MSI Trio 3090 water cooler purchase list

Andrew Bond · 15 Jan 2021 at 12:04

Hello all.

Be gentle, I am new to building my own watercooling setup.

I currently have my CPU watercooled, and I am not looking to incorporate that into my setup ( or have I overlooked something obvious here ? ) Its a corsair closed loop system for reference.

I have created a parts list , but would like someone to cast their eye over it to validate if I have specced it correctly , or missed anything obvious.

I cannot fit a larger rad in my case.

My criteria is to keep the volume down, I wont under volt or anything though .

I assume with this parts list my expensive 3090 wont end up as a ball of molten silicon?

Any advice is really welcomed

mickyflinn · 15 Jan 2021 at 12:22

How will you drain and fill the loop ?

Probably need a drain valve.

Andrew Bond · 15 Jan 2021 at 12:25

mickyflinn said:
How will you drain and fill the loop ?

Probably need a drain valve.

Thanks for the reply! Educate me ; why do I need a drain?

mickyflinn · 15 Jan 2021 at 12:27

Andrew Bond said:
Thanks for the reply! Educate me ; why do I need a drain?

Maintenance , Replacing the fluid, Leaks.

Andrew Bond · 15 Jan 2021 at 12:43

Smashing. Thanks.

I assume I would need a pair? One for close to the pump , and one on the opposite side close to the rad? Can drain in a controlled fashion then?

mickyflinn · 15 Jan 2021 at 12:46

Andrew Bond said:
Smashing. Thanks.

I assume I would need a pair? One for close to the pump , and one on the opposite side close to the rad? Can drain in a controlled fashion then?

Not really just need one usually at the lowest point, so you driain then turn off move the case about so the leftover water moves to the lowest point and drain again.

Andrew Bond · 15 Jan 2021 at 12:51

mickyflinn said:
Not really just need one usually at the lowest point, so you driain then turn off move the case about so the leftover water moves to the lowest point and drain again.

That works for me , thanks!

SirConfused · 15 Jan 2021 at 21:34

You might be pushing the cooling capacity of a 240 slimline rad if you've got a 3090 - ~350W of heat before you start oc'ing.

What's your case? I would definitely want more rad than that to ensure I wasn't seeing thermal throttling on the card.

Andrew Bond · 16 Jan 2021 at 03:07

SirConfused said:
You might be pushing the cooling capacity of a 240 slimline rad if you've got a 3090 - ~350W of heat before you start oc'ing.

What's your case? I would definitely want more rad than that to ensure I wasn't seeing thermal throttling on the card.

Hi , I have a Obsidian Black GameMax PC Gaming Case. It wont take much more than a 240mm rad. I guess if I got some high CFM fans to dissipate the heat it could work?

I based it on this : https://youtu.be/0WVpW497vTU?t=215

Grim5 · 16 Jan 2021 at 04:32

I'd get a bigger radiator - you really want a 360mm for a 3090 unless you are going to undervolt or underclock it

Andrew Bond · 16 Jan 2021 at 14:03

Grim5 said:
I'd get a bigger radiator - you really want a 360mm for a 3090 unless you are going to undervolt or underclock it

Any suggestions? As you can see from the youtube they used a 240mm and had good results. Open for suggestions which particular rad though!

SirConfused · 16 Jan 2021 at 20:35

I haven't watched the whole video but the temps quoted were based on a loop outside a case. You're going to see a big difference in a case that cramped. Also something to consider (apologies if it's covered at the start of the video) is the fan speeds, if you want anything that isn't ear-destroyingly loud then over-provisioning on rad capacity is the best way to do it.

I can't find any specs easily accessible but looking at some pictures of the case internals you might be able to get a second 240 or even 360 rad in the front. If you're desperate to keep the case I would bust out the ruler and start measuring things like RAM clearance for potential thicker rads and space for something in the front.

Andrew Bond · 16 Jan 2021 at 21:43

I’ll do some more measuring! I’ll move my water cooler rad to the vertical placement and see if I could get a larger rad to completely fill the front..

Andrew Bond · 17 Jan 2021 at 14:43

I have the ruler back out again!

I have at most a 300mm drop to work with. The actual space is more like 340-350mm but not deep enough to accommodate fans.

I dont really want to change cases if possible.

SirConfused · 17 Jan 2021 at 20:32

I assume you mean 30mm not 300mm? If you've got a 30cm gap then we're a little beyond caring what rad you use

.

Seriously though, are you talking about 30mm total gap or 30mm after accounting for your 25mm worth of fan depth? If you want to stick with EK then you probably wouldn't squeeze the next size up (PE @ 38mm height) either way.

With that little rad you're going to be working with less dissipation capacity than the stock cooling solution and therefore probably running your fans faster/louder as a result.

Andrew Bond · 17 Jan 2021 at 21:30

Ah , my mistake and I dont think I was clear enough.
The front has a 300mm drop 125mm width and ~30mm depth to accommodate a rad. I dont know if these images may help?

Front ( with cover removed ) 2*120mm fans there

Top, you can just make out 1*120mm fan there

Side ( Corsair H80i twin fan and rad at the top front of the case here )

Minimal scope for a top large rad fitted on the case top due to the RAM location

Profile image of case.

SirConfused · 18 Jan 2021 at 22:16

Ok, well it looks like that case is going to be pretty tough to work with but I think you have some options if you're desperate to keep it and don't mind stretching the brief a little.

With the cooler off that gpu you're going to have plenty of room for a fat boy 240 at the front and if you're not opposed to having something sit a little proud of the case then you could have the fans/rad out of the top of the case. Assuming you don't mind a little light modding you could route the tubes out of the case and into a rad on top of it and keep the top fans inside and exhausting. Otherwise, if the space permits the routing, you could have the rad mounted inside (something thin enough to maintain clearance from the memory etc) and the fans to cool it mounted externally.

Andrew Bond · 18 Jan 2021 at 23:14

I appreciate your input , again!

SirConfused said:
With the cooler off that gpu you're going to have plenty of room for a fat boy 240 at the front

I *think* this is my preference. 4 fans in a push pull combo across a fat rad.

SirConfused said:
if you're not opposed to having something sit a little proud of the case then you could have the fans/rad out of the top of the case

I think this is my second choice route. I could easily route the pipework vertically and dremel in a couple of holes to mount a large rad on the top with some fans. Mad max style.
I reckon if I was carful with the curves I could even route out of the back and then vertically. Would look neater. However, as you maybe able to tell, function is over form in this case!

I now need to find somewhere that has a MSI Trio 3090 water block in stock . OC dont appear to ..

SirConfused · 20 Jan 2021 at 20:35

If you don't have any particular preference to which block, a quick google for 'buy EK-Quantum Vector Trio RTX 3080/3090' found some units in stock.

Andrew Bond · 21 Jan 2021 at 00:42

I found one on a site , but after a quick scan of the spec I am not convinced its the right product. I think there is something unique about the MSI trio 3090 as it has a specific waterblock for it ..