Quick intro: me and a buddy run a small YouTube channel called Not Dead Yet https://youtube.com/@notdeadyet-at?si=P6wgUv1HUZKnSctA where we repair and tear down electronics. So far that's been mostly old lab gear like a Fluke 179 and a Rigol spectrum analyzer, plus a car instrument cluster that refused to die.
Next up is my own card. I shunt modded my 5090 right after launch and put liquid metal on the die at the same time. It's been my daily card for about 1.5 years now and I've never opened it since.
Plan for the video: measure temps as it is now, tear it down and see what 18 months of LM actually did to the cold plate, then give it the full spa treatment (clean, polish, new paste, new pads) and measure again under the same conditions.
Before we start I'm curious what you all expect. Is the cold plate trashed? Did the LM creep somewhere it shouldn't? Will fresh paste even beat old LM?
Also open for suggestions on what to test or log. Link to the channel's in the comments if you want to see what we do.