Looking at GPU AIO cooling, advice, thoughts and suggestions?

[hulari]

Hi guys.

I'm currently using a SC EVGA 980ti, open air cased inside a Corsair 400Q.

I play may games at 2560x1440 and I get good performance, GPU sits between 60C-70C. What it does though is it acts as a heater in the room which has it's ups and downs, but with the summer on it's way I'm expecting the ambient air temperature to increase and so the GPU temps to increase.

I've been thinking about getting a GPU bracket and pairing it up with an AIO cooler as I have a Corsair H100i attached to the CPU and I have seen a huge decrease in temps under load with it and thought I could do with the same benefits on the GPU.

What would you guys recommend as a good bracket and AIO cooler for the EVGA 980ti?

My budget is sub £200 but with that I only have room for 1 fan and not a dual fan radiator.

Many thanks.

 

[Confused Stu]

I've been using an Arctic Accelero Hybrid II-120 on both my AMD 290s for the past year or two and they've been brilliant - temperatures are much lower and the fans on the coolers are very quiet. Looking at Arctic's site, there's now a Hybrid III model too as well as 140 variants (the number relates to the AIO fan size) that I'm sure will also be excellent.

The problem you might find is that while your GPU temperature will be lower, it probably won't make much difference to the temperature in the room. Your GPU is still using the same amount of power (or very, very close to it) and converting that power into waste heat. An improved cooler on your GPU will be more efficient at moving that heat away from your card so the temperatures recorded at your GPU will be lower, but it's still dumping the same amount of power into your room as heat.

If you're looking at an AIO cooler for a quieter PC, or lower GPU temperatures, then I'd say go for it if you have the space in your case as I've found them brilliant for those reasons. If you're looking at lower temperatures in your room, I think you'll end up disappointed.

 

[subbytna]

Sell your 980Ti....add your £200 budget and get this
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/msi-...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-32d-ms.html

 

[Dirk Diggler]

I've used an INNO3D 980ti AIO card and I have to say that you may not achieve what you are looking for with an AIO, especially if you are restricted to 120mm rad space. The fluid in the AIO will heat up over a moderate time of full load on the GPU, and you might just experience similar heat to the air cooler. You will definitely need to run that single fan pretty high RPM to shift the heat from the tiny loop.

I put a custom block on the same card and the difference in my custom loop with a large reservoir and 480mm of Rad space was night and day. As a result of this experience I won't ever buy an AIO card again. My current Gigabyte Windforce 1080 is cooler and quieter than the AIO was.

 

[varkanoid]

I've been using an Arctic Accelero Hybrid II-120 on both my AMD 290s for the past year or two and they've been brilliant - temperatures are much lower and the fans on the coolers are very quiet. Looking at Arctic's site, there's now a Hybrid III model too as well as 140 variants (the number relates to the AIO fan size) that I'm sure will also be excellent.

The problem you might find is that while your GPU temperature will be lower, it probably won't make much difference to the temperature in the room. Your GPU is still using the same amount of power (or very, very close to it) and converting that power into waste heat. An improved cooler on your GPU will be more efficient at moving that heat away from your card so the temperatures recorded at your GPU will be lower, but it's still dumping the same amount of power into your room as heat.

If you're looking at an AIO cooler for a quieter PC, or lower GPU temperatures, then I'd say go for it if you have the space in your case as I've found them brilliant for those reasons. If you're looking at lower temperatures in your room, I think you'll end up disappointed.

Dont think you are quiet right there its a bit of a general inaccurate sweeping statement. If you compare my original 1080 with a FE cooler to my Seahawkx there is definitely a noticeable difference in room temperature. The FE exhausted hot air directly back out of the case. The seahawk RAD has cooler air blown on it from outside of the case as its attached to the fan inputs on the front of the case resulting in cooler temperatures within the case than before with the FE. Internal temp when I had the FE often would hit 38c-40c yet now with the Seahawk it tops out around 34c. The GPU has also gone from 80c+ to 58c max. Coolers dont just move heat away from the heat source they also cool as well hence why there are called "coolers". What you are describing is heat transferrence which is only part of the coolers job.

