568 Posts
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20059
Aurora R8, EVGA RTX 3080 XC3 Ultra Gaming, Noctua nf-a12x15-pwm-chromax-black-swap
Hello all,
First off big thanks to all who have posted about GPU upgrades and notably about replacing the front fan, otherwise I would have had to settle for something less. Particular mention for the thread Aurora R8, EVGA Geforce RTX 3090 install results.
Finally my project of upgrading the GPU has completed, just 2 steps, (not hard with the maintenance doc from dells website):
1. Replace the front fan with a Noctua nf-a12x15-pwm-chromax-black-swap. Done 1 month ago.
2. Replace the GTX 1060 with EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 XC3 ULTRA GAMING. Done today after 1 month waiting for the card.
Less hassle as the card fits without cutting the triangle, I am concerned about the stability of the PSU door if the triangle is cut out, applicable for all EVGA RTX XC cards (3070-90).
Thermals on GPU down from 80°C (120hz 1440p) to 73°C (164hz 1440p).
Pictures to follow
markburv
568 Posts
0
January 20th, 2021 09:00
C700P, pretty much the same case, I found it nearly half the price of the C700M, so couldn't resist after the above problems. The case will be coming next month.
I still plan on making the ML 120 Pro sandwich this weekend, the fans are delayed now for delivery on friday. I shall post progress here for others albeit already done before, but if it is too difficult, I will back off.
GTS81
2.2K Posts
1
January 20th, 2021 09:00
@markburv :
Well that escalated quickly. Last I typed here, you were trying to make a small change to your R8. Now we're talking Cosmos??
For Z390 motherboard, any of the higher end Asus/ MSI/ Gigabyte would serve you well. I bought an MSI MEG ACE Z390 this time last year at a great price and it has lasted me to this very day.
I didn't read upthread but seems like you're going to be using an RTX 3080 XC3?
Looking forward to seeing your build thread. Maybe here, or maybe elsewhere like Reddit/ imgur/ builds.gg. Have fun!
GTS81
2.2K Posts
0
January 20th, 2021 10:00
@Anonymous :
URGENT: https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-quantum-vector-fe-rtx-3090-d-rgb-silver-special-edition
Get it quick!
markburv
568 Posts
0
January 20th, 2021 10:00
@Anonymous Nice pics, looks like some chemistry experience mocked up
@GTS81 Yeah maybe rushing I have some updated results to share on current temps before repasting #2 and trying to pull/push.
If the pull/push brings down the CPU Temps respectably (sub 75°) on the Low Gaming Profile, with maybe some profile tweaks to take advantage of the quieter fans, I can maybe consider a plan C, longer term project, for the new case.
Anonymous
5 Practitioner
5 Practitioner
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274.2K Posts
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January 20th, 2021 18:00
@GTS81 Get it quick!
$340 . . . expected to ship in early March . . . and I would need 2 of them
I can't keep track. I thought we were hating on EK this week. There are a lot of complaints over at the other forum about waiting 2 months to get a $300 water block that has scratches in the acrylic . . . on the inside of the block
Anonymous
5 Practitioner
5 Practitioner
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274.2K Posts
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January 20th, 2021 18:00
@GTS81 @markburv
For Z390 motherboard, any of the higher end Asus/ MSI/ Gigabyte would serve you well. I bought an MSI MEG ACE Z390 this time last year at a great price and it has lasted me to this very day.
If you decide to go with X299 mobo & LGA2066 socket . . . I have your CPU
markburv
568 Posts
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January 21st, 2021 09:00
Going to start trying the sandwich
GTS81
2.2K Posts
1
January 21st, 2021 09:00
@Anonymous :
Now EK is coming back to say that scratches are on the outside of the block.
Anyways, me hating EK?
GTS81
2.2K Posts
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January 21st, 2021 14:00
@markburv :
NOOOO!!! Too much paste kills thermals. Well, if it's like peanut butter sandwich thick.
markburv
568 Posts
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January 21st, 2021 14:00
Managed to do the sandwich, just wanted to give some immediate feedback.
Easy to unclip the mount from the pump head, rotate 15°, it ungrips and seperates. Reposition and reclip by rotating 15° in the opposite direction to fix to the pump head.
My first paste was not perfect, not far.
So now the is rotated 30° anti-clockwise to it's original position, time to paste and fiw the pump head to the MB. This is where the difficulty is regarding cross-threading the screws, there is quite a bit of pressure as the head does not want to be aligned to the MB holes due to the hoses being bent, especially the short right one that was originally straight and now in a S shape.
You have to with one hand counter-force the bent hoses, maintain the pump aligned with the MB holes while screwing it down and keep it steady to avoid smearing the fresh paste.
Now obviously to avoid cross-threading the screws when removing the cooler assembly, you have to counter-force the bent hoses and maintain the pump in position until all are unscrewed.
I shall do testing later, thanks @Anonymous for the idea, @GTS81 for the explanations that made much more sense when everything was easy until wanting to remount the head to the MB.
