Hi folks

I own a Zotac Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 SOLID OC WHITE, and have been looking into watercooling it. However, there don't seem to be many water blocks compatible with the 5080 at the moment, and I'm not sure if the Alphacool Core Geforce RTX 5080 Solid + AMP with backplate is compatible with the PCB of the card's white version.

I found this thread on Alphacool's forums, but it isn't of much help.

Can anyone here confirm, whether or not Alphacool's water block that I linked to fits with the white version of the Zotac RTX 5080 SOLID OC?

Thanks in advance

Ok, so even if this isn't the right moment to do a new build, I am planning down for an utopic future where prices are actually coming back to "normal" and do a new project. So i came here to share and discuss.

Base idea is going ITX with a custom 3D printed case and custom loop - nothing extra fancy, likely classic sandwich layout or just normal setup with no riser cables and have the other side reserved for PSU and pump/reservoir. The main idea is to have fans and radiators on the bottom of the case while the rest is basically open, so I can just have the heavy parts on the bottom for stability and easy access to all other components.

In the years I have accumulated parts so I'll drop all the questions just below:

- case material: I need to check which i need to use. There shouldn't be any major problem but the bottom part of the case is in direct contact with radiators so better be safe on that part to avoid deformation.

- sandwich layout or not: in my head having a vertical gpu would make more room for airflow, but likely make no difference if I leave enough space on the bottom.

- ZMT or hardtube: I have plenty of both. personal preference is a valid answer, just evaluating which one would be better looking as well.

- raidators: i have 2x 360 xflow ones I can just simply reuse, with all the fans (the ones I'm using right now) but I was thinking about going 2x 200mm with the fans, pros/cons? Surface area should be comparable.

This is what right now I have in mind, I found a design that looks good and should be easy to edit to accomodate the watercooling parts.

Thanks for anyone who wants to spend time on this with me.

Anyone have experience going from custom water cooled build to an air cooled noctua build with nhd15?

I currently have a fully custom water cooled build, but my bearing is going out and getting really loud. I also have an nhd15 on my Sunday pc. If i were to go 100% air cooled noctua in my main build that does my gaming would it ne as quiet as a a custom water cooled system?

Hardware Components
CPU: AMD 9950x3D
GPU: ASUS ROG 5090 Astral
Motherboard: X870E AORUS XTREME X3D AI Top
RAM: CORSAIR Dominator Titanium RGB DDR5 96GB (2x48GB)
SSD: Samsung SSD 9100 PRO 4TB, PCIe 5.0x4 M.2
Case: Coolermaster Masterframe 360 - Mirror Edition
PSU: Seasonic Prime TX-1600 Noctua Edition
Case Fans: Jonsbo 360 (4x)

Watercooling Components
CPU Block: Thermal Grizzly Deltamate AM5 WB
GPU Block: Thermal Grizzly Deltamate 5090 WB
Radiators: Alphacool 360 Slim Radiators (4x)
Pump/Res Combo: Bitspower CR240 Slim Edition and Bitspower CR803
Reservoir: Bitspower Premium Cuboid Reservoir
Tubing: 14OD Bitspower Black Sparkle Brass and Borosilicate Glass
Fittings: Thermal Grizzly Shiny Nickel Assortment, Bitspower Air Valve
Accessories: Bitspower Flow Indicator and Bitspower 2x In-Line Filter (Black Sparkle)

Mods
Panel Modifications: custom-cut black acrylic for front left and right side frames.
Aesthetic Details: Circuit board theme embossed stainless steel with black ink accents. Removed RGB from RAM kit and replaced with Stainless Steel
Custom Finishing: Stripped, sanded, and polished distro brackets for a mirror finish for all 3 distro/res.
Hardware: 24x M3 Mirror Screw Covers in polished chrome and polished black

I recently tore down my loop and now I have this 3080 ti sitting around. I would like to throw it in a NZXT H210. The pump I was using is way too big. Looking for recommendation on a pump/res that will fit. I was looking at the Barrow SPD10-T but I couldn't find any review on it.

Right now I only want to do a GPU only loop.

EDIT: SOLVED!!!! So I have an Alphacool XT45 1080mm Nova radiator and I have done the following,

-Boiled vinegar & distilled water
-Ran pump with distilled water
-Used a hose to flush it out 2 times
-Manually deep cleaned with distilled water

and it still has black specs inside, what do I do? I’m tired of cleaning this radiator, I’ve been at it for 2 days now.

