First time custom water cooling, help needed ( 3090FE )

rIcK

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Hello folks!

I have been a long timer user of air cooled PCs and have built my computers for many years however have always shied away from water cooling. I have however put custom coolers on graphics cards and a variety of other component modifications so I have no issues with getting my hands a little dirty.

I have recently purchased a 3090FE to replace my custom cooled 2080Ti which had a Raijintek cooler on, and it is sadly quite noisy when I fire up a game and is something I want to fix.

I would like some general guidance on where to start and what bits to look at:

I believe my case will fit a 240 or 280mm radiator and I am a massive fan of Noctua fans, the most important thing to me in this is noise levels over all else.

Here is what my system looks like right now:

pc.jpg


Intel 9900k
Z390 MATX Motherboard
Fractal Design Meshify Mini-C Case ( https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/meshify/meshify-c-mini-dark-tempered-glass/black/ )
Noctua NH-D15 ( https://noctua.at/en/nh-d15 )
A variety of Noctua Fans

So my questions:

What radiator should I go for?
What pump and reservoir should I go for?
What tubes and fittings should I use?
What waterblock should I use for my 3090FE?
Any other tips or things to consider?
 

rIcK

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Would like soft tubing, no budget in mind since I don’t know the costs involved. But basically as good as you can get without wasting money on minor increases.
 

Joxeon

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I can shave 8c of my 3080 with no loss of performance or 15c with a 6% loss by undervolting while considerably reducing fan noise so it maybe worth trying before going down the route of water cooling.
 

Jay85

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rIcK said:
Would like soft tubing, no budget in mind since I don’t know the costs involved. But basically as good as you can get without wasting money on minor increases.
Click to expand...
Depending on budget and personal preferences: CPU and GPU watercooling

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £546.86 (includes shipping: £10.50)
​


Parts can be swapped out but again its down to personal preference at the end of the day.

I've not included fans as i'm assuming you'll be reusing your noctua's on the radiators.

Edit: Swapped the gpu block as the 3090 version of the FE block from EK hasn't been released yet but expect that to be around £250.
 
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rIcK

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Joxeon said:
I can shave 8c of my 3080 with no loss of performance or 15c with a 6% loss by undervolting while considerably reducing fan noise so it maybe worth trying before going down the route of water cooling.
Click to expand...
I’ve already undervolted with some success, but the pitch of these fans at anything above 50% is horrendous. I can run the fan at around 60-70% but that is still a fair bit noisier than my old 2080Ti setup.
 

Jay85

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GPU Only watercooling:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £393.42 (includes shipping: £9.90)​
​
 

MikeTimbers

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In all honesty I don't see how you could keep the case and the cpu cooler and watercool the 3090. A 240 radiator can't squeeze into the roof with that cpu cooler and there isn't enough space in the front to put a 240+fans (or max a 280+fans) and still have space for a pump which can realistically only go between the front rad/fans and the gpu. I know the 3090FE PCB is not as long as the cooler but that case is small! The 3090FE blocks I've seen all have the fittings at the end that would be towards the front of the case in the exact place you want to squeeze in a pump.

If the cooler could be replaced with a block you might have room in the top for a 240 but now that rad has to cool a 9900K as well as the 3090 and I think that's a big ask.

I think you have to lose the case.
 

rIcK

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Thanks for the feedback, I think its most sensible to go with a full loop as mentioned.

The 3090 is *really* long, but the PCB is considerably smaller.

I wonder if its worth going with one of the radiators with low profile radiator and fans?
I also wonder if something like the 'SWIFTECH APOGEE DRIVE II' which is a CPU block and pump integrated can save some space?

Here is someone with the same case doing a full loop on reddit from the looks of it:

https://www.reddit.com/r/watercooli...s_done_its_over_for_now_meshifyc_mini_custom/
 

Shiari

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The problem is, you wouldn't even have the room for 2x 240 rads, they'd foul on eachother. You might be able to get 1x240 (possibly 1x280?) & 1x120 rads in, and thats it. That's not really enough cooling for both CPU and GPU while keeping noise down. Plus it would be really difficult to fit a pump and resevoir anywhere.

Edit: just dug up the manual, thanks for linking to the case. It apparently supports 240+280 rads (page 15/16) at the same time. The description on page 16 suggests a 360 would even fit, but I think that's a mistake. But all the same, you'd have real difficulty finding a place for a pump + reservoir with all those rads and GPU block in there.
 
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rIcK

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Shiari said:
The problem is, you wouldn't even have the room for 2x 240 rads, they'd foul on eachother. You might be able to get 1x240 (possibly 1x280?) & 1x120 rads in, and thats it. That's not really enough cooling for both CPU and GPU while keeping noise down. Plus it would be really difficult to fit a pump and resevoir anywhere.

Edit: just dug up the manual, thanks for linking to the case. It apparently supports 240+280 rads (page 15/16) at the same time. The description on page 16 suggests a 360 would even fit, but I think that's a mistake. But all the same, you'd have real difficulty finding a place for a pump + reservoir with all those rads and GPU block in there.
Click to expand...

I am thinking the drive bay would potentially fit could fit the pump and or reservoir, given I don't really use it. Also a bit of googling seems to show others have managed with the define mini c and also the meshify mini c, so it should be doable in my case.

A couple of random examples:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sXzJMjl3J0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czUA822xk7E
 

Jay85

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The 3090 is a really hot card, i ran it on a 20mm 360 radiator and even on that it was pushing upwards of 60c on relatively high fan speeds to keep it cool. It was only when i switched to a 55mm 360 radiator that it really cooled down to around 48c with a decent paste.
 

Shiari

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Jay85 said:
The 3090 is a really hot card, i ran it on a 20mm 360 radiator and even on that it was pushing upwards of 60c on relatively high fan speeds to keep it cool. It was only when i switched to a 55mm 360 radiator that it really cooled down to around 48c with a decent paste.
Click to expand...

Don't necessarily agree with that; my KFA2 3090 so far has been at 49C at the most even while also stressing the CPU ... and I've got only 240 & 280 rads.

Different paste might make a couple of degrees difference, paste application and overall cooling matters a lot more.

rIcK said:
so it should be doable in my case
Click to expand...

Doable, perhaps. But a small build can be really challenging to build in, and it means more work to maintain. I'd certainly advise against doing that for your 1st custom loop.
 

Joxeon

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rIcK said:
I’ve already undervolted with some success, but the pitch of these fans at anything above 50% is horrendous. I can run the fan at around 60-70% but that is still a fair bit noisier than my old 2080Ti setup.
Click to expand...
You could deshroud and and strap a couple of 120mm noctua fans on although this won't look as classy as a custom water setup it should solve the noise issue without needing to spend much.
 

Jay85

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Shiari said:
Don't necessarily agree with that; my KFA2 3090 so far has been at 49C at the most even while also stressing the CPU ... and I've got only 240 & 280 rads.

Different paste might make a couple of degrees difference, paste application and overall cooling matters a lot more.



Doable, perhaps. But a small build can be really challenging to build in, and it means more work to maintain. I'd certainly advise against doing that for your 1st custom loop.
Click to expand...
240 and a 280 in a single loop?

I'm talking a single 360 ultra slim 20mm rad on a separate loop XSPC TX360 to be precise. I have first had experience with it as i've tested both scenarios and the outcome was night and day. I run the gpu and cpu in separate loops so i could see exactly how it would perform on a single thin 360... and no it didn't perform well at all. This was with alphacools xpx aurora block for the 3090, im waiting on delivery of the watercool heatkiller V block so will see how that performs in comparison, not expecting miracles but we'll see. Will also try with LM compared to traditional paste :)
 
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