Aurora R9, top fan 3rd party replacement doesn't work?

Thanks! Yeh the one I bought is ML120 w/o Pro  seems like I'll have to return them and get a Pro. I set up the H60 liquid cooler like a sandwich, with the TOP_FAN attached to the top of chassis pulling out, radiator in the middle and the CPU_FAN at the bottom.

Had to drill a hole on the top fan cage to allow the cable to go to the chassis.

And since the ML120 didn't work, I swapped back the stock AVC fan for now. Will try ML120 Pro when it arrives.

If you're into sandwich making, here's what I did with my R8:

Basically you'd want identical fans to sandwich the radiator. And then use a y-split cable drive both fans and connect that y-split cable to TOP_FAN. You cannot use CPU_FAN and TOP_FAN headers at the same time.

@wowbear   Will try ML120 Pro when it arrives.

Nice job on that radiator sandwich! Note the advice from @GTS81 about the fan splitter cable. Also, for full disclosure, the ML120 Pro is the only 3rd party PWM fan that has been found to work without throwing a start-up error. However, any 3-pin fan will work with no error. Of course, these would run un-modulated, at constant speed.

I have an R9 with the 2080ti card.  How hard is it to swap out the fans.  Everything is pretty tight in the case and I would like to swap both factory fans with 120 Pros

Awesome! Is the sandwich pushing air out of the chassis or pulling from the top vent?

I realize that you got an EVGA gpu cooler? is it just a cooler for the stock gpu or the whole card? if that's just the cooler, is it the EVGA HYBRID Kit for EVGA GeForce RTX 2080/2070 FTW3, 400-HY-1284-B1, RGB ? but I read it on their website citing

"This upgrade kit is compatible with all EVGA GeForce RTX 2080/2070 FTW3 graphics cards. *Not compatible with GeForce RTX 2080/2070 Series cards based on the NVIDIA reference PCB.*"

I would like to get a liquid cooler for the RTX2080 Super, eyeing on the Kraken G12 + Corsair H55, but this combo seems not perfect - no radiator covering the VRAM and other part of the board of gpu card. So according to your pics I found the EVGA HYBRID KIT for 2080 but am so worried that it might not fit the Alienware stock MSI RTX 2080 Super.

@wowbear :

The sandwich is pulling air from inside the chassis and pushing it out the top.

I have the full graphics card, EVGA 2080 Super XC Hybrid Gaming (P/N: 08G-P4-3188-KR). The hybrid cooler you mentioned is for the FTW3 version of EVGA cards. FTW3 cards are souped you supercharged versions of cards designed in-house by EVGA. They have more robust power conditioning circuit and run higher clock frequencies. They also have a higher over locking limit. Finally, the 2080 Ti also gets the binned A chip on these FTW3 cards.

If the hybrid cooler says FTW3, it won’t fit your card. If you are thinking whether the non-FTW3 coolers have gone extinct, the general consensus on EVGA forums is yes. And as customer centric EVGA is, they aren’t disclosing any information on future production or availability of the cooler.

Not to troll you but I have disassembled my hybrid cooler to slap on an EK waterblock. Too bad the cooler has to remain with me for 2 years and 9 months more because that’s how long my card warranty is remaining.

Also just sold off my G12.

Anyone?

The front fan should be pretty straightforward.

For the top fan, it depends if your R9 is liquid cooled or not. If it is, then you would need to open the top of the chassis and unscrew the radiator from the chassis mount. Lower it a little until you can see the screws connecting the fan to the radiator on the inside. Then you can remove the fan and install the ML120 Pro.

Do you think the Corsair H75 cooler would work? I've seen a few people say that it fits the system. 

@WLBNKS   Do you think the Corsair H75 cooler would work?

It should fit just fine, as the radiator is only 25mm thick; for a total of 75mm with the push/pull fans. You will need to purchase at least 1 ML120 Pro fan (no RGB) in order to avoid the BIOS start up error. The H75 comes with SP series fans. You will also need a fan Y-splitter cable.

My R9 is liquid cooled.

I have 2 ml120 pros coming this weekend.  I will replace both fans and see how that affects my temps.

Does anyone have a suggested fan curve for the case fans?  If so do you use AWCC to set the curve?  I am brand new to Alienware so this is a bit of a learning curve.

I got the front fan replaced this weekend.  I am not sure how to get the top fan out yet  The screws are too hard to read where the fan is sitting.

FYI I have the liquid cooled option so the top fan is connected to the liquid cooling radiator.

You have a few choices here:

1. Buy a screwdriver that has a long and thin neck and go through the top holes of the fan (nearer to inside) to access the hidden screws.

Or remove AIO cooler from CPU, RAM sticks, and VRM heatsink. Then:

2. Unscrew the mounting bracket from the inside and slide the entire contraption from the inside, be careful not to hit your CPU. Proceed to unscrew the fan screws.

3. Remove the top cover, unscrew the radiator from the mounting bracket, lower and remove fan.

When installing ML120 Pro fan, buy some longer screws. @r72019 knows the exact length I believe.

I went the long screwdriver option.  It was a nightmare.

ML120Pros are thinner than the stock top fan.  There is no visibility to the screw when using the ml120 pro.  All done by feel.  

The CPU liquid cooler had to be removed from the CPU to access one of the screw holes.

After multiple attempts and losing one screw I had to tape the screws to the ml120 Pros so that I could complete the install.

My wife was the much needed 3rd hand to hold the liquid cooling cap off of the motherboard while I performed the install.

The whole process took almost 2 hours.  The front fan was much simpler.