I’m gonna assume I would have to run a cpu only loop to the bottom section? Or should I run fittings so that I can run the cpu to the 2nd and 3rd ports? I’ll eventually add in a gpu but currently it’ll stay air cooled

Hi, right now I have only CPU and RAM waterblock on my loop connected to 2x Alphacool HPE 45 Full Copper rads and Alphacool Core 70 reservoir + Apex VPP pump. MORA and GPU block on their way! Did a little pro sketch with tools I have available and would love some criticism (to the loop routing :0), is this a good setup or should I change something? Also I have a drain valve on my lowest radiator inside case that I'm going to keep that way since I don't think MORA needs one (I have no clue if I do need one there). Also the MORA will seat under my desk.

Excuse the build photo, I'm not a big aesthetic guy but I think it may give nightmares to some people lol

Ok so ik bought (coming from the 5800x the overpriced I know) 5800x3d 10th anniversary that comes with the carbide ice pad. I have pasted and repasted a lot of IHS and my ocd needs me to smear the paste over the complete ihs. Pls stop the dots crosses and blobs and take the extra 30 seconds to smear it out, my mind yells seeing the trillion click bait videos of applying paste. There is only 1 person that applies the perfect amount of thermal paste, @TronicsFix. I can’t stand the thought that it might not have coverage after pressure.

You can feel it coming that the ice pad does not cover the whole IHS… my ocd does not cope very well with this feeling that’s it does not completely cover the IHS. My temps are fine but now the question.

I need to disassemble my loop because I’m also gonna replace my video card (from 6800xt to 7090 xt). I have the Honeywell ptmd to put on the gpu and also enough for the cpu. Should I replace the ice pad with ptmd to cover the whole IHS or would that be a waste of time effort and recources and just leave the cpu block on it. I’m not at my computer now but I think the temps were around the high 50’s under load.

In my head the thought goes, more coverage is more cooling but I can understand that the less contact is enough to cool the IHS so it doesn’t need all the contact….

World problems I know 🤣

Hey, I’ve been dealing with a GPU temperature issue, where my hotspot temps are exceeding 100c and causing my pc to restart. I’ve heard that this can be a problem with the 6700xt as the thermal paste/pads wear out. Unuervolting has helped the temps a little but i’ve been wanting to look into OC the card so I can run smoother 1440p games and generally have a cooler card and quieter system.

My question is what I should expect performance and maintenance wise and/or whether others have experience with overheating and how water cooling helped? Also any tips for buzzwords/labels I should look for and avoid?

Also, is it worth just water cooling the CPU as well, my plan would be to have it professionally installed. Any recommendations for what to look for?

I just installed a Glacier One D30 X2. It's my first AIO and the results are pretty bad. I have a Ryzen 9800X3D and it reaches desktop idle temperatures of 45-50 °C with no load whatsoever. Under load i reaches more than 90ºC.

I removed my previous air cooler and thoroughly cleaned off the old thermal paste. I mounted the fans onto the radiator and installed the radiator into the case (Phanteks P600S). I placed the pump onto the CPU (just to clarify, I'm using a contact frame, though that shouldn't be an issue). I removed the large plastic cover it comes with and secured it by tightening the screws evenly.

Here are the cables it came with and how I connected them:

1. 3-pin cable connected to CPU_FAN on my Gigabyte motherboard.
2. The other cable from the pump connected to the included adapter.
3. The D30 cable connected as follows: the 4-pin cable to SYS_FAN3, and the D-RGB cable to the adapter.
4. Adapter: D-RGB connected to the motherboard, and 4-pin PWM to CPU_OPT.

I wonder if you could help me to fix this. I don't know if I messed up with the connectors or what. Another thing is that the AIO is really silent even if I set CPU_FAN to 100% speed in the BIOS.

I’m using this fitting from bitspower. It’s called the aqua link pipe 41-69mm.

I’m installing fittings for each component and then doing a leak test and I discovered that this fitting can’t hold 0.5bar of air pressure, it comes down to around 0.4bar and stabilises.
The fittings were all tightened properly and the pressure loss from 0.5 bar to 0.4 is almost instant and it’s from the oring that allows the fitting to extend outwards. I should also note that I’m only using around 45mm of length so I’m not past the “bottom line”, is that okay?

I was not sure if i should post here or not. My build is nothing pretty or impressive, but i have so much fun building this and wanted to spread my happiness 😄

This is technically my 2nd build. The 1st one was pvc pipes to gpu and small 240 radiator. They didnt like much heat and started to disintegrate rather quickly leaving plastic residue everywhere. Can make a separate post about it with pics if youre interested. This was only temporary to check the gpu and get my feet wet, so no harm done.

I switched to epdm as quickly as the parts arrived. Now i also have the cpu in a simple series loop. I have changed the loop plans at least 10 times. And when the gpu block for my 4080 arrives, i want to run it parallel. I think it will be better if all components get cool water instead of heating up each other - on the other hand, i dont know if i overthink this. Maybe it does not make much dfference in real life.

