Hey all,
 
I'll be receiving my EVGA 3080 FTW3 Ultra in a few days' time... but alas, I don't have any liquid cooling in my rig. Has anyone successfully managed the exceptionally high thermal output of a 3080 (or other 30 series card) without using liquid? I'm sure it's possible, and I plan to tinker with my setup to optimize the cooling I already have established. However, everything I find online about the 30 series cards involve liquid or hybrid cooling. Any input would be very much welcome and appreciated.
 
If anyone cares to hear the results, I'll be sharing photos of the setup and the stats I see here later next week.
 
Cheers!

What type of cooler are you using?

It was more than ample for my 2070 Super. I moved two of the stock case fans (Meshify C) to the top and one to the rear top as exhaust. Then I put two Corsair 120mm fans on the front as intake.

I’m not sure if I’m getting positive pressure in the case…

Good idea about covering grilles. My previous thought was the more open the better, but it makes sense to use restrictions to guide the flow like you said.

I agree with ty_ger07 just get the hot air out of the case thats all that matters,airflow is is the most improtant factor cool air in hot air out very easy.

ty_ger07

JohnnyBftw
Do you have ample airflow in your case?
I always prefer positive airflow for all my PC Cases as it seems to work better for all components inside.
Meaning more fans as air Intake than fans as Exhaust plus covering any exhaust openings like grilles etc to guide the air flow.

Positive pressure, negative pressure, hog wash.

Cover "any" (all?!?!) exhaust openings? Are you mad?

Airflow matters. Pressure is opposite of what you want.

Absolutely agree....its like looking at all the new Water Heads on here going on and on about "Coolant Delta".....trying to shave 2c off temps etc....its all about GPU / CPU load temps ...NOT rocket science ;)

FYI
Just running my "old" 3080FTW3 Ultra through a gammit of testing after re-installing stock air cooler (was Blocked on water the last 6 months)...
Everything Stock, test system is an old 3930K / RIVE / 16G 2133 Dominators / AX1200i
- all new stock thermal pads from Evga
- stock thermal putty (Evga)
- GPU grease Hydronaut
 
Looped Heaven 3 hrs (2560*1440p) Max temp 66c
Looped Port Royal 1 Hr Max temp 68c
 
those same 2 tests back 6 months ago when the Cards were new from Evga and prior to installing Water Blocks were about 72c - 73c, so I managed to shave almost 5c off the load temps with new pads, putty n grease ;)

kevinc313

rjbarker
 
those same 2 tests back 6 months ago when the Cards were new from Evga and prior to installing Water Blocks were about 72c - 73c, so I managed to shave almost 5c off the load temps with new pads, putty n grease ;)

While your results are great and any improvement is usually worthwhile, most people shouldn't be randomly pulling apart EVGA cards to get a few degrees improvement.  They already have some of the best thermals out there and there are risks of making it worse or damaging the card if you're not careful.  The first step is always to get a good case airflow setup.

Agreed...I have been taking cards apart and installing Water Blocks....then re-installing stock air coolers (to sell the Cards) for years, so not a big deal for me....although a little extra care going into the $1700 CDN, 3080Ti FTW3.......actually the 1080Ti's and 30xx Series Cards are pretty easy to disassemble / re-assemble vs the older previous cards......those results I posted were in a very old Coolermaster Case with the side panel off ;)
 
Yes defintely.....I wouldn't recommend disassembling a new Card just to change grease (although the stock stuff that was on the die was pretty bad, as in really hardened and didnt cover the entire chip).
I must say I am impressed with the load temps of these Cards on air!!

kevinc313

rjbarker

kevinc313

rjbarker
 
those same 2 tests back 6 months ago when the Cards were new from Evga and prior to installing Water Blocks were about 72c - 73c, so I managed to shave almost 5c off the load temps with new pads, putty n grease ;)

While your results are great and any improvement is usually worthwhile, most people shouldn't be randomly pulling apart EVGA cards to get a few degrees improvement.  They already have some of the best thermals out there and there are risks of making it worse or damaging the card if you're not careful.  The first step is always to get a good case airflow setup.

Agreed...I have been taking cards apart and installing Water Blocks....then re-installing stock air coolers (to sell the Cards) for years, so not a big deal for me....although a little extra care going into the $1700 CDN, 3080Ti FTW3.......actually the 1080Ti's and 30xx Series Cards are pretty easy to disassemble / re-assemble vs the older previous cards......those results I posted were in a very old Coolermaster Case with the side panel off ;)
 
Yes defintely.....I wouldn't recommend disassembling a new Card just to change grease (although the stock stuff that was on the die was pretty bad, as in really hardened and didnt cover the entire chip).

Hey thanks, really appreciate the clear qualification and warning, you're obviously an expert.  I've been monitoring the Reddit PC subs a bit, swapping pads is the flavor of the month over there, any hint of poor vram temps (or just normal temps) even with bad case cooling, and a bunch of noobs are jumping to recommend a pad swap.  People are buying cards and thinking they need to swap pads before they even run it, lol.  It's almost as bad as the constant recommendations for undervolting.

