[HELP] Watercooling noob, want to watercool just my GPU

[Finners]

I have a 3090FE, it's hot, it's loud, I don't like it, it needs water, don't want to spend a fortune or even include the CPU in the loop currently.

I already know I'll need a waterblock so a Corsair maybe? (Again, don't want to spend too much). I don't want any RGB and would prefer everything was black, including soft black hoses.

My current case is a Phanteks Enthoo Pro which can take a 280mm rad up front but I can't really see any room for a reservoir/pump so I might have to get another case unless there are some fairly compact reservoir/pumps.

So, what do I need?

You may have already tried all this but thought I'd ask. Have you been monitoring temps. Most places I've read the 3090 is pretty quiet running.

Having recently got a 3080 noticing the VRAM temps being high, googling around has led me to lots of threads of 3090 like yours being loud and running fans at 100% if the VRAM temps get to high.

People have been replacing the thermal pads with great results.

Being water cooled or air cooled you are still going to be trying to dump 350w+ of heat into your room. Only way round this is an undervolt

 

[Defy Belief]

I'll see if I can somehow mod my case so the existing 280mm AIO rad will fit at the top and that will free up the front for GPU rad and reservoir then.

It can fit a 280 rad up to according to the spec, you shouldn't need to mod it.

It'll be better for the aio with the rad at the top also due to air bubbles.

 

[RipGroove]

You may have already tried all this but thought I'd ask. Have you been monitoring temps. Most places I've read the 3090 is pretty quiet running.

Having recently got a 3080 noticing the VRAM temps being high, googling around has led me to lots of threads of 3090 like yours being loud and running fans at 100% if the VRAM temps get to high.

People have been replacing the thermal pads with great results.

Being water cooled or air cooled you are still going to be trying to dump 350w+ of heat into your room. Only way round this is an undervolt

Oh yeah I'm deep into that at the moment to the point my card has been RMA'd and us being collected tomorrow morning for a replacement. My memory was running 104°C average with spikes to 112°C even with a desk fan pointed at the GPU. I plan on watercooling it's replacement because I don't think it will be quiet enough for me because I usually have AIO's on both CPU and GPU so my systems are very quiet.

 

[RipGroove]

It can fit a 280 rad up to according to the spec, you shouldn't need to mod it.

It'll be better for the aio with the rad at the top also due to air bubbles.

I need to have a proper look but when I put a rule up there it didn't look like it would all fit. I may be wrong though.

 

[Defy Belief]

I need to have a proper look but when I put a rule up there it didn't look like it would all fit. I may be wrong though.

Should fit fine, aio's always have slim rads anyway, can't see it being an issue.

 

[RipGroove]

Should fit fine, aio's always have slim rads anyway, can't see it being an issue.

I think it had something to do with the sliding mechanism at the top that holds the fans, IIRC it physically wouldn't slide in with a rad and fans attached and there was no way of attaching the rad and fans once it was already slid into place, something like that anyway but while my GPU is away being RMA'd I can have a proper look at it over the next day or two.

 

[Defy Belief]

I'll see if I can somehow mod my case so the existing 280mm AIO rad will fit at the top and that will free up the front for GPU rad and reservoir then.

Have you considered a swap in the mm for a aftermarket cooled 3090?

 

[RipGroove]

Have you considered a swap in the mm for a aftermarket cooled 3090?

I'd love an EVGA Hybrid 3090 with AIO, I would happily trade my new 3090FE + some cash for one but I doubt there would be any takers, I mean, why would you? I've actually only just hit the post limit to access mm so I need to sort out the access and have a look.

 

[Defy Belief]

I'd love an EVGA Hybrid 3090 with AIO, I would happily trade my new 3090FE + some cash for one but I doubt there would be any takers, I mean, why would you? I've actually only just hit the post limit to access mm so I need to sort out the access and have a look.

Can only do direct trades and not plus cash sadly, but someone might swap for a diff / quieter cooler version. Never know.

 

[feck199]

I’ve not seen memory temps above 100, but I have been tempted sticking some little heat sinks over the backplate pretty much where the memory is. Not sure how effective it would be.

 

[RipGroove]

I’ve not seen memory temps above 100, but I have been tempted sticking some little heat sinks over the backplate pretty much where the memory is. Not sure how effective it would be.

