Yeah i am happy to see all sorts of configurations so share whatever you got
I will add what I find to this thread. Unfortunately im waiting for the Z790 Apex which was meant to be delivered by now but seems the UK has been delyaed on arrivals.
Only the smd have varnish on them which is red and protects them. The die is perfect, the patterns you see on the die is left over residue from the Noctua alcohol wipes nothing else or anything to be worried about
They mention about the residue in this video , they say it is only visual and can be polished if needed which i didn't do as was getting covered with liquid metal anywayAh, good, I thought it looked odd for a clean
This is somewhat of a useless test as the only game i know that will have power usage this high is Metros Exodus Enhanced edition when running 4k with RT will happily use 540w+ but most games are around the 250w to 380w range and delta is a lot lower in this case . either way this is what it is at 540w+ .
Great results, I especially like the delta between core and hotspot. I have the EK 4090 block on the way for the TUF. I had been debating getting different thermal pads but don't want to run into any issues. I presume the Gelid pads you used would be similar to the ones I would need if I happened to change them up. Did you get exactly the same size ones as EK or was it a bit trickier adding them together or so forth? Thanks.Another temp test , this time running furmark with core clock and memory clock stock but with power and voltage maxed . Result is delta of water to core of 25 deg at 570w give or take so 22deg water , GPU core 47 deg and hotspot at 55 deg and pump speed is set at 2.5l per min / 150l per hour according to the byski flow sensor
I used Gelid Ultimate pads which are 15w/mk BUT i would strongly advice against this and would suggest you use the supplied EK thermal pads at 3w/mk and the reason is due to the Gelid pads overcooling the vram and not allowing it to get to a stable temp for max oc ability , the vram on these 4090 like to be above 43 deg from the info i can find and my own testing ... anything under this will reduce your memory oc by 50Mhz or so to get it stable. Im not to bothered about it on mine as in games i have the memory set to +1200 in AB and it is rock solid stable at that clock and has no issue with the temp being to cold just if trying to go for +1500 is not possible and has to be +1450 under 43 deg memory temp. Pad size i used exactly as EK stated so 1mm, 1.5mm and 2.0 mm on my card
Yeah the ram is strange on these , have seen people even report that on air it will black screen if they run it cold at max oc and have to reduce it to get it stable. Mine dropped just 50mhz on the memory to get stable although as I mentioned earlier in games I have it set to +1200 and is rock solid stable no matter what temp . Not ideal for extreme benchmarks but perfectly fine with a good stable gaming oc on the memory.
If they are genuine score with no artifacting then that is good imo . the best on my FE is 10940 for speedway and 28299 for Port royal . Your current score would put you no1 on the speedway thread on here so something is clearly working
What were your best scores on air to compare ?Yep no artifacting at all. Getting 28960 on Port Royal now, I think with optimisation ill push another 500 points easy. After removing VRM pads on back, I can do port royal now at 1780 mhz. Can't bin any higher though.If they are genuine score with no artifacting then that is good imo . the best on my FE is 10940 for speedway and 28299 for Port royal . Your current score would put you no1 on the speedway thread on here so something is clearly working
Sounds like its certainly working now then , so you removed the pads from the rear of the pcb and it has allowed you to clock memory higher? I've not bothered stripping mine down as am happy with where its at temp wise . Next year when I switch cpu will look at redoing the thermal pads but currently don't see the need to chase that last 50mhz when my biggest issue holding me back in most benchmarks is the cpu and ram setup being so old now
you have some really solid scores now though, very impressive 
Obviously nothing is for certain, but removing the VRMs pads on the back has helped so far. Maybe I just didn't it enough time to bake in. A lot of variables.Sounds like its certainly working now then , so you removed the pads from the rear of the pcb and it has allowed you to clock memory higher? I've not bothered stripping mine down as am happy with where its at temp wise . Next year when I switch cpu will look at redoing the thermal pads but currently don't see the need to chase that last 50mhz when my biggest issue holding me back in most benchmarks is the cpu and ram setup being so old now
Also just to add can't say the coil whine has got any worse on mine , if anything was the opposite for me and became even quieter
My Strix squealed like a pig in its EK water block so I certainly know what you mean there
interesting that removing the thermal pads shuts it up, never knew that! My FE is silent so will leave the pads on but good to know for future reference if mine didn't weigh 60kg I'd have it out in the garden getting chilled 