My Vram temps I never pay much attention to once I get the EK Block on it, as they very effectively cool everything (Full Cover)..I believe my VRAM temps after I blocked were around 58c I believe.....I know I do see a lot of folks wanting to swap out pads for after market ones....BUT in all honsty the stock thermal pads on both my 3080 and 3080Ti FTW3's are "odd thicknesses" as in 1.5mm and 2.5 mm....so I would never recommend (nor feel comfortable) installing aftermarket pads of different thicknesses....even if there close (can only find 1mm and 2mm and 3mm etc).
 
Im selling this 3080 FTW3, so want to ensure its perfect for the buyer.
One thing with the stock Evga pads they sent me (and are on the GPU's when you buy them), they are very malleable (soft...right word ?), almost like putty....most of the aftermarket pads are firmer, including the ones that come with the EK Water Blocks...I would think this would make a big difference when swapping out pads....I always say stick to what the design calls for.....not worth frying a a very $$$ Card to try n gain 2-3c ...
 
I guess with these 30xx series Cards running so much warmer than previous Gen Cards I'm seeing a lot more new Wet Heads on here....along with a lot of Water Cooling myths once again re-surfacing ;)
 

safan80

kindofabuzz
Mine never reaches above 72c.

 
What is your Memory temperature under load? I've seen GPU temps be near 52C while the memory temps have been at 90C-100C under load.. Plenty of youtube videos showcase this. 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i01H57Pthj4

Only if you're mining on them.  Typical gaming, vram junction temps will be 10-20C above core on a current air cooled GDDR6X EVGA card.

kevinc313

safan80

kindofabuzz
Mine never reaches above 72c.

 
What is your Memory temperature under load? I've seen GPU temps be near 52C while the memory temps have been at 90C-100C under load.. Plenty of youtube videos showcase this. 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i01H57Pthj4

Only if you're mining on them.  Typical gaming, vram junction temps will be 10-20C above core on a current air cooled GDDR6X EVGA card.

 
The guy in the video I posted was not mining. 

kevinc313
He also didn't have an EVGA card.

EVGA cards re not special. They have the same issue. It doesn't matter how old the video is. GDDR6X is the problem, they run hot and you can look on youtube for yourself.

kevinc313

safan80

kevinc313
He also didn't have an EVGA card.

EVGA cards re not special. They have the same issue. It doesn't matter how old the video is. GDDR6X is the problem, they run hot and you can look on youtube for yourself.

I didn't watch the video until now because I dismissed it as some dumb youtuber from 8 months ago.  I was correct.  He is complaining about the temps on the 3090 and 3080 founders cards which was old news even back when the video was made.  He says his EVGA card is fine, but cites the ICX temps, which read (far) lower than the vram junction temps which were not available when the video was made.  Regardless, EVGA cards have FAR better vram thermals than the Founders cards, some of the best.  The most common cards consistently worse than FE are the Gigabyte mid and low range models.  MSI can also be iffy but not as bad.  Asus good.
 
Anyone who is clocking a +40C delta on their vram junction temps over core with a current production EVGA GDDR6X card is mining on it, or has a manufacturing defect.
 
You are not particularly well informed about this topic.  Probably more than half the 3080 cards ever built are in large mining farms being run at over 100C vram junction 24/7.  No one has ever reported a vram thermal failure that I'm aware of, if they did it would huge news.  Some people have run them pegged at 110C for months 24/7. IMHO if it's under 100C gaming it's going to be fine.

+1

Does the image uploader for the site not work? The file was only 37K.
 
The picture that isn't showing showed
 
56.9C for the GPU
64.6C for the hot spot
80.0C for the memory. 

safan80
This is what I got right now with my 3080 TI ultra FTW3 in a vertical mount at 100% fan speed playing control. Have any of you bothered to monitor your memory temps on cards 3080-3090 that use GDRR6X? Look how much higher the mem temp is compared to the GPU.

safan80
Does the image uploader for the site not work? The file was only 37K.
 
The picture that isn't showing showed
 
56.9C for the GPU
64.6C for the hot spot
80.0C for the memory. 

Yes, extensively. Far more than you have, let me assure you.
 
You're at a 23C delta with a particularly heavy load game, but not honking down ton of power otherwise your core temp would be much higher.  For a typical 70C at 400w, 80C-90C vram junction would be expected, hence the 10C-20C delta I cited.
 

kevinc313
 
You're at a 23C delta with a particularly heavy load game, but not honking down ton of power otherwise your core temp would be much higher.  For a typical 70C at 400w, 80C-90C vram junction would be expected, hence the 10C-20C delta I cited.

 
70C on the GPU sounds high like you don't have enough airflow around the card. My zotac 3080 didn't get that hot and it only pulled 372 watts according to after burner in game.