Thermal Pad Replacement

Before you start, make sure to ground yourself and your work surface properly to prevent damage from static electricity.

Unscrew the four heatsink screws from the back of the graphics card.

These are the ones nearest the PCIe connector, with the springs.

Gently lift the GPU and its backplate off the heatsink.

Unplug the two cables holding the halves together.

Only the GPU die requires thermal paste; the other chips are covered by thermal pads under the black reinforcing frame.

Clean off the thermal paste and apply fresh paste.

Skip this step and the next when replacing the thermal pads.

When reassembling, place the GPU on the heatsink, lining up the four holes for the screws.

Start each of the screws in their threaded holes before tightening any of them.

Reconnect the two cables into the black sockets after the heatsink is secured.

Remove the 12 or so screws holding the frame and backplate together.

Remove the remaining two screws from the backplate.

Remove the backplate, then carefully remove the black metal frame.

Use thermal putty or thick thermal pads to cover the three sets of VRAM chips and the row of VRMs (under the big pad on the left).