 

[Confused Stu]

Dont think you are quiet right there its a bit of a general inaccurate sweeping statement. If you compare my original 1080 with a FE cooler to my Seahawkx there is definitely a noticeable difference in room temperature. The FE exhausted hot air directly back out of the case. The seahawk RAD has cooler air blown on it from outside of the case as its attached to the fan inputs on the front of the case resulting in cooler temperatures within the case than before with the FE. Internal temp when I had the FE often would hit 38c-40c yet now with the Seahawk it tops out around 34c. The GPU has also gone from 80c+ to 58c max. Coolers dont just move heat away from the heat source they also cool as well hence why there are called "coolers". What you are describing is heat transferrence which is only part of the coolers job.

You're right in that calling a GPU cooler a "cooler" is actually a misnomer - my understanding is they do actually operate as heat exchangers. They take the heat from the GPU chip, spread it into a heatsink, then use fans to blow cool air over the heatsink to move the heat away from the heatsink. With an AIO cooler, it's using water to move the heat from the GPU chip into a radiator which then uses a fan to blow cool air through the radiator and get the heat away from the radiator. The end result is the GPU chip runs cooler because the heat is being moved more efficiently and quickly from the chip. However, the GPU is still taking in 200W (for example) of power and converting that 200W into heat that is leaving your PC case and heating up the air in the room.

I remember someone on here explaining this when the AMD 290 was launched and it took me while to get my head around it, but when I did it made sense. I am fully prepared to be proven wrong if someone knows better - every day's a school day.

 

[hulari]

Sell your 980Ti....add your £200 budget and get this
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/msi-...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-32d-ms.html

As sound as your advice is I honestly wouldn't know where to start with selling second hand PC Parts other than eBay.

I'd also be wanting at least a 1080 or 1080ti personally.

My 980ti seems to be doing what I want it to at 1440p, my main upgrade next was going to be my CPU as I am still using a 2500k at the moment. This was more of a nice-to-have to reduce temperature and noise levels coming from the machine.

 

[subbytna]

No Members Market access here for you I see, so Gumtree is your friend

If the 2500k is overclocked to 4.2 or 4.4 then it has plenty of life left in it yet squire.

Perhaps a cheaper option is a new case with better fans...low RPM fans?

 

[Brazo]

As sound as your advice is I honestly wouldn't know where to start with selling second hand PC Parts other than eBay.

I'd also be wanting at least a 1080 or 1080ti personally.

My 980ti seems to be doing what I want it to at 1440p, my main upgrade next was going to be my CPU as I am still using a 2500k at the moment. This was more of a nice-to-have to reduce temperature and noise levels coming from the machine.

It's the best advice so far. A 1070 has nearly half the tdp of the 980ti even more so when the ti is overclocked.

No heat, no noise.

Sell the 980ti on eBay and add your £200 and your done. Even an air cooled 1070 will be perfect.

As for the 1080/1080ti well that's something new you've thrown in but speaking of your original budget and criteria the 1070 is the way to go.

 

[hulari]

As for the 1080/1080ti well that's something new you've thrown in but speaking of your original budget and criteria the 1070 is the way to go.

I originally just wanted to stick with my 980ti and see if I could reduce the heat. I have the budget for a 1080ti but I was expecting/planning to stick with the 980ti for a couple more years. I upgraded from a 670 to the 980ti only just 12-14 months ago.

As such I've thrown the 980ti up on a couple sites (not eBay yet) so we shall see what happens.

Many thanks for the advice though guys.

 

[Wrinkly]

Water cooling is not going to stop your room heating up. It is just better at moving it from the CPU/GPU to your room.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Water cooling is not going to stop your room heating up. It is just better at moving it from the CPU/GPU to your room.

That's not true, especially with a single card set up. The water absorbs the heat from the GPU and it takes literally hours for all that heat to dissipate into the room. With an air cooler, the heat is dissipated instantly.