I repasted with a tad extra, so hopefully some better thermals to come.
Noise wise, fans at max, around 67dba close up, 50dba at my level with the R8 on the ground (according to my iphone). If I had the OEM fan at 55% speed, it was a lot lot more.
Photos will follow soon.
markburv
568 Posts
0
January 21st, 2021 15:00
@GTS81 Too much?
GTS81
2.2K Posts
1
January 21st, 2021 16:00
Should be ok.
Anonymous
5 Practitioner
5 Practitioner
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274.2K Posts
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January 21st, 2021 17:00
. . . as long as it is electrically non-conductive
markburv
568 Posts
0
January 23rd, 2021 03:00
Currently trying to find the max offset viable for the new corsairs.
You can set to 100, the corsairs will turn at 2400rpm.
However when Top Fan temperatures increase, that is the sensor inside the case near the CPU, the fans will go higher than the offset you decided. When this happens, the fans will cut as AWCC thinks it has an OEM fan that can go much faster than 2400rpm and the corsairs cannot, they cut.
In Timespy I couldn't set more than 80 offset.
First find your offset value by fixing it in AWCC and testing like with Timespy, however do not limit your tests to just that benchmark.
If you want to set a curve in AWCC, it must look something like this. Make sure it is no more than your max offset that you have found.
However remember that this is in relation to the top fan temperature, near the CPU, it is not related to direct CPU temperature.
If you experience that the fans cut and drop, you have to do something, either use the 25mm front fan in the sandwich connected on 4wire Y PWM cable, otherwise you may have to lower your Top Fan offset.
markburv
568 Posts
2
January 23rd, 2021 07:00
I have finished my preliminary tests with Timespy to find my Top Fan offset, fixed setting.
The settings used for the tests are :
This is the order of my tests:
I will use the following AWCC Profile profiles for comparison, I have linked them to games to automatically apply the profile when any game starts:
I have highlighted 2 particular test lines in red, they show that adding the front Bezel without having cut it up or made any modifications to it whatsoever, as a first impression it doesn't seem to restrict airflow that much. When you look at how the Bezel fits on the front, it does not block air as the plastic rectangular lip does not actually sit flush to the case.
I highlighted the Max Top Fan on one of the tests, this is because the ML 120 Pro non RGB no LEDs 400-2400 rpm cuts out during the Timespy CP Test leaving a Max speed on HWINFO at 2515.
I can stress bench my CPU with CPU-Z (100% all cores) and the CPU sits at 65°.
I have highlighted in blue my AWCC Profile settings that I will use from now on, if I encounter any further problems with top fan cutting out, I may adjust offsets and may resort to trying with the OEM Front fan in the push side.
Suggestions
When adding a non-blower type high end GPU, as many have said here before, it will heat up the inside upper half of the R8 or similar AW nano cases. This will cause your CPU to register higher temperatures.
The most significant thing you can do, add an upper front intake fan in the HDD bay to get cooler air inside to mix. It makes a lot of difference on CPU temperatures, for me it went from 100° with the CPU throttling to 82°.
If you want to look at the liquid cooling assembly, not much improvement, except you can get the machine very quiet by comparison to the OEM fans and still push enough air around.
There are possibly other things you can try, like extract the hot air from the GPU before it gets into the radiator with another fan, but I suspect it will make a negligable difference, most of that hot air from the GPU mixed with the cooler air from the upper front fan will go up though the TOP Fan, result warmer air cools less the liquid to cool your CPU.
Conclusion
I started out with an R8, a beautiful box that sits under my desk, and I was and still am very happy with it. I under spec'ed it when buying to have the best CPU available, an M2 drive, the lowest NVIDIA GPU and the lowest amount of RAM. I had two intentions, immediately boost the RAM from 8GB to 32GB and put a decent graphics card in some years down the road.
I bought 4 fans, some screws, some nice filters and a few cables, all in, insignificant to the price of my EVGA RTX 3080 XC3 Ultra Gaming card.
I now have a beautiful R8 in my eyes, with i9-9900k, 32GB RAM and GTX 3080 + 2xM2s + 1HDD + 1SSD. I love this machine, it is still beautiful, even without the case LEDs*. I have achieved what I set out when I clicked "buy" 2 years ago.
* I broke a wire during this adventure.
I hope all of you modding fans and cooling assemblies will be very careful unconnecting the right panel slim connector/s used for the right panel LED and the LED. I hope all of you also take much care when refitting the right panel*.
I broke a plastic panel clip during this adventure.
I have not got bad temperatures considering the heat generated from the RTX 3080 and so this project is a result in my eyes. All the credit goes to past AW members and their posts all over this forum, but especially to @Anonymous @r72019 and @GTS81 for being here and following this adventure to give amazing advice. I feel very lucky they were here to help. Thanks a lot, you awesome guys rock as rockstars!
Moving Forward
Let's do that case swap and rectify what I broke