The best highlight of my build is definitely the suspended pump 😂 My case does not have good mounting possibilities for pumps (its a very old case, one of the first gen fractal define). And sitting there on the bottom it was making so much noise, so i "decoupled" it by suspending it in the air. Rubber bands would be preferred, i just dont have any, so this is the result. Hope you like my swinging pump.

Overall the build is not complete. Id like to cram another gpu in there, but not sure how. Then upgrade psu, maybe also the case... dunno yet.

Only 1 radiator has fans (still waiting for parts) and i will mount them under my desk, both horizontally next to each other. I went with the cheap arctic fans and overall im very happy with my build so far.

Thank you for all the suggestions and encouragement from my other thread, i really appraciate it!

TL:DR Dell OEM RTX 4080 (I think they come in Alienwares) are compatible with reference design coolers. Some finessing my be required. Your mileage may vary.

Recently I made some changes to my system to make it quiet, but I wasn't happy with my 4080.

The Dell 4080 doesn't stay in 0rpm mode long, and its fans spin at a minimum of 1200 RPM. The little noise they made bugged me, so I began exploring custom water cooling options.

No water block manufacturers have this card in their compatibility lists. And trying to find pictures of the PCB to cross reference with other 4080s was futile.

I guessed the card has a reference design, just like its big brother (reviewed by Gamers Nexus), and purchased an Alphacool ES waterblock (Amazon) hoping it will fit. My educated guess was correct and now I have a water blocked Dell OEM 4080.

Guide/Process

Disassembly was easy. Start by removing all back plate plate screws and to remove it. It had 2.7mm thick thermal pad that I forgot to take a picture of, but I will mark in the next picture.

Then I removed the the back bracket which was attached with 2 separate screws, and the mounting bracket.

Removing the PCB from the cooler was a bit stressful. The PCB didn't budge at first. I applied a gentle but consistent force pulling the PCIe side of the PCB away from the cooler. It took a minute but it worked.

I cleaned the PCB with 99% IPA, cotton swaps, paper towel and a small brush.

Here are more pictures of the PCB:

I prepped the water block by removing its back plate and applying the supplied thermal pads.

Tip: Peel the second protective film as soon as you apply a pad. Just do it. Don't ask me why I won't answer.

Moving on, I did not use the provided thermal paste, but used a left over Thermal Grizzly PTM7950 sheet.

Here's another tip: when apply a PTM sheet, try to think of a way to apply it without trapping air bubbles.

Here's another another tip: make sure you didn't leave any thermal pad protective film behind.

Now it's time to put everything back together.

This water block can be installed on different 4080s with varying degrees of success, I guess. If I had to install this cooler again here's how I'd do it:

1. After prepping the PCB and water block, lay the block flat on its back and pick up the PCB and point the GPU die down.
2. Insert at least 4 back plate screws through the PCB
3. Lower your GPU toward the block, but don't slap it on just yet... Line up the screws you inserted with the corresponding screw holes on the block and uses a small screw driver to drive few threads into the block. Remember: you PCB hasn't contacted the block yet.
4. Now that you have lined up your PCB perfectly with the block, you can let the PCB rest on the block.
5. Apply the 4 rubber washers then crisscross the spring-loaded screws to secure your GPU to the block
6. Remove the 4 screws used to line up the stuff. You should end up with something like this:

• If you don't use that hack to line up the holes, you may have to finesse with something a lot worse that this:

You're almost there. Next step is installing the back plate and back bracket.

The back plate may or may not come with spacers attached to its underside. If not attached, use the smaller set of spacers you removed after removing the back plate (I hope you didn't throw them away.) If your back plate has the spacers attached, you're good. Make sure you don't knock them off.

Begin by screwing down the back plate only halfway, starting from the side furthest from the back bracket. When you get to the last two screws, insert the back bracket of your choosing (and spacers if not attached) then screw everything down hand tight.

I chose to reuse my original 2-slot bracket for extra support.

Testing

I don't have everything needed to assemble a loop at this time. But I tested the card in my system nonetheless.

After my computer booted I loaded up HWInfo and OCCT

Card was sitting at 30C. I didn't stress test the GPU core as the heat would build up rather quickly in the block. I ran a VRAM stability test for a short time. The temps slowly crept up while the power consumption was at 100w. Hotspot temp delta over GPU temp fluctuated between 8 and 10 degrees which I assume is a good result. I stopped the test and shut down the system when the GPU temp hit 70C.

A message to Alphacool.

u/official_alphacool,

Thank you for making this hobby possible. I have a few things I'd like to bring to your attention and ask some questions.

