Honeywell PTM7950 Thermal Upgrade Boosts XFX Radeon RX 6950 XT Cooling

The XFX Radeon RX 6950 XT graphics card underwent a thermal paste upgrade, replacing the original thermal paste that had been in use for about two years with the Honeywell PTM7950 phase-change pad. This modification resulted in notable temperature improvements without altering the cooler itself. Under high load conditions, the GPU's average temperature dropped by 4.4 to 6.0 K, depending on the fan control settings. In the Steel Nomad benchmark, the Hotspot temperature decreased by 3 to 6 K, despite the GPU operating at higher clock speeds and power consumption with lower fan speeds.

In the Time Spy benchmark, the GPU temperature fell from 75.3 °C to 70.9 °C with automatic fan control, while the Hotspot temperature initially increased slightly due to reduced fan speeds. However, when the fan speed was fixed at 40%, the Hotspot temperature normalized, demonstrating the effectiveness of the PTM7950 pad. The performance differences in Time Spy were minimal, with scores varying within measurement tolerance, indicating no significant performance impact from the thermal paste change.

The modification process involved carefully removing the old thermal paste and applying the PTM7950 pad to the GPU die. The cooler design, fans, and other thermal pads remained unchanged. The tests were conducted under various conditions, including a 2.6-GHz profile with a 360 W power limit, to ensure comprehensive evaluation. The results highlighted the thermal benefits of the PTM7950 pad, providing additional thermal headroom for higher power profiles without compromising performance.