I think I will use one fan on ram one on m.2 area and one over back of gpu after I redo my loop to add a rad and gpu
Edit- I'm installing matching set of lian li uni fans and that will leave me with 3 extra ml120 pro fans

Haven't been following this whole thread, just popping in to share this. Has anyone tried out thermal putty?  10W/m-K silicone.
 
https://www.overclock.net/threads/3080-3090-junction-temp-cooling-thread.1777046/page-13#post-28791579
 
https://www.digikey.com/e...gy/TG-PP10-50G/6204863

Anyway, continued to do a little digging while I'm waiting on my HC block to ship and pulled the following image out of the pdf instructions available for the block:

 
As you can see (for those who don't have the block yet), the inside surface looks to be flat with the only raised areas the edges of the backplate itself. There is an exposed copper strip centered in the vertical on the left side of the backplate, but the need for that would negated if you made a replacement backplate completely out of copper. You could also chamfer any additional holes you might want/need to make which would allow you to mount whatever you wanted to the other side of the backplate using screws (depending on available space around the slot the card will be in). That would give you a much tighter fitting between those items and likely much better thermal transference.
 
Not having access to a mill would require a two piece backplate if using a high resolution waterjet cutter: one piece would essentially be a shim with holes the inside height of the backplate's edges; while the main piece would be a full plate with the same screw holes (and air holes, etc.) as the original plate.
 
Lastly, while you could press pemserts into the holes on the cut plate to provide for screw threads with the aid of a one or two ton drill arbor press, nuts and washers should do just fine. I really don't see any need to overcomplicate such a project any further and that's probably going to be what I end up doing.
 
I'll take pix/make depth measurements of the oem backplate once the block arrives and create the required dxfs for them, then send them to my water jet cutter.
 

 
 

Anyone switch out stock psu cables for sleeved, and have had 12v rail go up to like 13.7v from 12.1-12.2 nominal?

It's reading in HwInfo and Asus DIP 5 that voltage for both mobo Input and gpu input

I would get in touch with eVGA CS & see what they say before RMAing it, see what they say - but if it's doing that with the stock cables plugged back in, something is goin' funky indeed.

liweichen6
Temporary solution. Still need to test the thermals.

Were did you buy that heatsink?

Yep something is definitely not quite right. They have always been good with rma's for me at least. Most of the time i had them cross ship it. My 850 died twice they upped it to a 1000 i thin it was a t2 they could have been p2...been a while. I have a 1600t2 as a spare just incase the 1000 dies on me but so far its been 4 or 5 years since it was upgraded. Good luck and it should be a pretty smooth process

It was the sleeved mobo cable, put my stock cable in and voltages back to normal

Thats a odd one they must have a wire wrong? Still wouldn't think it would make the 12 volt rail go up like that!

Welp got another issue, my d5 pump tach signal is non existent, so guess the tach circuit in the pump fried 🙄

miguelmotocross075

liweichen6
Temporary solution. Still need to test the thermals.

Were did you buy that heatsink?

I would wager that will perform pretty well, especially if accompanied with thermal pads swap under the backplate & a fan blowing anywhere near it.
 
 

I'm still miffed at myself that I didn't realize the Dark was THAT much better than the regular Hero before I ordered mine, I would've FOUND a Dark at a decent price and gotten it instead.

kevinc313
Haven't been following this whole thread, just popping in to share this. Has anyone tried out thermal putty?  10W/m-K silicone.
https://www.overclock.net/threads/3080-3090-junction-temp-cooling-thread.1777046/page-13#post-28791579
https://www.digikey.com/e...gy/TG-PP10-50G/6204863

Excellent topic-relevant information 
 
As for going crazy when it comes to searching for the ultimate in optimum heat transfer, Innovation Cooling offers a reasonably priced test kit that includes Fujifilm Prescale Tactile Pressure Indicating Sensor Film. The stuff works great for checking mating surfaces where lapping is involved:
 

 
Lastly some additional info regarding a question asked that hasn't been answered yet:
 

miguelmotocross075

liweichen6
Temporary solution. Still need to test the thermals.

Were did you buy that heatsink?

 
Similar heatsinks are easy enough to find on (e.g.) Amazon:
 

 
Just be forewarned that if you do pursue a larger heat sink like the one above and install it, some of the screws holding the gpu together will be covered on the backplate (meaning you will have to remove the heatsink to get at those screws if you want or need to disassemble the gpu for some reason).

Fayalite
Well I guess you can drill holes before putting the heatsink; this allows access to the screws. This way you don't need to remove it every time you need to service the card

Yeah, that was my thinking as well.