 6 місяців тому +1

    Can we apply 0.5mm thermal pad on Rx550 low profile gpu

  • @arditshehu4578
    @arditshehu4578 Рік тому

    hello friend, great video
    i have a rx 5700 xt tuf evo, i dont have any way to masure the size,
    if you happen to have fix one of those and remember the sizes of thermal pads it would really help me

  • @unqualifiedexpert
    @unqualifiedexpert Рік тому

    Thank you for the very informative video

  • @dreams1453
    @dreams1453 Рік тому +6

    Wow. First time seeing exploded gpu.

  • @OCXChile
    @OCXChile Рік тому

    Will have to do the same with my Bytski Waterblock. Instructions are a mess and included thermal pads are 1.8mm on specs, but in reality there are 1.5mm. Probably "real" thermal pads are a bit less. Guessing 1.25-1.3mm

  • @iamdmc
    @iamdmc Рік тому

    What do you think about Gelid GP Extreme thermal pads?
    They're not exactly soft or exactly hard, but they do 'squeeze' a bit, and break up easily as a result (1 use usually)
    I replaced the thermal pads that came with my GPU Block for GP Extreme thermal pads (same for same height, so 1mm stock for 1mm Gelid) and have had good luck with this on my RTX 3090

  • @Z3pticon
    @Z3pticon 9 місяців тому

    What pads do you recommend for soft pads with excellent thermal performance?

  • @digix205
    @digix205 Рік тому +2

    what to look in the pad specs to know its "soft" ?
    whats the measure unit for its hardness\softness ?

    • @SianaGearz
      @SianaGearz Рік тому

      The ones marketed as "soft" are the soft ones! The normal ones can feel "soft" as well but they don't flow, the "soft" ones flow and mould themselves into the existing gap. They don't ever specify hardness unfortunately, not that i've seen.

  • @adityayadav6712
    @adityayadav6712 Рік тому

    Will it be possible to create a document where you could mention the thermal pad dimensions of various popular GPUs.

  • @ManuFidalgo
    @ManuFidalgo 4 місяці тому

    reviewing the gigabyte 3080ti it does not come with pads on the capacitor lines from the factory and it does come with pads on the back
    It is safe to mount pads on the capacitors and not mount on the back for this graph
    I have that model and I have many doubts
    thank you

  • @ThisOLmaan
    @ThisOLmaan Рік тому

    Frist of all Thank you for sharing i imagine put lot of work and effort we greatly appreciate it... if by chance cuz i am not Knowledgable to do all this want to ask if you also know the Thickness Thermal Pads for the EVGA Geforce RTX 3070 FTW3 ? if not i still everymuch found UR video great for the folks that have this same card.... TY👍🏻

  • @iamianann
    @iamianann Рік тому

    Just stumbled over your channel, nice work! What I don’t get is why you even measure the capacitors and Inductor Coils as they don’t need any additional cooling at all under normal conditions. Second I didn’t quiet get is why you use soft Pads on the RAM but for the Inductor Coils and MOSFETs It’s fine to go with harder Pads even if the squeeze must be be higher in relation to the RAM. I’d most likely go with soft pads there too for a ,4mm squeeze?!

  • @rusTORK
    @rusTORK Рік тому

    Got EVGA RTX 3080 Ti FTW3 Ultra Gaming. Cooler standoff - 2,25 mm (i got digital calipers too). :) So...
    Also, GPU\DRAM cooler copper plate and both DrMos (left and right) cooler contact area at same level.

  • @HannesKirsman
    @HannesKirsman Рік тому

    This is the first time I see the exact reasoning behind how thick pads to choose. Thank you!
    I'm going to try this my first repadding soon on a older card RX 480 AMD. I'm very amateur but I hope watching this and similar videos plus being careful will help.
    I was wondering why anything else would need cooling besides GPU and memory? I know some high-end cards have extra pads, some don't. How hot something like capacitors can get?

