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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
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January 2nd, 2021 13:00
I am now borrowing the SATA cable from the optical drive which I don't use as often.
Installed and reformatted the SSD 1TB, moved all games to it from NVMe and HDD:
markburv
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January 2nd, 2021 13:00
Inspiring from others like @r72019 I added a small fan (3-PIN no PWM) in place of the SSD bay, This fan was a replacement fan for a Netgear RND2000 NAS, so sticky taped it to the chassis and connected to the CPU Fan connector on the motherboard:
markburv
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January 7th, 2021 04:00
Ordering the SATA cable as it is not easy to "pull out" an unused SATA cable out of an R3
I suddenly have that "modding fever" back from long ago, lol. I really want to have this R8 cooling in a respectable manner.
I ordered some other bits too (fan, M2 drive, M2 PCIE adaptor).
So I plan to :
I will be looking for ideas how to open up air intake for this new (upper) front fan. I do not have a bezel to cut some slots.
Does anyone know of any alternatives?
markburv
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January 9th, 2021 05:00
Well I dug around to find the thread discussing dremelling the front bezel and now I see. Big thanks to @Anonymous for your beautiful mod and cable management and to @HanoverB for this awesome post here about cooling with fans, founded by many contributions from the community including Dell630i.
I have started:
Moved the HDD below to make way for the Noctua, the HDD now runs idle at 25°C instead of 34°C. This slightly increased my RTX 3080 fans from ~600 to ~640 RPM when idling at 1755Mhz to maintain the 60°C temp (under 60° the GPU fans cut out).
Added the Noctua 25mm fan as upper front intake on the Y cable supplied joining with the Noctua black front fan. I have not yet fixed it (ties or weather strip) as I am still stumbling how to go about working the front bezel without a dremel tool.
markburv
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January 9th, 2021 06:00
Too late to edit to add the Dell630i mod page : here it is
markburv
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January 9th, 2021 07:00
SATA Cables arrived, reconnected the optical drive.
Did a Timespy test to see the affects on the CPU temperatures. Of course the Timespy mark is around the same value (15363)
The CPU test gives a nice 82°C max instead hitting around the 100°C, without cutting the bezel. I am happy the fan is worth it.
Anonymous
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January 9th, 2021 12:00
@markburv I suddenly have that "modding fever" back from long ago, lol. I really want to have this R8 cooling in a respectable manner.
Oh No . . . that modding fever can be dangerous
Anonymous
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January 9th, 2021 12:00
@markburv The CPU test gives a nice 82°C max instead hitting around the 100°C, without cutting the bezel. I am happy the fan is worth it.
Really great job modding! Thanks for sharing. Temps and performance will be much improved.
If you want to keep going; consider a couple ML120 Pro (no LED, no RGB) fans in a push/pull configuration for a radiator sandwich, and while you are there re-paste the CPU with some good quality TIM.
markburv
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January 10th, 2021 02:00
@Anonymous
I will consider the ML 120 Pro Non RGB sandwich in the not so near future, thanks for the link.
Nice PC there in your modding fever link, result is really wow !!!
So before I start hacking the front bezel, did a Timespy test without the front bezel. CPU maxxed out at 75°C, the front upper fan is doing it's job very efficiently
CPU Max 75°
Anonymous
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January 10th, 2021 10:00
@markburv I am keeping the front bezel off for now, while I think about how to drill/cut/sabotage it
There is a thread that is currently almost 200 pages long . . . so I won't link to that
But this is a capture from that discussion regarding opening the Aurora R8 front bezel to allow air flow to a top intake fan. I think you would just need to trim a little of that top piece of the box frame in the red circle . . . or even just cut several slots in it to allow air to flow to the top . . . not major surgery.
r72019
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January 10th, 2021 13:00
I had considered doing the @HanoverB approach and hole sawing the top to open up airflow for the top half of the upper front fan, then putting an RGB fan up there and a cutout of an alien head so the eyes lit up red and wire mesh + filter background. But then I was worried my cutout wouldn't look as good as the black widow and also I didn't want to spend money fixing a problem I didn't have so I left the plastic facia stock up there (aside from adding the second front fan). You still get partial fan coverage even with the plastic obstruction, and the lip doesn't go all the way to the metal grate so the rest gets some coverage too. But maybe that explains why my DVD drive is so dusty LOL.
markburv
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January 10th, 2021 15:00
@Anonymous or even just cut several slots in it to allow air to flow to the top . . . not major surgery
Now that's not a bad idea for simplicity, I might try that... thanks for the tip
markburv
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January 10th, 2021 15:00
@r72019 doing nothing then means dust gets sucked in through the optical drive slot, good to know. Thanks for the tip
Anonymous
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January 10th, 2021 16:00
@markburv Now that's not a bad idea for simplicity, I might try that... thanks for the tip
If minor surgery does not get the air flow you want, then this is the @HanoverB "Black Widow" to which @r72019 is referring . . . and it only takes a 4 1/2" hole saw
(click photos to embiggen)
. . . and The Dragon
r72019
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January 11th, 2021 00:00
@Anonymous
Do you know how he made the shapes? Are they just custom plastic cutouts?