RTX 3080 blower advice please

[Matt9]

I'm in the process of upgrading my PC and I've just bought a Gigagyte rtx 3080 graphics card. After buying it I read a few people saying how it gets very hot as it's a blower card and they wish they never bought it. I haven't used it yet as I'm still in the process of buying new cpu, psu etc but I'm worrying that I may have made a mistake?

Incase this information is of any relevance my PC case is a NZXT Phantom 820 and I use the PC for VR gaming and only ever play for around 1 hour each day so I don't know if that will make it less of a problem as I don't have it on for long.

I read you can buy a water cooler for the graphics card but I am already way over budget so far and its yet another aspect I know very little about so I'm just wondering what others with more experience of these cards think? I also read it is quite loud but that doesn't worry me to much with me only using it for VR as I'm not to close to it. Cheers.

 

[z10m]

I'm in the process of upgrading my PC and I've just bought a Gigagyte rtx 3080 graphics card. After buying it I read a few people saying how it gets very hot as it's a blower card and they wish they never bought it. I haven't used it yet as I'm still in the process of buying new cpu, psu etc but I'm worrying that I may have made a mistake?

Incase this information is of any relevance my PC case is a NZXT Phantom 820 and I use the PC for VR gaming and only ever play for around 1 hour each day so I don't know if that will make it less of a problem as I don't have it on for long.

I read you can buy a water cooler for the graphics card but I am already way over budget so far and its yet another aspect I know very little about so I'm just wondering what others with more experience of these cards think? I also read it is quite loud but that doesn't worry me to much with me only using it for VR as I'm not to close to it. Cheers.

It’s a 320W graphics card so I can’t see blower style cooler being enough for it.
It will be loud and throttle probably.
If you can return it and get something with decent cooler.

 

[Matt9]

It’s a 320W graphics card so I can’t see blower style cooler being enough for it.
It will be loud and throttle probably.
If you can return it and get something with decent cooler.

The problem is I've opened it and broke the seal, also a bit of the box tore.
I was hoping as I only play for short periods it may be ok but my knowledge and experience is very limited.

 

[Tetras]

The problem is I've opened it and broke the seal, also a bit of the box tore.
I was hoping as I only play for short periods it may be ok but my knowledge and experience is very limited.

In this review, it seems like the card is alright, if you find it too hot and noisy then you can try undervolting/underclocking it until the noise is more comfortable. If you got a good deal then I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Finners]

I would undervolt+underclock the card with a blower cooler. In your case it's probably worth picking a voltage like 800mv and seeing what the highest clock speed you can get stable at that. I'd imagine it would be in the 1750-1800Mhz range.

This will lose you about 5% maybe a little more but save you about 100watts at full load so will run much cooler at a given fan speed.

I'm assuming the fan doesn't stop at idle on blower cards so you could even do a custom fan curve to match your preference.

All this can be done with a program called MSI afterburner. There are tons of guides out there for the process.

 

[Matt9]

Thanks guys I'll respond to each post tomorrow when I have more time to think about what other questions I may have but can I just ask one quick additional question.

Would buying an Alphacool water cooler solve my problem of this card overheating? I have read that there is one that fits this size card and is around £83. Sorry for all the questions I would have thought it would be easy to Google these answers but it's not, and I would rather ask the experts on here anyway.

 

[cjgardens]

Thanks guys I'll respond to each post tomorrow when I have more time to think about what other questions I may have but can I just ask one quick additional question.

Would buying an Alphacool water cooler solve my problem of this card overheating? I have read that there is one that fits this size card and is around £83. Sorry for all the questions I would have thought it would be easy to Google these answers but it's not, and I would rather ask the experts on here anyway.

Yeah it would solve the problem if it fits and fits in your case, Just make sure it's the right one for your card. Not all PCBs are the same

 

[Finners]

Thanks guys I'll respond to each post tomorrow when I have more time to think about what other questions I may have but can I just ask one quick additional question.

Would buying an Alphacool water cooler solve my problem of this card overheating? I have read that there is one that fits this size card and is around £83. Sorry for all the questions I would have thought it would be easy to Google these answers but it's not, and I would rather ask the experts on here anyway.