  • @KuganeSchranz
    @KuganeSchranz Рік тому

    Cool. Muss ich Mal meine TitanX Pascal messen 👍
    Nur als Tipp, wenn du die Formeln zum Teil schon hast. Kannst du auch einfach rechts auf das kleine Viereck in Excel klicken, halten und nach links oder rechts ziehen. Excel kopiert die Formal dann automatisch 😄

  • @FLASHERITOX
    @FLASHERITOX Рік тому

    Hello, how are you, thank you very much for your video, I want to do the same job for my pny rtx 3080 revel epic X xlr8 card
    Where could I download the excel file to do the job? sorry for my English. I'm Argentine haha

  • @aaronlee8798
    @aaronlee8798 Рік тому +1

    What thermal pad brand would you recommend?

  • @zlibz4582
    @zlibz4582 6 місяців тому

    sir i got a msi gtx 1080ti gaming X 11G and it has a plastic on the backplate which i feel is preventing direct contact of the backside of the gpu's mobo to the plate , dont know why msi gave it , but i put some 3mm thermal pads on the vram backside because i saw some youtube channels showing it helps in reducing temps of the vram even more since the backside also gets hot , jsut curious to know if it is right in removing the plastic (it was easily removable btw and didnt cause any harm to the coldplate) ?

  • @GhostMotley
    @GhostMotley Рік тому

    Great video, do you have any recommendations for soft thermal pads?

  • @jessiemeral3413
    @jessiemeral3413 Рік тому

    Love your work Kris. Would you happen to have the thermal pad thickness sizes for the Gigabyte Aurus Master RTX 3090 Rev1 . I noticed you worked on one of those in another video.

  • @shyshy_sorry
    @shyshy_sorry 4 місяці тому

    thank you very much

  • @XantheFIN
    @XantheFIN 9 місяців тому +2

    Americans "Close enough".. Germans "Perfect".

  • @gunnsheridan2162
    @gunnsheridan2162 Місяць тому

    Why is 0,2mm squish good for DrMos(1-0,8), but not 0,1 enough for DRAM(1,5-1-4). Why do we need a squish of 0.6mm for DRAM?

  • @Lock2002ful
    @Lock2002ful Рік тому +1

    Das kommt genau passend.
    Ich hab mir ne gebauchte Gigabyte 3080 10gb turbo geholt und muss die thermal pads ersetzen, hab keinen Plan welche Marke ich nehmen soll..

  • @xcom9648
    @xcom9648 20 днів тому

    Should send this video to alphacool, maybe they can get their pads right for once.

  • @Mr2Xri
    @Mr2Xri 4 місяці тому

    You are the picasso of repairs.

  • @dwight2310
    @dwight2310 Рік тому

    thanks for that.

  • @alessandroverdoliva9637
    @alessandroverdoliva9637 Рік тому

    You are awesome

  • @Dandan-tg6tj
    @Dandan-tg6tj Рік тому

    I must thank everybody who has no idea of what they are doing but they feel wise enough to change thermal paste and thermal pads on graphics cards because they bring so many cards in for repair which means they are coming to me to give me some of their money.
    I love you guys!
    Thank you.

  • @SilvaTeixeira009
    @SilvaTeixeira009 Рік тому

    Thermal pad vs liquid thermal pad?

  • @osmium_fps6082
    @osmium_fps6082 10 місяців тому

    can you explain why a gpu chip explode like that? cause when the pads are to thick and the cooler is not able to touch the gpu chip, doesn't the chip just shuts itself off due to the thermals reaching to high temps?

    • @hanszaam
      @hanszaam 6 місяців тому

      gud question, i'd like to know aswell. Mayb lightning struck, peek voltage? :P Probably has to do something with incorrect pad size and overclocking :P

    • @osmium_fps6082
      @osmium_fps6082 6 місяців тому

      @@hanszaam maybe a custom vbios with thermal limits removed, i've seen illya tsemenko do that.