Mine instantly jumps to 102°C, then with 10mins of heat saturation goes to 104-106°C with spikes to 110-112°C

 

[wookiee87]

i run my 3090 fe on custom watercooling in my lian li o-11 mini, i have a ddc/res going to the gpu then back to a ek ce 280mm radiator in the side and finally back to the pump/res, pretty small loop but it does the trick, have my 5950x on air cooling via a noctua NH-U12S Chromax Pure Black CPU Cooler and have added a second fan to beef up its cooling ability and that works quite well.

the card pushes all of it's heat directly out of the case so the main chamber keeps pretty cold, i have 4 120mm fans 2 in bottom and 2 in top as intake and exaust, so the bottom ones supply the fans on the side rad and the top exaust pull any waste heat from the cpu that doesn't go out the back.

You have plenty of options to cool as your case is a lot bigger than mine but with regards to the gpu, a minimum of 240mm rad is needed so the bigger the better

 

[RipGroove]

i run my 3090 fe on custom watercooling in my lian li o-11 mini, i have a ddc/res going to the gpu then back to a ek ce 280mm radiator in the side and finally back to the pump/res, pretty small loop but it does the trick, have my 5950x on air cooling via a noctua NH-U12S Chromax Pure Black CPU Cooler and have added a second fan to beef up its cooling ability and that works quite well.

the card pushes all of it's heat directly out of the case so the main chamber keeps pretty cold, i have 4 120mm fans 2 in bottom and 2 in top as intake and exaust, so the bottom ones supply the fans on the side rad and the top exaust pull any waste heat from the cpu that doesn't go out the back.

You have plenty of options to cool as your case is a lot bigger than mine but with regards to the gpu, a minimum of 240mm rad is needed so the bigger the better

Cool, I'll work on getting my CPU AIO rad mounted up the top first then so that'll give me an idea of the space I have available up front. What block do you have on your GPU?

 

[wookiee87]

Cool, I'll work on getting my CPU AIO rad mounted up the top first then so that'll give me an idea of the space I have available up front. What block do you have on your GPU?

i ordered the ek special block direct from ek as ocuk didnt have it when i wanted one wont lie from ek was £350, but i have seen them on ocuk in stock for £299, so get one quick, very expensive but it does an amazing job of cooling the memory down

 

[RipGroove]

i ordered the ek special block direct from ek as ocuk didnt have it when i wanted one wont lie from ek was £350, but i have seen them on ocuk in stock for £299, so get one quick, very expensive but it does an amazing job of cooling the memory down

Think I'll take my chances for now with the Corsair as it's half the price.

 

[RipGroove]

Should fit fine, aio's always have slim rads anyway, can't see it being an issue.

I have 20mm clearance between the top of my RAM and the top exhaust fans:

And my AIO rad is 30mm thick so there's no way it's fitting up top:

I can fit fans or radiator up top but not both together. The case manual says a 280mm will fit depending on the rest of the setup so I assume they mean only with very low profile RAM. My RAM isn't massive at all, it sits 55mm high off of the motherboard.

 

[RipGroove]

Just tried it and as suspected the fans on the rad foul on the RAM so it's not happening. You need some seriously thin fans and rad up top or some very short RAM for it to work.

Time for a new case as well then.

This is how it sits and the whole sliding mechanism that holds the rad and fans still needs to move in 10mm in order to be screwed in and allow the glass side panel to fit back on.

 

[Defy Belief]

I have 20mm clearance between the top of my RAM and the top exhaust fans:

And my AIO rad is 30mm thick so there's no way it's fitting up top:

I can fit fans or radiator up top but not both together. The case manual says a 280mm will fit depending on the rest of the setup so I assume they mean only with very low profile RAM. My RAM isn't massive at all, it sits 55mm high off of the motherboard.

That sucks, phanteks usually so good for watercooling case wise too. Seems like a stupid config that no one would ever have in a 280.

 

[RipGroove]

That sucks, phanteks usually so good for watercooling case wise too. Seems like a stupid config that no one would ever have in a 280.

Yeah it's a bit odd. I've taken the very top panel off of the case and I reckon if I get the Dremel out I could sandwich some fans between the very top panel and the sliding assembly that holds the rad and just have the rad hanging below it. First glance looks like it will almost be a case of physically squashing everything in place and quickly doing the screws up lol Not ideal by any means.

 

[RipGroove]

Well squashing everything in compressed the fans just enough that their fins touched the rad so that's a no go as well. Deffo time for a new case if o want to water cool the GPU.