First Custom Loop with a 3080FE

[Gavster]

I have been thinking about doing a custom lop for a while and started to get parts together to coincide with the new Nvidia GPU release which would be an ideal time to do this.

I have a Hardware Labs GTS360, EK Momentum monoblock, EK Quantum Kinetic combo unit and a EK GPU waterblock for the 3080FE, the missing ingredient so far is the actual 3080FE lol.

Before the 3080FE was announced I thought that it would be more efficient than previous models so I thought the 360GTS would be fine but looking at the temps they are producing then I`m not so sure now.

While I am playing the Discord roulette trying to get the 3080FE it`s giving me time to plan my pipe routing with two options.

Option 1 is to stick with the 360GTS with 3 x fans at the top of the case.

Option 2 is to add a 240 rad at the front of the case for extra cooling although this will bring warm air into the case unless I switch the case fans around so the rear is intake and the three front fans are exhaust.

I will probably be undervolting the 3080 as this seems to be common practice and people are getting good results and more stability as well as keeping temps down.

 

[Gavster]

I would definitely go with more than just a slim 360 for a 3080 and cpu loop, so making use of that 240 you've got would seem sensible.

Have you thought about gpu -> top rad -> cpu -> front rad? It might cut down on your overall bends and tubing length.

Finally, my personal preference is positive pressure as I've never really had bad results with it. You could have both front and top rads as intake with the single rear 120 as exhaust.

Thanks for your reply, I never thought about the loop that way, good call.

I don`t yet have the 240 rad, the one in the picture is my current AIO but these are the things I can iron out while I`m waiting to land the 3080, I can probably use a GTX240 without compromising space too much.

I`ll have a look at swapping the 360 rad round to the fans are on top bringing air into the case instead of exhausting it out.

Thanks again.

 

[Gavster]

Fans pushing or pulling has been shown to have marginal difference. For the benefit of cleaning, it is better to have fans pulling as the rad works as a filter and it's "in" side is exposed for easy cleaning. With push fans, the "in" surface of the rad is under the fans so is much harder to clean.

Thanks for that, do you think it`s worth having push/pull on the front rad?

 

[Gavster]

It does improve airflow particularly for low static pressure fans but whether it will really help is dependent on too many variables for me to answer. If your rads already provide enough cooling then more cooling will make little difference. Are you using hardline?

Yes, I will be using acrylic tubing, I`ve been doing a bit of practicing to get a feel for it.

 

[Gavster]

I've recently gone for push pull on my front radiator. The benefits that I am seeing are being able to run those fans slower to achieve the same result as with just a push set up, so the noise comes down. My idle temps at really low fan speeds are also a little better, not that it really matters. I think the push pull helps when you have filtration on the front of the case like with my Meshify front.

Basically, low fan speeds mean lower static pressure, the push pull really helps in that situation.

It is a bit more complicated than that though. More air in means you can balance your exhaust fans differently.

That is good to know

The downside is cleaning it later. Nothing a bit of compressed air won't sort out though.

I was thinking about getting one of those little PC vacs from amazon for this.

 

[Gavster]

So if you're doing hardline you need to decide on push vs pull because it changes where the fitting will be. on the roof one I'd definitely go pull. on the front if you want the fans visible from the front then they have to be in push.

with hardline, access to the rads to clean them without having to remove fans or move the rad is a big win.

I forgot to ask - RGB fans or not?

Not for the top rads, they won`t be visible anyway if they`re on top of the rad pulling air in so I will be using the Arctic fans there. On the front I have 3 140mm RGB fans but these are just standard Fractal Design case fans I might look for some RGB fans more suitable for radiator cooling.

 

[Gavster]

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/it-d...riginal-ii-electric-air-duster-kb-000-id.html

These blowers are awesome although best used outside

I thought about one of these when I spotted them on the Rain forest site lol

 

[Gavster]

I`m ordering a 240mm radiator and some extra tube and fittings and I`m also thinking about changing the case fans. The fans that Fractal design use have quite good high static pressure but also on the top end of the db rating at 34db so I have been looking at replacement fans that have decent high static pressure but have a lower db rating, it`s quite a minefield and there are so many that are on the higher end of the db ratings or just don`t have decent static pressure.

I did find these though but reviews are few, especially in English. https://www.overclockers.co.uk/alpe...ssable-rgb-pwm-fan-triple-pack-fg-02f-al.html

At a max 19db they are considerably quieter than the Fractal Design fans but aren`t far behind for static pressure.

Has anyone got any other suggestions?

 

[Gavster]

Phanteks SK140?

Max 36db (a) and only 1.23mmh2o according to the spec, though one of the German reviews said the Alpenphon were 32db (a) which is way out the the max 19 dB (a) that they're rated at.

 

[Gavster]

If I were you and I wanted RGB Fans, I'd probably stick with Corsair ML Pros or maybe HDs.

What I've done is just got some "Arctic P12 PWM PST CO" fans. This guy reviews a different variant of them

, they're excellent when it comes to price / performance ratio. I don't have RGB on my fans.

You could always slap some Phanteks Halo's on whatever fan you choose though!