Do you have a link to the water cooler? Preferably the manufacturer's website link as links to other shops are not allowed here. Just want to check it's an entire cooler system and not just the block which would need an additional ~£200 of equipment to actually be workable.

 

[Haz123]

Thanks guys I'll respond to each post tomorrow when I have more time to think about what other questions I may have but can I just ask one quick additional question.

Would buying an Alphacool water cooler solve my problem of this card overheating? I have read that there is one that fits this size card and is around £83. Sorry for all the questions I would have thought it would be easy to Google these answers but it's not, and I would rather ask the experts on here anyway.

Yes that style cooler will keep a 3080 cool with no problem but they are PCB specific so you have to make certain it will fit your particular card. Also like Finners mentions I think you are looking at just a gpu block and not the full Eiswolf AIO that are over £200.

Not sure we are allowed to link to the Alphacool site because they sell to the UK but the gigabyte cards it fits are -

Compatibility:
RTX 3080 TI
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Eagle 12G, 12GB GDDR6X, 2x HDMI, 3x DP
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Eagle OC 12G, 12GB GDDR6X, 2x HDMI, 3x DP
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Vision OC 12G, 12GB GDDR6X, 2x HDMI, 3x DP
Gigabyte Geforce RTX 3080 Ti Gaming OC
RTX 3080
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Eagle OC 10G, 10GB GDDR6X, 2x HDMI, 3x DP
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Gaming OC 10G, 10GB GDDR6X, 2x HDMI, 3x DP
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Turbo 10G, 10GB GDDR6X, 2x HDMI, 2x DP
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Vision OC 10G, 10GB GDDR6X, 2x HDMI, 3x DP
RTX 3090
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3090 Eagle OC 24G, 24GB GDDR6X, 2x HDMI, 3x DP
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3090 Gaming OC 24G, 24GB GDDR6X, 2x HDMI, 3x DP
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3090 Turbo 24G, 24GB GDDR6X, 2x HDMI, 2x DP
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3090 Vision OC 24G, 24GB GDDR6X, 2x HDMI, 3x DP

You can also get a version that fits the -

Compatibility:
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition

I have never heard of seen a 3080 with a blower style cooler so the exact model number would be helpful

 

[Matt9]

---

Thanks guys. It's the Gigabyte turbo from that list but I'm guessing you're both right and it's not the full system I was looking at so I'm glad I asked. I just checked and the same thing for all the other cards is the same sort of price so it's obviously not the full system and just a gpu block as you've suggested. Thanks for the 2 answers you've stopped me from making another stupid mistake.​

So I'm back to square one as buying the full cooling system on top will be far to much.​

 

[Woodsta888]

Blower cards aren't all bad, other cards dump the heat into the case which you then have to configure your case fans to feed and exhaust the heat from the case. With a blower, make sure the intake fan on the card has a direct supply of cool air. The noise comes from air going through the cards' grill at the back.

JUst an idea, but you could get some automotive induction hose to duct air from a case fan to the intake fan on the card.

Summat like this but can find bits on an auction site. https://www.demon-tweeks.com/uk/per...one-hose-kits/intake/shop-by/sortby/price_uk/

Depends how proud you are of the inside of your case.

 

[TrojanWhore]

First, if you're only using it for VR it may not be an issue as I'm guessing you'll be wearing headphones - Just raise the fan profile to provide better cooling at the expense of noise.
Second, if you still need to get more air in to the card you could just cut a fan hole in the case side panel/window (assuming acrylic) and add a fan there blowing underneath the fan intake on the card.

 

[Skilid]

The only downside of owning a blower card is noise. It will perform nearly identically to all other 3080s, but will produce more noise in doing so. A 3080 is a 3080. If you got a good deal on it, I wouldn't worry. Undervolting can help (I did this with my Vega 64 blower) but it will always make some noise.

If you water cool it you'll get way less noise, but only a tiny bit more performance, if any. You'll also lose £££ in the process. Gotta ask yourself if it's worth it. You'll likely also say bye bye to your warranty, if you have one.

 

[Matt9]

The only downside of owning a blower card is noise. It will perform nearly identically to all other 3080s, but will produce more noise in doing so. A 3080 is a 3080. If you got a good deal on it, I wouldn't worry. Undervolting can help (I did this with my Vega 64 blower) but it will always make some noise.

