3080Ti FTW3 into the custom loop

[Voodoo Rufus]

Since I'm in between classes for my master's right now, I finally have some time to do some electrical surgery and switch over my 3080Ti to water cooling. The EVGA ICX heatsink system does a fine job of dissipating 400W with its 3 92mm fans and thick fin stack, but nothing compares with the heat extraction and dissipation of a proper custom water loop. I won't be able to reconfigure my loop until next week, so this is a teaser for now. I just hope I didn't damage it because on the first assembly I used the wrong thickness thermal pads on the memory, bending the board pretty good.

 

[Killerrf]

Doesn’t water block come with proper thermal pads?

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

It did. I mixed up the backplate and chip pads.

 

[BugFreak]

I like that block. Where did you find it?

 

[Nebulous]

Nice! I love those heatkiller blocks! I'm sure it's fine, but keeping fingers crossed for you Rufus! I got an EK block on the way for my 1080Ti FTW3 Hybrid. The 120mm AIO it has from factory does a fair job, but it get's seriously heat saturated.

Adding an Alphacool NexXxos XT45 280mm rad to my existing loop hopefully will tame the savage heat monster. Wish I could add the 2nd Coolgate Quad 480mm rad to my loop, but my case isn't big enough.

Be sure to post pics of that loop of yours once the card is installed!

 

[Woomack]

I'm waiting for the Bykski block for EVGA RTX3060 XC (a weird project) and I already know they will add all the wrong thermal pads. Watercool has always everything perfect but like nearly all other brands, has only blocks for reference cards +1-2 more popular models. I bet you will be satisfied with the heatkiller block

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

I like that block. Where did you find it?

I ordered this direct from Watercool.de in Germany. It's their Heatkiller V block for the Evga 3080Ti FTW3.

I'm waiting for the Bykski block for EVGA RTX3060 XC (a weird project) and I already know they will add all the wrong thermal pads. Watercool has always everything perfect but like nearly all other brands, has only blocks for reference cards +1-2 more popular models. I bet you will be satisfied with the heatkiller block

I've been impressed with every Watercool product I've bought so far. Great fit and finish and the performance to go with it. This block is pretty heavy, too. I just didn't want to shell out more money for an even heavier block from Optimus with an unknown wait time.

I'll be going back to my dual 280mm radiator setup to dump the heat, but I've got an itch to go with a larger, more accommodating case to get back into the 480mm game, or at least dual 360mms. Maybe a Fractal Meshify XL? Getting tired of waiting for the Lian Li 3000V+, and the Corsair 1000D is just too bloody heavy.

 

[Woomack]

I have mixed feelings about Lian-Li. Some new products are just not as good quality as I wish. On the other hand, if you want a large case then there is no big choice. Most new cases are designed for slim/AIO radiators and there is a big problem to use any non-standard components.

 

[Nebulous]

I've been quite happy with my Phanteks Enthoo Primo. Have my CG 480mm rad ontop with plenty of room to spare. On the down-side it has only enough room on the side for a 240/280mm rad and the bottom a 240/280mm rad. A 240/280mm can be mounted in the front, but you will lose valuable drive space. The 280mm rad I have will be mounted at the bottom for the GPU for the time being.

I'm seriously considering a new case to at least have room for the 2 480mm rads I have or for a 480mm and a 360mm. The new Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2 looks quite promising.


Last Lian-Li case I had was the Rocketfish version.

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

Ok guys, I'm starting to tinker a little bit.

The good news: the card lives!

The other news:

1. Can't do push pull on my 280GTX. Not enough space for the thicc-ness.
2. Card doesn't sag as badly with the block compared to the heatsink. I'm going to mount it vertically so this is a non issue. It does make for a nice stealth install though if I chose to.
3. 280GTS or 360GTS for the top? Not a huge difference here except the 360 is pretty liquid restrictive. HWlabs rates the 360 at 1200W compared to 800W for the 280, so I'm thinking going to the 360. Can either go with my 1200rpm Noctua 140s or my 120mm Gentle Typhoons.



What do you guys think? I might also go back to my dual pump setup and add a 10W DDC, or my 18W......

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

Ok, going with the 360mm in the top. No second pump as there's just not enough room. Bolted up the fat boi 280mm to the 2000rpm Noctuas in push. Still going to be cramped, but should work better than my previous CPU/GPU loop as I'm going with exhausting heat out the top first before going to the front radiator. It's incremental, but it won't hurt.

 

[Blaylock]

I think this is the way to go, as long as you aren't using apple juice for coolant like in your third pic.

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

Everyone hates on my coolant.....it's just 70/30 distilled to antifreeze. Toyota pink coolant this last time. Stained the tubes pretty good.

 

[EarthDog]

Yeah, change that well water out.

...maybe dust/clean that thing out too!

Glad you aren't running a second pump.. just feels overcomplicated and useless on today's CPUs that throttle and protect themselves better than 10+ years ago (which they still did a good job then too. TJMax is there for a reason!).

 

[Blaylock]

Everyone hates on my coolant.....it's just 70/30 distilled to antifreeze. Toyota pink coolant this last time. Stained the tubes pretty good.

Hahaha. Nah, I'm no hater. Looks great so far.

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

Yeah, change that well water out.

...maybe dust/clean that thing out too!

Glad you aren't running a second pump.. just feels overcomplicated and useless on today's CPUs that throttle and protect themselves better than 10+ years ago (which they still did a good job then too. TJMax is there for a reason!).

Throttling is for weak, lame cooling systems!

Asking a D5 to pump through four components, two of which are pretty high restriction, is a tall chore. I definitely won't be getting 1gpm with this setup. Will be lucky to get .75.

 

[Woomack]

You need a really magical loop so the new top CPUs won't throttle after OC Personally, I like the new i5. Fast enough for everything and don't run so hot.
The D5 is pretty strong. I don't know what model you have but for some of them, you can adjust power.

 

[EarthDog]

Throttling is for weak, lame cooling systems!

Ahh, the days of yesteryear........

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

You need a really magical loop so the new top CPUs won't throttle after OC Personally, I like the new i5. Fast enough for everything and don't run so hot.
The D5 is pretty strong. I don't know what model you have but for some of them, you can adjust power.

Honestly I don't bother OCing the new CPUs. Dumping another hundred watts for 5% clock increase is a poor return on power. Keeping the GPU as cool as possible gives better dividends for boost clocks though.

I have one of the modern PWM D5s, but it only runs full speed. I may have fried the speed control circuit but I'll try other PWM headers on my motherboard. Overall I know I'm more limited by heat dissipation than flow rate.

 

[Woomack]

It's hard to cool these small chips. Results were much better with X series Intels or Threadrippers.
I have one D5 from EK and one from Raijintek. The Raijintek one has 5 speeds and a manual adjustment. The EK one is PWM but it's making weird noises from time to time and I'm not sure if it's normal as a lot of users complain about that in D5 pumps.