Gigabyte removes leaking thermal paste from RTX 5000 GPUs, replaces it with thermal pads

The RTX 5070 Ti Windforce OC V2 is the first to ditch the leaky gel

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The big picture: Following multiple user complaints over several months, Gigabyte has finally discontinued the use of a controversial thermal compound that was reportedly leaking from its RTX 5000 and Radeon RX 9000 series graphics cards. The company has reportedly replaced the leaky paste with a more conventional thermal pad, similar to those found in most consumer GPUs.

An updated product page for the new RTX 5070 Ti WindForce OC V2 graphics card reveals that it retains most of the specifications of the existing OC SFF model, including the 2, 497 MHz factory boost and 16 GB of 28 Gbps GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus.

However, the listing makes no mention of the controversial "server-grade thermal conductive gel" used on the SFF model to cool the VRAM and Mosfets. This suggests that Gigabyte has listened to user feedback and replaced the problematic gel with a tried-and-tested thermal pad, making the V2 the first RTX 5000-series card from Gigabyte to ship without the new compound.

The V2 also introduces a few other changes compared with the SFF model, including a 43 mm shorter form factor, smaller 80 mm fans, and different screw hole locations on the back of the card. Another notable change is the removal of the dual-BIOS functionality.

Complaints about the leaking thermal gel began circulating earlier this year, as users flooded social media and online forums with reports of the issue. While Gigabyte initially dismissed these reports as a "cosmetic issue," the company was eventually forced to acknowledge the problem, stating that the leakage resulted from an excessive application of the gel during production.

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Gigabyte claimed that the leakage would not affect the card's performance. However, users who removed the gel and replaced it with thermal pads reported temperature improvements of up to 7  degrees C.

Other users described similar experiences, noting that the VRAM in their systems was at risk of overheating after most of the thermal paste leaked out within days, leaving exposed metal surfaces in direct contact.

Gigabyte began using the new thermal compound in its RTX 5000- and Radeon RX 9000-series graphics cards earlier this year, promoting it as offering lower temperatures and better performance than traditional thermal pads. Complaints started pouring in almost immediately, particularly from owners of vertically mounted cards, who reported unexpected leakage.