I Hate Watercooling

Shelster

Shelster

Shelster

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Joined
3 Aug 2003
Posts
2,028
Location
Plymouth, UK
Why Oh Why did I not check the configurator and then find out that the waterblock I ordered would not fit my Sapphire 280X Vapor-X.....the snazzy little BIOS switch and two caps are fouling the fit.

All would be good had I not decided to remove the BIOS switch to solder on once I had fitted the block.

Am now sat with one ******* expensive paperweight.

Time to go buy me a reference 280X...

FUMING (at own self)
 
Am going to try.

Will look at getting a switch from RS tomorrow then drill out the holes in work and attempt a resolder.

Also need to get my hands on a thermal pad set so that I can re-fit the stock cooler on there
 
im in the same boat, I have a gigabyte winforce 3 780 ti. baught the ek block for it, went to fit it today and it turns out I have the non reference 780 ti block.

now hoping ocuk will take the block back.
 
opstrat said:
im in the same boat, I have a gigabyte winforce 3 780 ti. baught the ek block for it, went to fit it today and it turns out I have the non reference 780 ti block.

now hoping ocuk will take the block back.
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You may be OK. I had that recently (yep, I havent learned anything from past experiences) where I bought a 280x wb and an MSI Gaming Edition 280X, but the card was very deffo a non ref card, so sent both back to OcUK and got refund on it. Fortunately I had not removed the cooler on the MSI one, noticed the mis-match just by doing a eyeball line up.

Have opened a ticket with Sapphire to see if they can provide me with the specs of the switch so that I can get a replacement from RS or even better if they can supply an original one. Will then replace and test

Worst case scenario is they say no and I then set to testing the removed switch to find a suitable one. Best case they come through with a replacement original. Unbelievable scenario is they decide that they are going to be great and offer me a replacement card....about as much chance of me, Scarlet Johansen and Kylie having 'Happy Times' together :p:p:p
 
Have you tried it without the bios switch? Would think that without it the card should default to one bios or the other.
 
pgi947 said:
Have you tried it without the bios switch? Would think that without it the card should default to one bios or the other.
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No, as I have removed the thermal pads that were fitted originally so can't refit the stock cooler and also the switch is latching press switch so am guessing it either switches a low voltage or makes a circuit that decides which BIOS is used. Without reckon it will just crap out and not know what to do.

Either way, need to get my hands on some thermal pads at some point. Anyone got any idea where I can get hold of some?
 
Yeah,

Where the switch has been removed there are still remnants of the through board pins in ther which I will need to remove to fit the new swtich. Very fine drill and Dremmel will clean out the holes ready
 
I'd use a solder iron to get the last bit of solder out Tbh. Just dap it with the tip and it should run out to the other side?

As for thermal pads, OcUK sell them up to a 10cm square
 
Think we have some de-soldering braid around in the workshop somewhere, so will try that. The bloke outside may have a solder sucker too.

Time to go look/see on the OcUK site for the pads.....
 
Some progress today, but not a huge amount.

Heard back from Sapphire and was as I expected....yada yada yada, removing cooler, not covered by warranty, blah blah.

Went back and said that I was not wanting them to replace or repair the card, just wanted some technical info on the switch so I could replace it myself. They have asked for pics of said switch, so hopefully they may get back on that.

in teh meantime have buzzed through the switch I removed and it appears to simple Double Pole Double Throw (DPDT) switch. Now just need to decide whether to replace the switch or just simply link the contacts so that it is set to one or the other BIOS.

If i go for option 2, have to decide between the standard BIOS and the UEFI on that is on the alternative...decisions decisions
 
opstrat said:
im in the same boat, I have a gigabyte winforce 3 780 ti. baught the ek block for it, went to fit it today and it turns out I have the non reference 780 ti block.

now hoping ocuk will take the block back.
Click to expand...


Yes Ek website is misleading, you have the same board as the GHZ edition, if you look at the photo you should have noticed the 6 and 8 pin connectors you have 8 and 8 :) live and learn lol, if its under 14 days they will take it back mate
 
John Paddy said:
I hate air cooling, its inferior performance, noisy, attracts dust etc.
Love watercooling and would never go back.
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Having done both i wont not say its inferior, in fact far from it, when you consider what you have to pay out for water cooling, and then the space required for water cooling, compared to a HSF on the CPU, i think its Air Cooling that is superior in comparison when you weigh it all up, im quite amazed what some of these air coolers can do for there size and the money little money they cost compared to custom watercooling kits

My main reason for water cooling is purely aesthetics, lower temps is just a bonus for me, do i think its worth the money based on temps? no i dont, based on the way it looks yes i do

Im sure for other it will be more the other way around

As for dust lol, mate as long as you use fans, you will attract dust, cant avoid that no matter what you do, and water cooling will be worse as rad are the best dust filter you can buy mate ;)
 
TAZOO7 said:
Having done both i wont not say its inferior, in fact far from it, when you consider what you have to pay out for water cooling, and then the space required for water cooling, compared to a HSF on the CPU, i think its Air Cooling that is superior in comparison when you weigh it all up, im quite amazed what some of these air coolers can do for there size and the money little money they cost compared to custom watercooling kits

My main reason for water cooling is purely aesthetics, lower temps is just a bonus for me, do i think its worth the money based on temps? no i dont, based on the way it looks yes i do

Im sure for other it will be more the other way around

As for dust lol, mate as long as you use fans, you will attract dust, cant avoid that no matter what you do, and water cooling will be worse as rad are the best dust filter you can buy mate ;)
Click to expand...

Youi do make a good point and custom watercooling is alittle expensive but totally worth it. I couldnt go back to air unless i was forced too.
 
TAZOO7 said:
Having done both i wont not say its inferior, in fact far from it, when you consider what you have to pay out for water cooling, and then the space required for water cooling, compared to a HSF on the CPU, i think its Air Cooling that is superior in comparison when you weigh it all up, im quite amazed what some of these air coolers can do for there size and the money little money they cost compared to custom watercooling kits

My main reason for water cooling is purely aesthetics, lower temps is just a bonus for me, do i think its worth the money based on temps? no i dont, based on the way it looks yes i do

Im sure for other it will be more the other way around

As for dust lol, mate as long as you use fans, you will attract dust, cant avoid that no matter what you do, and water cooling will be worse as rad are the best dust filter you can buy mate ;)
Click to expand...

And the silence as well :)
 
Well, new card turned up and block fitted :D

Was a slight moment at the start of fitting as Powercolor have put some foam rubber stand-offs on the card to keep the stcok cooler off the board and one of these was interfering with the waterblock. Came off nice and easy though.

Have even managed to re-use the back-plate that came with the card too. Replaced the M3x4 screws that are supplied with some M3x10 and all nice and snug.

Now need to go home and re-jig my plumbing.

Also realised that I did not need the extra DP and DVI cables that I bought with this card, it has the same 2 mini-DP and DVI/HDMI as my existing 7970. Guessing this is more a 7970 than the other 280x's out there.
 
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