The Corsair fans are nice and quiet with good RGB but the air pressure is quite low at 1.27mm H2O.

I have 3 Arctic P12's for my 360mm radiator, and I might look at the halos for them for the front of the case, good idea

 

[Gavster]

Well I decided to buy the Alpenfohn Wing Boost 3 140mm Addressable RGB PWM Fans as I could`nt find anything else that was as quiet or as high static pressure, well according the specs anyway. These should arrive this week so I`ll report back and post up the difference between these and the Fractal Design Prisma case fans in terms of noise.

I`m also hoping my second rad turns up this week too.

 

[Gavster]

Just a quick question, now my 240mm radiator as turned up I was looking at the front mounting, is it detrimental to the cooling if it is sat in the middle of 3 140mm fans as opposed to fully over 2 fans?

 

[Gavster]

I`ve sorted out my pipe routing from the pump to the water block and the water block to the radiator and measured up for the radiator to the CPU mono block.

I made a schoolboy error with the 180 degree bend though as I need nearly all of the 500mm to achieve this pipe and the end had a slight flat where my thumb was so I`ll have to make this one again.

 

[Gavster]

That block and gpu combo is just computer porn

Unfortunately it`s just the block at the moment, I missed out on the last drop yet again.

 

[Gavster]

Right, I finally managed to get a 3080 Founders Edition from last Thursdays drop

I am now in a position to get this build completed so I need to flush the radiators a couple of times first, I presume that the water blocks don`t need flushing and I`ll just flush the tubing.

Next up once I have got everything built will be filling the system with distilled water and running for 24 hours for leak testing just using the two jumper leads with nothing else connected, do I need to use any biocide for this? Have I missed anything out?

Presuming there aren`t any leaks I will flush a couple of times and then refill with the EK Cryofuel and then that should be that. easy when you say it fast

Please fire away if you think I`ve missed anything at all no matter how small as this is my first ever custom loop.

TIA

 

[Gavster]

Connect everything up. Seal all unused inlet/outlets except one. On the remaining open port, connect a fitting and some tubing (preferably soft tubing). Try blowing into it. If you can blow easily, you have an open port somewhere. Believe me this happens often. Find it and close it. If it's really hard, blow harder. If it's still really hard, fill with distilled water. don't worry about biocide at this point.

Before filling, put lots of paper towels under every fitting and under the pump.

To fill, use a spare psu if you have one. So long as you can connect the pump to it, any PSU will do. Bridge the green and any black cable on the 24-pin connector. I always use a separate PSU well outside the case away from any potential drips.

If you run the loop for a couple of hours, and no leaks, just drain and refill with the Cryofuel. Don't overthink this.

Cheers Mike, I`d already accounted for the paper towels and I`ll be keeping a careful eye on the fittings while filling, I don`t have a spare PSU so I`ll just pull it outside the case, I have my custom cables to connect so it will be getting stripped right back anyway.
I have a fitting and soft tubing for my drain port so I can use that.

What radiator did you go for? According to the EKWB configurator this: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-w...7qUMo_PdajFvxLBb3xplHjJjaazQbHL-24zUG-ZKyaC2O

should be sufficient for my 3080 FE and 5600x

I have a Black Ice Nemesis GTS360 for the top of the case and a GTX240 for the front

 

[Gavster]

I'd give the gpu block a good clean. Mine had some particles and what looked like fingerprint smudges that were not noticeable until I plugged in the rgb. The smudges then showed as slightly florescent.

It's the first time I've had to clean out a block that is new. However, I will now do it every time going forwards. After waiting so long for the block, it was pita to finally finish the build only to have blemishes in the block that could've been avoided by a quick clean before hand.

Do you mean you had fingerprints on the inside of the acrylic?

 

[Gavster]

At the moment I am waiting for a couple of extra fittings and a temperature sensor (should have been here by now but something has put delivery back until 10th May) as I had overlooked this, the only other thing I need to get now is some thermal paste, I`m considering Thermal Grizzly Conductanaut. Good Idea or not for waterblocks?
I have used it for my AIO so I am aware of the dangers but not many people seem to use it with water blocks, is there any reason behind this other than the difficulty of use?

 

[Gavster]

I have a 3080 Reference PCB in an AlphaCool waterblock. I used the thermal paste they supply, which I would guess is pretty basic stuff. I am running at perfectly good temperatures. I think you will be VERY good with Kryonaut, and your radiator setup seems more than adequate as well. You should be good.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the look of the FE waterblock you have, and your setup in general. Very well done Sir!

Thank you very much Hewligan, hopefully with the rest of the bits coming on Monday I can start getting it all connected up, probably strip down the GPU on Sunday.

 

[Gavster]

Tonight I ran the heaven benchmark for 30 minutes and then separated the PCB which was really easy while it's still warm. I started cutting the thermal pads (Gelid extreme) and then I noticed at the top of the card there should be three chips but I only have one compared to the 308fe tear down video in the 3080 series water blocks thread posted by haszek.

Have they changed the PCB recently?
What about the thermal pads here as there seems to be a few pads to place but only one thing to put them on.