Users only discovered the issue after disassembling the RTX 3070, but by then, nearly five years of using the remaining protective film had negatively affected its condition.
According to Reddit user u/buczi94, his GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3070 Gaming OC rev 2.0 (LHR) suddenly started to become unstable. Despite manually adjusting the curves in MSI Afterburner, the card would periodically go to black and the fans would spin to almost 3500 rpm for no apparent reason. After several unsuccessful attempts to fix the problem, the owner decided to disassemble the accelerator for the first time.
There was an unexpected surprise inside: there was a protective film on the VRM thermal pad. As a result, the gasket cannot make proper contact with the part, compromising heat dissipation and potentially causing the cooling system to operate erratically. The user removes the film, replaces the thermal paste and performs a pressure test. The temperature readings have since improved significantly, confirming the connection between the problem and improper assembly of the graphics card.
The owner contacted Gigabyte, but the company refused to consider the claim because the warranty had expired. Even after multiple calls, the user received a standard response but was unable to obtain a replacement device. At the same time, he claimed that the film was attached to the thermal pad from the moment of purchase, which means the problem arose at the factory. According to the owner, running in these conditions for nearly five years can cause irreversible thermal degradation and shorten the life of the graphics card.
If you also face problems while using Gigabyte products, please write in the comments.