Thoughts on unorthodox GPU mount ? (et alia)

Soldato
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What I meant is that the combination of the GPU with both the heatsink and fans will be quite space hungry :
RADEON VII
267 x 121 x 40 mm
MORPHEUS
254 x 98 x 44 mm
BEQUIET! SILENTWINGS 120mm
120x120x25
TBH, I don't know how modding the GPU with the morpheus will affect total diameter, but it'll certainly encroach into my bottom PCIe 16x slot and probably the PCIe 1x one just above...
Wasn't referring to sagging issues here.
So basically GPU is about 20m thick + Morpheus 44mm + 25mm for fans =89mm + at least 30mm for good airflow to fans, more is definitely much better. I haven't used Morpheus but have used some of the other big aftermarket coolers as well as just used 80/90mm x 15/25mm fans on stock coolers by removing their stock shroud and fans. All made a huge difference in both cooling and noise.
 
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So basically GPU is about 20m thick + Morpheus 44mm + 25mm for fans =89mm + at least 30mm for good airflow to fans, more is definitely much better.
Clearance between bottom plate and mobo is 8 cm. If I give up bottom PCIe slot (I need to keep the x1 slot) I might get like 11 or 11,5 cm max, so it'll be a close call really. Guess I will only be able to find out after mounting the whole thing...
What would be your thoughts on mounting the GPU horizontally but with an extender cable ? I'd simply fix the fans to the bottom plate that has holes so that'd be ok for direct intake. Width of bottom structure (to fix the fans) is larger than width of GPU, so that's ok. Depending on final hight of gpu+morpheus+fans I might have a little bit more clearance towards the mobo (not much though)...
Would you advise like 2x 120mm fans or rather 3x 92mm ? Would it make a big difference as to the airflow ?
I do see Noctua has a set of slim 92 mm fans : NF-A9x14 PWM that are only 14mm thick instead of the 25mm 120mm ones, so that'd shave off a big cm already...
Would it be better to plug them in the GPU with an adapter or in the Thermaltake usb hub for the case's other fans ?
 
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Sorry not read the whole thread, just a few posts, so im not sure if this has already been mentioned, but your GPU looks like a radeon 7 to me, I vertically mount mine, dont have any issues doing it either, im using one of the cables linked below, you GPU is PCI-e 3.0 so your dont need a 4.0 cable, those are going to be expensive.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phan...-riser-cable-90-degree-adapter-cm-02p-pt.html

If you also have a look at the end of the radeon 7 graphics card thread, you will see that I seriously dropped temps of the card, to the point where the fans no longer rage, just by adding the washer mod, cool labs liquid ultra to the core and HBM and changed the thermal pads to Geild extreme 12 W/mK which is the best I could find in the UK, junction temps never go over 90oC anymore and core never goes over 65oC........once again using the stock cooler.
 
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Soldato
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Of course the graphics card is 20mm before taking the heatsink off right? Then adding the Morpheus on.
Total thickness with stock cooler is 40mm.

Clearance between bottom plate and mobo is 8 cm. If I give up bottom PCIe slot (I need to keep the x1 slot) I might get like 11 or 11,5 cm max, so it'll be a close call really. Guess I will only be able to find out after mounting the whole thing...
What would be your thoughts on mounting the GPU horizontally but with an extender cable ? I'd simply fix the fans to the bottom plate that has holes so that'd be ok for direct intake. Width of bottom structure (to fix the fans) is larger than width of GPU, so that's ok. Depending on final hight of gpu+morpheus+fans I might have a little bit more clearance towards the mobo (not much though)...
Would you advise like 2x 120mm fans or rather 3x 92mm ? Would it make a big difference as to the airflow ?
I do see Noctua has a set of slim 92 mm fans : NF-A9x14 PWM that are only 14mm thick instead of the 25mm 120mm ones, so that'd shave off a big cm already...
Would it be better to plug them in the GPU with an adapter or in the Thermaltake usb hub for the case's other fans ?
Yeah, sounds kinda close. If you could exchange Silent Wings 3 for Noctua NF-A12x15 fans i think I would. Im told they are quite good That would give you another 10mm for airflow to fans.

Sorry, don't understand what you mean by mounting it horizontally. To me normal mounting to motherboard is horizontal.
 
