Find the exact thermal pad thickness for your graphics card.
repasting your GPU?
Your GPU is slowly cooking itself
Thermal pads dry out after 3–5 years. Temperatures climb, clocks drop, performance suffers silently. A fresh set of pads can drop VRAM temps by 15–25°C.
Extend its life, skip the upgrade
GPU prices keep rising. Repasting costs €10–30 and an afternoon. A card that runs cool lasts years longer — and stays out of a landfill.
When should you repaste?
Check your GPU hotspot temperature under load. If it's more than 20–25°C above your core temperature, your thermal pads are likely dried out. A hotspot delta above 30°C is a clear sign it's time.
The right pads, instantly
No more digging through forums and old Reddit threads. Search your exact GPU model and get the pad thicknesses you need — verified by the community.
Why bother
repasting your GPU?
Because your graphics card is worth more than a dried-out pad and a thermal throttle.
Heat is the silent killer
Modern GPUs push hundreds of watts through a die the size of your thumbnail. The thermal pads and paste between that die and the heatsink are the only thing standing between your card and permanent damage. Over time — typically 3 to 5 years — those pads dry out, compress, or crack. Temperatures climb. Clocks drop. Performance suffers quietly.
A fresh set of pads and paste can drop VRAM temperatures by 15–25°C and core temps by 5–15°C. That's the difference between throttling at 85°C and running cool at 65°C.
The sustainability argument
GPU prices have been rising for years. Supply shortages, mining demand, and supply chain disruptions have made new hardware increasingly hard to justify. At the same time, the environmental cost of manufacturing a new GPU — rare earth metals, water, energy — is enormous.
Repasting and repading your existing card is one of the most effective things you can do to extend its life. A GPU that runs cool lasts longer. A card you keep for 7 years instead of 4 is a card that doesn't end up in a landfill — and one that doesn't require a new one to be manufactured.
It costs €10–30 in materials and an afternoon of your time. The math is hard to argue with.
Why PadDB exists
When I first tried to repaste my own GPU, I ran into a frustrating problem: there was no good place to find the correct pad thicknesses. Forum threads were scattered and often contradictory. Manufacturer documentation was either missing or buried. Reddit posts were years old and full of conflicting advice.
The information existed — in teardown videos, iFixit guides, enthusiast forums, and community spreadsheets — but it was fragmented, hard to find, and impossible to verify at a glance.
PadDB is my attempt to fix that. A single, clean, community-maintained database where you search for your exact GPU model and immediately get the pad thicknesses you need — nothing more, nothing less.
Built with the community
PadDB can only be as good as the data behind it. We currently have hundreds of GPU models with verified pad data, but there are thousands of cards out there — different board revisions, regional variants, and OEM models that need coverage.
If you've opened your card and measured the pads, or found a reliable source we've missed, please contribute. Every submission is reviewed and helps someone else make their GPU last longer.
This is a free resource and always will be. We keep the lights on through affiliate links on our thermal pad recommendations page — products we genuinely stand behind.
How to repaste
a GPU
Is your graphics card running hotter than it used to? Higher temperatures, increased fan noise, and thermal throttling are often signs that the thermal paste and thermal pads inside your GPU have degraded over time.
How GPU repasting works
GPU repasting involves carefully disassembling the graphics card, removing the old thermal paste from the GPU die and heatsink, and applying a fresh layer of high-quality thermal compound. The thermal paste is applied directly to the GPU die, ensuring optimal heat transfer between the graphics processor and the cooler.
During the service, the existing thermal pads that cool the memory chips (VRAM) and power delivery components (VRMs) are inspected and replaced when necessary. New thermal pads are installed using the same thickness as the original pads to maintain proper contact pressure and cooling performance.
Proper installation is essential. Using thermal pads with incorrect dimensions or thickness can reduce cooler contact, negatively impact temperatures, and in some cases result in worse performance than before.
The importance of correct thermal pads
Unlike thermal paste, thermal pads are available in multiple thicknesses and must match the manufacturer's specifications. Unfortunately, this information is often difficult to find, especially for older or less common graphics cards.
To help the community, I created PadDB, a database dedicated to GPU thermal pad specifications. In addition to pad thickness information, PadDB is continuously expanded with visual thermal pad layouts, making it easier to identify pad locations and perform accurate maintenance on specific graphics card models.
Signs your GPU may need repasting
Common symptoms include higher GPU temperatures than normal, increased fan noise under load, thermal throttling and reduced performance, aging graphics cards with several years of use, and a large temperature difference between the GPU core and hotspot.
One of the clearest indicators is a hotspot temperature that consistently runs 30°C or more above the GPU core temperature. This often suggests that the thermal interface between the GPU die and cooler is no longer performing optimally.
Benefits of GPU repasting
A professional GPU repaste and thermal pad replacement can restore cooling performance, improve temperature consistency, and help extend the lifespan of your graphics card. You can expect lower GPU and hotspot temperatures, improved heat transfer and cooling efficiency, reduced thermal throttling, quieter operation, better gaming and workstation performance, and an extended graphics card lifespan.
Professional GPU maintenance
Whether your graphics card is used for gaming, content creation, AI workloads, or professional applications, maintaining an effective thermal interface is essential for reliable performance. By replacing degraded thermal paste and worn thermal pads with the correct materials and specifications, your GPU can operate cooler, quieter, and more efficiently.
If your graphics card is showing signs of thermal degradation, a GPU repaste and thermal pad replacement can be a cost-effective way to restore cooling performance, improve reliability, and maximize the lifespan of your hardware.