  • @zlibz4582
    @zlibz4582 6 місяців тому

    this is all the work of AIB partners to put quality thermal pads, paste , heatsinks everywhere required because they void the warranty if the user opens the gpu and the avg, user wont bother , dont know why most AIB partners wont give as high quality as aftermarket ones even on expensive gpu's

  • @moretttti
    @moretttti Рік тому

    what not use thermal paste?

  • @moretttti
    @moretttti Рік тому

    thnk for good video! ;)

  • @dungufed349
    @dungufed349 Рік тому

    hi, can you tell where you got the gbt test software?

  • @MasonStormSunny
    @MasonStormSunny Рік тому

    2mm may be too thick for the memory chips in your case. Why not using 1.5mm?

    • @abrindoosolhos933
      @abrindoosolhos933 Рік тому +3

      He pointed to use soft thermalpads i guess. So, for this type of pad it has a characteristic to squeeze more when placing the heatsink to the pcb, compared to the hard thermalpad. So, when you are deciding to pretending replace for soft pads, you have to count this tolerance because there is different models of thermalpads and each one has a different way to perform when it is under compression stress.

  • @sixsonic
    @sixsonic Місяць тому

    where can i find excel file?

  • @Gribbous
    @Gribbous 22 дні тому

    tyty

  • @raedalhazmi6448
    @raedalhazmi6448 Рік тому

    Ok, know how to the best thermal pad with the best conductivity and softness
    I best in my opinion after test a lot of thermal pads is gelid extreme because of softness and decent temp results
    I didn't try valor odin thermal pad

  • @yuriys5642
    @yuriys5642 Рік тому

    "Should be a very short video"

  • @xSkittlesxNewbx
    @xSkittlesxNewbx 10 місяців тому +1

    It's also the fact that explanation on thermal pads is so shit, looking at you, ALL GPU PRODUCERS; like, lets take RX 6800 XT red devil as an example; currently, there's 3 different versions (4 if we include ones with different thicknesses) of what thermal pads to use and where they should go; and even when opening new cards (When watching fresh tear downs) you can also notice, several thermal pads being missplaced (Usually, for this card specifically, it's the 4mm and 5mm pads); then you go into guides that tell you how to put it together, where one on youtube will tell you the 4/5 mm pads are actually 3.5 (They are bloody not) and the other area doesn't matter because it didn't have a pad when it was torn down (But on some tear downs, inc my own, that piece that was missing in his one, was present in mine, and I was missing a long 4mm one.)
    Or lets take most of MSI's cards, I'll use one I had 1080 ti GTX gaming by MSI; the GPU has several different thickness of thermal pads, there's no clear guidance on which ones are the correct ones, and same as AMD GPU equivelent, not all thermal pads are in the same areas through the spread of gpu tear downs.
    And even then, you have to take into consideration of softness of thermal pads because some will mold easily (like TP3 by arctic) and you don't have to worry about it being thicker by 0.2mm or some shit, because they are designed to squish and spread down for max performance, and then you have the bog standard blue ones that have almost no squishiness when comparing one to one and because of that, the room for error in thickness is much smaller.
    TLDR: Would be bloody lovely if -all- GPU producers provided proper manuals for their GPU's, because lets face it, with the type of thermal excuse of paste that they use, you would want to change yours within a year or two, so you would have to take it apart or send it to a guy like this to do it with thermal pad changes (Because again, depending on the quality of thermal pads you might wanna change it within the first year, or if during changing thermal paste you mess up, dirty up or damage your existing ones, you will want to change them then; obviously depending on the amount of damage / grime you trap on them, thought personally if I open a friends gpu and see a strand of hair and other shit across the thermal pad, that shit is going to the bin and new pad is going on) Always consider thickness to squishiness when replacing and due to good quality thermal pads being pricey, do A LOT of research, because most tear downs are inacurrate due to lack of knowledge and on the other hand due to manufacturer sending parts out slightly differently configured (In a sense of thermal pad placements; and thickness, depending on the squishiness of original pads)