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Sorry, don't understand what you mean by mounting it horizontally. To me normal mounting to motherboard is horizontal.
Well, that's exactly the orientation I intended. Instead of plugging it into the mobo - horizontally - I thought of placing the whole - horizontally - on the bottom of the case which has vents...

If you could exchange Silent Wings 3 for Noctua NF-A12x15 fans i think I would
So basically you'd still prefer 2x120mm fans to 3x92mm ones. Is that correct ? Any particular reason for that ?
 
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you GPU is PCI-e 3.0 so your dont need a 4.0 cable
O darn... I was convinced my Radeon VII was 4.0 ! Guess I didn't do my homework correctly :(...
Well, that shelves the need for a 4.0 raiser cable indeed :D...
So might as well try out a vertical mount with my Lian raiser kit (cable included...) or to try out my unorthodox horizontal mount...
If you also have a look at the end of the radeon 7 graphics card thread
Can u link me to that one ?
 
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Page 130 post 2596 onwards
ok will dive into that...
Just to give me a head start, could you quickly summarize how you implemented your mods on the GPU :
- the washer mod :confused:
- cool labs liquid ultra to the core and HBM
that's liquid metal ? Ain't that dangerous for unwished electrical conductivity ?
did you simply add the copper heatsinkies that come with the GPU on top of that ?
- and changed the thermal pads to Geild extreme 12 W/mK
to replace the stock thermal pad bands that come with the Radeon ? I guess u cut them to the right proportions?
 
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My bad. Yeah, 3x 90mm fans would be 38mm too long, but just slightly narrower than finpack on Morpheus finpak is about 94x232mm, so 3x 90mm fans would be 90x270mm, 2x 120mm fans would be 120x240mm. Does Noctua make a 90mm version of NF-A12x15?

I used Thermalright TY-100 fans a couple of times on GPUs. They worked quite well, but they don't sell them except on a couple of coolers. I was luck and had a contact at home office you helped me out. ;)
 
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ok will dive into that...
Just to give me a head start, could you quickly summarize how you implemented your mods on the GPU :
- the washer mod :confused:
- cool labs liquid ultra to the core and HBM
that's liquid metal ? Ain't that dangerous for unwished electrical conductivity ?
did you simply add the copper heatsinkies that come with the GPU on top of that ?
- and changed the thermal pads to Geild extreme 12 W/mK
to replace the stock thermal pad bands that come with the Radeon ? I guess u cut them to the right proportions?

Washer mod, I had some white nylon washers, 0.5mm thick, they were the perfect size https://imgur.com/bJkp5iG he used metal ones here, but did recommend using plastic / nylon ones: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-radeon-vii/33.html

Cool labs liquid ultra is thermally conductive yes, you have to be careful with it and put nail varnish in the SMDs around the core to protect them, Derbauer has a good video about it on you tube, how to apply it to the radeon 7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNxuhLUAh8A

As for the thermal pads, I brought 2mm in the end, its only a small pad you get and quite expensive, about £15, its only just enough to cover all the VRM's in the card which are spread all over the place, then just stick the stock heatsink back on it, add the washers first to the back of the card where the X bracket goes, then carfully screw the X bracket on, a little turn of each screw at a time until you cant turn them anymore, then add all the other screws, once they are in place, tighten the X bracket ones a bit more and the screw the back plate on, it sounds like a lot of work, but its easy.
 
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Hi and thanks for all the feedback.
Ok, so fiddling with the different fan (size) options, I'm trying to make up my mind.
In order do to so, uploaded 2 pics : one with my case clearings from the bottom side up to the mobo and a drawing of the 3 possible fan sizes.
We're talking horizontal mount here (fixing the fans horizontally on the bottom of the case).
- 120mm fans
Basically, as far as capacity and noise are concerned, this would be the best pick in my opinion.
I would have to fix them on the ridge of the bottom part (which would increase overall hight 1,20 cm), but that's compensated for by the 1,5 cm hight of the fans. Thats only 2,7 cm overall (almost like a normal 25mm height fan).
It wouldn't cover the whole length of the morpheus nor the Radeon VII, but I wonder whether that's really going to be an issue if we look at the amount of air it can push through...
- 92mm fans
That would have been my second choice, but they're just 2mm too wide in order to place them directly on the bottom of the bottom part of the case (only 90mm wide). I could file those edges for 2mm, but I wonder whether it's worth the effort.
When comparing noise and capacity to the 80mm fans, surprisingly it pushes less air but produces more noise !
- 80mm
So this would be the contender (for me) for the 120mm fans.
Sure, it pushes less air and is a bit noisier, but maybe covers more of the pcb, especially in the center where the hotspot of the GPU will be.
Their size would allow me to put them directly on the bottom of the bottom part, which saves me 1,2 cm on the go.
Unfortunately, the fans themselves are 25mm thick, so I'm kinda loosing that gain to the 15mm 120mm fans...