Yes, there is air blowing off the radiators while gaming but the fluid temperature of a custom loop is around 35-40C. The temperature of the air blasting from an air cooler can easily be double that at 80C.

I could game with my custom blocked 980ti for hours without the room heating up, but with the air cooler the heat was noticeable after as little as half an hour.

 

[Wrinkly]

That's not true, especially with a single card set up. The water absorbs the heat from the GPU and it takes literally hours for all that heat to dissipate into the room. With an air cooler, the heat is dissipated instantly.

Yes, there is air blowing off the radiators while gaming but the fluid temperature of a custom loop is around 35-40C. The temperature of the air blasting from an air cooler can easily be double that at 80C.

I could game with my custom blocked 980ti for hours without the room heating up, but with the air cooler the heat was noticeable after as little as half an hour.

Only if you have a fiziks degree

 

[hulari]

I'd have thought the GPU would be running cooler with an AIO setup (thus meaning less heat in general).

With that it would appear my options are: Buy a cooler for £100~ or sell the 980ti and purchase a 1080 or 1080ti.

I've put the GPU up for sale so I will see how that goes, with no access to the market place I'm honestly not that hopeful for a sale as I have never attempted to sell parts beforehand. The 980ti hasn't given me any issues performance wise so the upgrade/side grade to a new GPU would just be a bonus.

 

[mjallan123]

I'd have thought the GPU would be running cooler with an AIO setup (thus meaning less heat in general).

With that it would appear my options are: Buy a cooler for £100~ or sell the 980ti and purchase a 1080 or 1080ti.

I've put the GPU up for sale so I will see how that goes, with no access to the market place I'm honestly not that hopeful for a sale as I have never attempted to sell parts beforehand. The 980ti hasn't given me any issues performance wise so the upgrade/side grade to a new GPU would just be a bonus.

I've just sold my 1080 fe for 450 and bought a 1080 hybrid for 500. Will cost me net about 110 overall for a card that is much quieter and will overclock more consistently. Good luck with your sale.

 

[iBSOD]

I'd have thought the GPU would be running cooler with an AIO setup (thus meaning less heat in general).

With a better air cooler fitted to your 980TI, the card will run cooler because more heat is being transferred to the air. The card will emit the same amount regardless of the coolers efficiency.

Personally I don't think its worth spending £100 on a cooler for a 980ti. As other members have said, selling it and getting a 1080/hybrid might be a better option especially as they've just dropped in price

 

[deFiniLoGy]

That's not true, especially with a single card set up. The water absorbs the heat from the GPU and it takes literally hours for all that heat to dissipate into the room. With an air cooler, the heat is dissipated instantly.

Yes, there is air blowing off the radiators while gaming but the fluid temperature of a custom loop is around 35-40C. The temperature of the air blasting from an air cooler can easily be double that at 80C.

I could game with my custom blocked 980ti for hours without the room heating up, but with the air cooler the heat was noticeable after as little as half an hour.

The rate of removal of heat is faster in a watercooled system because a metal-fluid-metal interface is more efficient than a metal-air interface, if heat starts to accumulate in the fluid itself then the loop itself is inefficient, the delta temperature should be kept at 10C max, and a normal fluid temperature should be ~30C underload.

 

[StrongSad]

Irrespective of what you do, the amount of heat generated by the card on either cooling technologies will be equal to the heat dissipated into the room.

How quickly that happens is the choice you make. AOI will act as a storage heater until equilibrium is achieved then it exhausts the same amount of heat as as an air cooled or more if the radiator is large enough or fans able to push cool the fluid temp down faster than the air cooler can remove heat from the card.

There is no way of reducing the amount of heat generated by the card other than reducing the power draw...

 

[orbitalwalsh]

Alphacool have their Eiswolf AIO for the 980Ti i believe !

uses the Silent loop pump so is silent, also Quick Disconnects . as time goes on, get a replacement card just order a heatsink unit for the new card .