Watercooling which 2080?

dingleweed · 21 Mar 2019 at 04:17

I'm due to get a full refund on a 1080 Ti from Amazon and have decided to go down the water cooling route but I'm unsure which 2080 to buy.

What is the criteria for choosing a good card for water cooling?

I've been looking at perhaps a reference based card for water block compatibility. Some are "binned" with the 2080 Turing architecture and have higher stock clocks. Are cheaper blower cards an OC "risk" or will they clock fine on water?

There are a couple of cards that come with blocks already fitted. I'd probably prefer to have the Air Cooled option, but are pre-blocked cards going to give a better OC? Do specific water blocks perform better than others? Liquid metal on a GPU might make a difference too?

I'd like some noob guidance please. My last card lasted just over a year, with very, very light use and I think it might be due to running 3x 144hz monitors and a 4k TV. Water cooling must be the answer, but I don't have any experience in it.

Apone70 · 21 Mar 2019 at 07:27

Liquid metal will help but isn't worth the risk IMO.
A reference card and a block is what most seem to do when putting a card under water, just make sure you get a card from a company that allows you to remove the cooler. It might be worth running the card for a couple of months at least to make sure its not a dud as there are lots of RTX duds.

dingleweed · 21 Mar 2019 at 08:00

What's the risk with the liquid metal on a GPU?

I've used it on a CPU delid and it was fine, apart from the IHS becoming fused to the H100i pump. I would imagine the water block wouldn't stick to the GPU die, as the IHS didn't stick to the CPU die.

But is the benefit of liquid metal on a water block significant compared to a gpu with a pre-installed block? I see some of the separate blocks cover more of the RAM area of the graphics card than perhaps the pre-installed block. I'm not sure how the different water blocks impact the rest of the system with flow etc.

I got a motherboard with temperature and flow monitoring so I'm wondering what benefits I could install into the system being able to keep an eye on those things.

Apone70 · 21 Mar 2019 at 08:25

Not worth the couple of extra degree's if the liquid metal runs and kills your card. You could use liquid insulation all around the die I suppose

Pohly · 21 Mar 2019 at 09:21

I always go evga because they're the only company afaik that don't void the warranty if you change the cooler.

But like apone said don't bother with liquid metal too risky on GPU dies. Get a decent non conductive paste!

Apone70 · 21 Mar 2019 at 09:44

Plus EVGA have great customer service and RMA

pastymuncher · 21 Mar 2019 at 13:16

There is no need for liquid metal on a gpu, just use a decent thermal paste such as Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut. Choose a card carefully because some of the non reference cards don't have full cover blocks available for them.

Demon · 21 Mar 2019 at 20:07

[edit] mis-read the OP!

tyler_jrb · 21 Mar 2019 at 23:00

Agreed i wouldn't bother with LM. Sure you can, i have used it before in the past without issue but you will only gain 3-4c which wont give you any extra performance or decrease in noise. And for the time spent kapton taping the die and applying the LM, its not worth it especially if you have to strip down the card as its a pain to clean off.

I would personally just get a ref EVGA 2080 for the warranty, and a compatible full cover waterblock + backplate. Or get a card with a waterblock prefitted such as the hydrocopper or msi seahawk, gigabyte aorus WB etc.

Sin_Chase · 23 Mar 2019 at 00:40

I got a Gigabyte Extreme WaterForce WB, block applied from factory and 4 year warranty. Paid a premium but not much more when you factor in a block, thermal pads etc.

oldbanana · 23 Mar 2019 at 15:00

Skip the water and just grab 2080ti

Sin_Chase · 23 Mar 2019 at 19:14

oldbanana said:
Skip the water and just grab 2080ti

How's does this suggestion meet the OPs brief?

He is watercooling his card and you recommend an air cooled card some 300-400 more expensive?

oldbanana · 23 Mar 2019 at 19:51

he doesnt have watercooling and its pointless, so buying a better card with the money saved from watercooling, not too hard to understand is it ?

Sin_Chase · 23 Mar 2019 at 20:21

oldbanana said:
he doesnt have watercooling and its pointless, so buying a better card with the money saved from watercooling, not too hard to understand is it ?

