Your GPU isn’t dying, it’s just overheating—here’s the $10 fix
Cheap GPU, expensive GPU, they can all struggle and fail for any number of reasons. More often than not, one of the main problems they face is heat. If your GPU is forced to work overtime for years and conditions are less than ideal, it will start to show its age much sooner than a card that has virtually never been pushed to its limits.
No matter what you do with your GPU, the last thing you want to do is throw it away. If your graphics card is having trouble, here’s where to start before considering buying a new one (especially in this economy).
Your GPU May Not Be Dying, It Could Just Be Neglected
Heat is a real performance killer
First, let’s discuss the idea of a “dying GPU”, because that means different things to different people.
An occasional driver crash or drop in fps doesn’t mean your GPU is dying. There could be any number of reasons for any of these things, and unless they’re happening regularly, multiple times a day, your GPU might still be working fine.
But if you’re constantly experiencing terrible performance, crashes, freezes, or artifacts, then yes, your GPU could be on its way out. Either way, it looks like it’s in trouble.
One of the easiest ways for an old GPU to start feeling finished is through heat. A graphics card may still be perfectly functional on paper, but as soon as temperatures climb too high, performance begins to suffer. This is where the conversation shifts from a GPU that is dying to one that might be overheating. One way to fix this is to re-glue the GPU, much like you would with a CPU.
Ironing might help, but it’s not foolproof
And it can be quite risky
Justin Duino / How to Geek
Thermal paste exists to improve contact between the chip and cooler, filling in tiny, invisible imperfections that would otherwise leave behind insulating air gaps. This helps carry heat away from the GPU to the heatsink more efficiently. If you (like many others) don’t clean your PC regularly, the GPU is stuck in a dusty case; thermal paste can help.
The act of regluing boils down to simply removing the old thermal paste between the GPU chip and the cooler, cleaning both surfaces, and applying a new layer so that heat can properly penetrate the heatsink again.
The good news is that you can generally use the same type of normal thermal paste that you would use on a CPU, as long as you stick with conventional paste. When you buy one, check if it’s suitable for both and make sure it doesn’t conduct electricity.
At a high level, the job is pretty simple: you disassemble the card, separate the cooler, clean the old paste from the GPU and cooler plate, add a small amount of fresh paste, then reassemble the card so the mounting pressure distributes it into a thin layer.
This does not make it suitable for beginners, however.
Use it as part of a broader rescue plan
Make sure you know what you are signing up for
The reason I’m not writing a step-by-step guide here is that for most people, eating is just one of many answers, and it’s far from the most intuitive or simple. If you are unfamiliar with the process, it is best to avoid it.
Unless you’re a pro, eating should never be the only thing you try, or even the First of all thing you are trying.
Before you take your GPU apart, it makes more sense to check the basics first: monitor temperatures under load, check fan behavior, and see if the GPU is overheating in the first place. GPU issues can be quite ambiguous and it’s easy to target the wrong problem.
It’s also helpful to remember that your GPU doesn’t live in a vacuum. Dust buildup, poor airflow in the case, blocked air vents, or even a CPU bottleneck can make your GPU and PC as a whole appear worse than they really are. Look at the bigger picture before taking hasty action.
There are easier victories first
But it might be worth a try
Start by using a program like MSI Afterburner. Monitor temperatures when the GPU is running heavy workloads and when idle. Adjust the fan curves and try undervolting to give it some breathing room. And please clean your PC.
If temperatures remain out of control after all this, replaying makes sense, but it should just be part of a larger effort to stabilize the map. You don’t have to re-glue your GPU regularly like many people re-glue their CPU every couple of years. (It doesn’t hurt, but old dough alone isn’t the only problem.)
Regluing can definitely help a struggling GPU if temperatures are the problem. But if your GPU becomes old and underperforming, you can still use it in a dual-GPU system to perform lighter tasks or benefit from lossless scaling to improve its performance.
Focus on what you’re comfortable with
The bottom line here is this: if you’re not comfortable with the idea of regluing a GPU, don’t do it. It’s not the easiest thing in the world and can have consequences, so I don’t recommend it to people who are unfamiliar with how a GPU is built and aren’t comfortable taking theirs apart.
Start with what you’re comfortable with and if all else fails, consider paying a professional or simply buying a new GPU.