So basically, I'm hesitating between the 120mm and the 80mm ones.
They're both PWM.
I did order a PWM adapter so I can plug them in the graphic card. So I just need a Y splitter for 2 or 3...

What would be you guys take on this ?

https://imgur.com/h4HxoSQ
https://imgur.com/bXhbDbw
 
Soldato
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Mounting to bottom of case means fans are effectively both intake and cooler fans combined into one. Assuming this position has no thickness restriction, I think I would go with 2x 120mm x 25mm fans. Extra thickness means higher pressure rating means more airflow through filter, grill and cooler to PCB, then turning out sideways and finally up. That all adds up to quite a bit of airflow restiction. NF-A12x25 have good pressure rating so should work very well. And with bottom having mounting holes for 120mm fans, 120mm fans mounted on cooler can also have a couple screws through case bottom into fans to hold cooler and GPU in place.

Only possible problem I see is the spacing of case bottom from what it's setting on. 2x 120mm fans side by side means sides of fans mated together can draw no air, they can only draw air from other 3 sides of each fan. I've found increasing bottom clearance lowers noise and improves airflow both. I use 30mm or 40mm castors mounted to an open center frame and set case on that. Not only gives better airflow to bottom vents but also makes it much easier to move around on floor when needing to get into it.
 
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Thx for the feedback. So I guess I'll stick with the 120mm fans then... Actually, the NF-A12x15 PWM is only 15mm thick, so that shaves of a centimeter already... Guess they're good enough for the job ? One remaining question is whether there would be any voltage problem plugging them in the graphic card with an adapter ? I already ordered a Gelid PWM fan adaptor for VGA coller fan, but I can always plug them in the Thermaltake usb hub if the former solution would be problematic for one reason or another...
I could also simply use 2 of the bequiet! silent wings 3 fans I have laying around, they're high speed although being 25mm thick...
 
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NF-A12x15 will work,, but they don't have as high a pressure rating.

NF-A12x15 = 0.90mmH2O @ 1400rpm & 1.53mmH2O @ 1900rpm
NF-A12x25 = 1.65mmH2O @ 1700rpm & 2.34mmH2O @ 2000rpm
NF-A12x25 = 0.70mmH2O @ 1700rpm & 0.81mmH2O @ 2000rpm higher pressure rating. Higher pressure ratings mean more airflow against restictions. ;)
So if you have room above GPU for 25mm thick vs 15mm thick I would use 25mm thick fans.

What is limiting fan thickness? Isn't case open from bottom up to above motherboard?
 
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yea actually 25mm should be ok. Do you think the silent wings could do the job too, as I already have them laying around ? They're actually quite some beasts : 3.37x2200rpm. They're just a bit louder though...
 
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Soldato
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If you have them it doesn't cost anything to put them on and see. If the are Silent Wings 3 120mm PWM high speed make 1.79mmH2O @ 1500rpm and 3.37mmH2O @ 2000rpm. That is a good amount of ablity to overcome resistance.
 
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I really don't know. GPU Gelid adaper is powered by GPU, not PSU? What are stock fans amp rating? Are they all running on same fan circuit? Which Silent WIngs fans do you have?

Safest way would be to useGPU PWM adapter into something like Gelid 1-4 PWM fan splitter with PSU power. That way fans are powered by PSU but controlled by PWM signal from GPU We don't want to overload the GPU fan header.

Edit:
Safest is use motherboard header setup to use GPU temp to control fan speed or use Gelid PSU powered splitter
 
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