OP has specifically stated he is going to watercool (which is apt considering we are in the Watercooling subforum).

He doesn't want an air cooled card 50% more expensive.

He can save the money from not buying a ridiculously expensive Ti and get a full custom loop and all the benefits that brings. If you think watercooling is pointless then just please leave this subforum alone.

oldbanana · 23 Mar 2019 at 21:17

He said he is thinking about watercooling but he would preffer air, learn to read...

Pohly · 23 Mar 2019 at 22:45

Water-cooling pointless

... Clearly never tired it yourself?, being able to run your system at half the temps of air cooling with absolutely silent operation! Doesn't sound pointless to me! Plus the massive extra thermal headroom for overclocking!

dingleweed · 23 Mar 2019 at 23:47

Apone70 said:
Not worth the couple of extra degree's if the liquid metal runs and kills your card. You could use liquid insulation all around the die I suppose

I found these in "the box". Among other items reserved for the application and cleansing of TIM when attempting to sort out my niece's laptop.

I had them for sorting out a laptop and some graphics cards I had a while back but ended up not using them. So I've given it a shot.

I'm almost out of GELID Extreme... Maybe I have another 2 CPUs worth left. I bought the 10g beast tub for £16.60 on 10 Jun 2015. It's now selling for £23.99!!! All I hear is grizzly these days.

Anyway, to clear things up, after the graphics card died, I ended up getting it into my head that a motherboard upgrade was worth it, considering i was going to RMA my x99 board and be without a PC for some time. So I've ended up with an X299 Asus Rampage VI Extreme. I just got the Delid kit for the 7820X and am still swaying in the wind regarding Direct Die cooling.

I thought that a Monoblock was a good idea, but from what I've read I might as well cool the CPU and VRM with separate blocks. A water cooled GPU will happen, but I could get a card in the meantime with an air cooler while I attempt to educate myself in the art of water cooling. There just seems to be a few pre-blocked bargains around that keep tempting me.

I have a Corsair Air 540, so there's space in the roof for a thin 280 rad sandwich and perhaps a slightly thicker one in the front for a 360 sambo.

I have my PC in a separate room from my working area, so I have a wall between myself and the PC, so running a noisy system isn't really an issue. I just want pretty extreme cooling. What considerations will I have to make for that kind of setup when it comes to pump selection and reservoir size? Does duel loop have it's advantages? What about the sequencing?

Sin_Chase · 24 Mar 2019 at 09:29

Res size really doesn't matter, pick what works aesthetically in your case. The only difference is a larger volume of water will take longer to get to equilibrium which will give you a certain cooling improvement in the short term whilst the entire volume heats up.

DDC pump generally has better head pressure but a D5 will be quiter and more than adequate for a modest loop.

I wouldn't bother with dual loop personally, keep it simple and maximise your rad sizes.

Thicker rads with higher FPI will need faster fans (more noise) but will maximise your cooling, thinner/lower FPI can run slower fans to better effect with less noise.

MikeTimbers · 25 Mar 2019 at 20:00

I often hear the complaint that DDC pumps are noisy but I sit between two rigs that both have DDC pumps and can't hear them unless I put my ear to the floor.

dingleweed · 27 Mar 2019 at 05:03

Sin_Chase said:
Res size really doesn't matter, pick what works aesthetically in your case. The only difference is a larger volume of water will take longer to get to equilibrium which will give you a certain cooling improvement in the short term whilst the entire volume heats up.

Thicker rads with higher FPI will need faster fans (more noise) but will maximise your cooling, thinner/lower FPI can run slower fans to better effect with less noise.

I've decided to look at DDC PWM pumps now, I'm aware they'll get a wee bit hot and will require a bit of cooling and the noise isn't a big factor for me.

Thanks for the direction Sin_Chase, I have decided on going for a thicker radiator in push than a slightly thinner one with push/pull, I don't have a lot of space in the 540 Air.

Perhaps only room for a 360x60 in push and a 240x45 in push and a 140x60 in push/pull. That seems like a lot of radiator tho!