If you water cool it you'll get way less noise, but only a tiny bit more performance, if any. You'll also lose £££ in the process. Gotta ask yourself if it's worth it. You'll likely also say bye bye to your warranty, if you have one.

I'm not as worried about the noise as I mainly just play vr but what about the problems with it getting so hot and thermal throttling? That's my only worry. I don't know much about these things and worry something in the card will eventually get damaged or thermal throttling will occur.

I definitely won't spend loads of money on a water cooler so I'll either take a chance with it or sell it and buy a different card but I would rather not have to do that.

 

[Skilid]

I'm not as worried about the noise as I mainly just play vr but what about the problems with it getting so hot and thermal throttling? That's my only worry. I don't know much about these things and worry something in the card will eventually get damaged or thermal throttling will occur.

I definitely won't spend loads of money on a water cooler so I'll either take a chance with it or sell it and buy a different card but I would rather not have to do that.

I think you're overreacting. You've been told horror stories which just don't add up to the real world experience. The card will not overheat and damage itself. It may throttle a little bit, but that can be resolved somewhat by undervolting slightly or by increasing the fan speed. If you're not bothered by the noise then you literally have nothing to worry about. Enjoy your 3080.

 

[Finners]

I'm not as worried about the noise as I mainly just play vr but what about the problems with it getting so hot and thermal throttling? That's my only worry. I don't know much about these things and worry something in the card will eventually get damaged or thermal throttling will occur.

I definitely won't spend loads of money on a water cooler so I'll either take a chance with it or sell it and buy a different card but I would rather not have to do that.

It won't throttle so much that it's running at something silly like half speed. All cards these days throttle with temp not huge amounts about 15Mhz every 10 degrees or so. Undervolting really is a no brainer with these cards, even ones with good coolers as you can get stock performance for about 50watt less power so less heat and noise. That's what I do with my 3080.


It won't be quiet underload with just one small fan but blower coolers have never been.

With a decent undervolt so it's only pulling 220-240watts it will put it at the same power draw as older generation cards like the GTX 1080Ti and they came with blower coolers and we're fine.

 

[Haz123]

Well you already have the card so no real harm in building the PC and testing it. If the temps are ok just enjoy , if too high undervolt and see where that gets you.

Not all blower style cards are the 2900xtx Leafblower...

Radeon 2900 XTX FAN noise

Описание

www.youtube.com

 

[eeii]

Well you already have the card so no real harm in building the PC and testing it. If the temps are ok just enjoy , if too high undervolt and see where that gets you.

Not all blower style cards are the 2900xtx Leafblower...

Radeon 2900 XTX FAN noise

Описание

www.youtube.com

Ahhhh my vega64 blower was not far behind even with under volting. Underwater it was a monster.

 

[Matt9]

Thanks everyone for all the advice. It seems the general concensus is that if I want to use this card then i will probably have to undervolt it (and wear headphones).
As I struggle with even the most basic tasks to do with PC gaming I think that would be beyond me and not something I want to be playing around with unless I absolutely have to.
I'm going to try and sell it and buy a different one i think although if I can't sell it for close to what I bought it for I will give it a go. I've still got to buy a new mobo, processor, ram and probably psu so I'll try and sell this and get a new one before I have all the other components together. If I can't sell I'll give it a whirl.

Before I make another silly mistake, are the rest of the rtx 3080 cards pretty similar? I know some are slightly over clocked and some may use slightly better components and different sizes (I think my case is big enough for any) but is there much difference between the ones listed below?

MSI 3080 10gb gaming Z trio
MSI 3080 10gb Ventu 3x plus oc
Asus 3080 10gb Tuf
Gigabyte 3080 10gb eagle

There are also the likes of Zolta, pny, Palit but I read they are slightly cheaper brands and the others are probably better.

I'll do more research before I buy another one of course, but just wondering if anyone had any views.

 

[Skilid]

Seems a bit silly to get rid when you've not even tried it yet. You won't be able to sell it on particularly easily.

You don't HAVE to undervolt it, but it can help. It's really easy to do and there are plenty of guides on Youtube.