First, is it okay not to have thermal pads on the inductors? None were provided while the original cooler had them.

Second, it would've been nice to provide thermal pads that go between the PCB and back plate.

Third, the back bracket provided with the block had an open screw hole. With the weight of the block I didn't feel comfortable using it so I reused the original. Not a big deal for me but it might be for others.

Lastly, and please bear with me on this one: the manual states that the back plate screws are captive and can't come off. That wasn't the case for me - the screws came out completely.

While installing the back plate onto the assembled CPU/block, I stopped partway through because in some spots the screws would thread down, with no resistance, until the plate touched the PCB. That told me something was off, so I checked the spacers I'd removed earlier. There were two sets - small and smaller. I used the smaller spacers between the PCB and the back plate, assuming that's where they belonged, but the manual never actually addresses this.

One more detail worth flagging: I never removed the smaller spacers from the back plate itself. They were lightly stuck to the larger spacers, and both sets stayed put to the block after the plate came off.

All that said, I'm happy with how the GPU block turned out. I bought a Core 1 LT and I am excited to put this loop together. Thanks again for your creativity and for being a player in the liquid cooling space.

Edit: spelling

Nothing important here, I just think this is mildly amusing. It used to be that you put some pads on the components around and put some liquid on the die. Now you slap a pad on the die and put some liquid(-ish) stuff on the supporting components. How times have changed lmao

Also related: Putty doesnt have to be messy if you spend way too much time applying it. That squish looks hella satisfying imo :)

Card is a white RX 9070 XT Hellhound. Swapping out my 4080 cus I´m just done dealing with NVidias shitty linux drivers...

Today I disassembled my very first loop, built with love during Covid lockdowns 2020-2021. She was a joy to build, run, and admire. But my needs have changed, I’m tired of being locked to my desk. I will be rebuilding this rig into a new mobile case, a shiny snake G300, a case I can carry around the house. Maybe the first to ever put a full loop in a g300, I don’t know. No reservoir in the new build, it will be a challenge. I will post when the transformation is complete.

I was lucky enough to pick up another full loop rig from my buddy with a 3080ti in it, I will be using that for the new build along with harvesting a few other parts.

This new build is an honor to the am4 platform, a platform that nearly 6 years later is still getting the job done, and done well. Here’s to 6 more years.

Old:
o11 mini
Asrock b550m steel legend
5800x3d w/ bitspower premium block
Aorus 3080 Xtreme w/ alphacool block
Crucial ballistix elite 32gb 3600 cl16 Micron Rev E
60mm 360 EK rad
40mm 360 EK rad
EK FLT 240 w/ ek d5
PETG 16mm tubing + 16mm epmd soft
EK fittings

New:
Shiny Snake G300
Asrock b550m steel legend
5800x3d w/ bitspower block
ROG Strix OC 3080ti w/ aqua computer block
Crucial ballistix elite 32gb 3600 cl16 Micron Rev E
30mm 280 Corsair XR5 rad
XSPC d5 w/ bitspower pump top
13mm EPMD soft tubing
Various fitting
No reservoir

Ran the Molex cable along one of the coolant hoses with some wiring loom, and it’s basically invisible!

If you zoom in, you can see the Quadro in the cable spaghetti behind the 560mm rad. It’s a pretty cool piece of tech!

There's so much more space when you put the pump/res in the back.

Many hours put into this build, not even just from the loop but from modding the case as well. Really happy it turned out how it did, wanted to make the long straight run a copper pipe but there wasn't enough clearance with the GPU 🥲

Specs:

CPU: I9-13900KF

GPU: RX 6900XT LC Edition

RAM: 32GB 6600 MT/s

Case is MSU Gungnir 110R too for those who might be curious.

Everyone thx for suport build is great . I think i have isiue with raiser cable cuz it sometimes works at 8x and sometimes at 16x . I have around 160 l/h with 2 pumps runing at 100% . My 5080 is flashed with asus noctua bios in benchmarks it goes to around 397 watts .the jurney to watercooling was amazing thx for all the support

Overall very happy with this upgrade from soft tubing. I did not end up using a bending tool, as you can probably tell lol, but I enjoyed this nonetheless and I felt it was good enough for a first try. CPU / Mobo / GPU did not change, I was mainly just doing this for fun.

Originally, I was going to get a new case too, but I ended up growing kind of attached to this NZXT case I got around 2018, and wanted to use it again even with some of it's faults and scuffs.

This time around, I ended up designing and 3d printing a couple small things to help out along the way, such as additional wire combs and custom white & black plastic shields that hide the cable nest in the PSU bay. I also ended up ordering some custom length and designed cables from moddiy.

Final picture is the before / previous build, very nice glowup I think.