03whitegsr
The AIO answer is already available. The Strix LC 3080ti and 6800XT both have better plate designs.
https://www.techpowerup.c...c-liquid-cooled/2.html
https://www.techpowerup.c...c-liquid-cooled/2.html
Yeah but ASUS gpus are notoriously overpriced; during "the bad times(tm)" I saw them going for MSRPs of
twice EVGA stuff. Factor in I've been an EVGA fanboy since i was 16(and I'm now 30), I just don't really see myself jumping ship anytime soon. ASUS(and basically EVERY other GPU subvendor besides EVGA) has crap warranty support and no option for an extended warranty like EVGA, and nothing even
close to something like Step Up,
and they all usually cost more, even during the good times.
Regarding the possibility of the ASUS cooler mating up with my EVGA pcb... that is a complete and total mystery. I'd need accurate dimensions of the coolers mounting points, and it would matter how far EVGA or ASUS or
both had deviated from the Nvidia reference specs in making their respective products PCBs.
The long and short of it is, if I'm gonna spend money on it(as in more than the cost of some thermal pads and a friggin $20 tube of TIM), then I'm just gonna custom loop it and wind up with something that runs circles around every hybrid card on the market, regardless of who makes it.
Still, it was super cool to get a chance to look at those pics, thanks for sharing em!
FunktasticLucky
Oh that's exactly what craze was looking for. A integrated plate that covered the memory. EVGA really did drop the ball on this one. Hopefully, they do a better job on the 4000 series.
...But yes, that essentially
is the correct way of doing it. From the pictures, it looks like they more or less did exactly what I was suggesting, but rather than permanently bonding an intermediate plate to it via brazing etc, then soldering over the bolt holes once its installed due to the very limited cross sectional area for thermal transfer in that region where the two overlap, I'd wager that they've actually pulled the stock coldplate off the pump entirely and just ditched it, then had their own
more application appropriate one machined from scratch, which allowed them to retain the mounting holes after install(rather than soldering over them) since there would be no need to try and 'shore up' the amount of cross sectional area you have available there for thermal transfer in that case, seeing as how the ASUS plate is, by my reckoning and the limited size of the pictures available; about 3 times the thickness of the EVGA intermediate plate.
And its one solid piece that doubles as the pumps coldplate. Also the ASUS unit uses a proper blower as its integrated VRM fan, instead of the traditional style fan EVGA used(which interestingly, and for some unknown reason, tops out at 500rpm less than the seemingly identical fans used on the air cooled GPUs - I thought adding items to the BOM(a slower and cheaper fan motor in this case) was a no-no in mass production, but I guess its okay if it saves a couple cents...).
It's more manufacturing steps as well(machining copper is notoriously difficult/annoying - I'm friends with a machinist, and the cost of having something like this made as a one off for my EVGA hybrid, even if I did all the engineering and sent him a final drawing ready to take to the mill, would
still outweigh the cost an entire custom loop and aftermarket block, probably just in labor alone(and this is assuming my time spent reverse and then re-engineering the thing is free); copper
really sucks to work with),
and then you have to pop the seal on the AIO as provided in order to swap out its coldplate for your shiny new monolithic one,
and make sure you get it all back together while keeping the system free of excessive air ingress during this process, as there's no purge valve on an AIO. Plus, while I've never pulled one of these apart, I believe the fins for the waterblock are part of the stock coldplate, and as such would have to be integrated in any kind of part intended to replace it(which would waste a LOT of copper($$$) if you consider how subtractive machining works and then look at the footprint of the pump body vs the footprint of the GPU interface plate - your billet now needs to be 1/2" or so taller for a feature that only exists within like 25% of the surface area or less, talk about waste). Maybe its made as a separate piece and then brazed on with the help of some matching locating registers added to both parts before the thing ever gets bolted to the pump - cant say without pulling one apart.
As for the 4000 series, yeah I hope they do better(*points to ASUS' design*), but I'm gonna be stuck with these guys for
several generations to come unless I win the lottery or something(I upgraded to this setup from a 980ti(which I got for free from a friend years ago, along with a whole pile of other unrelated gear and old systems), otherwise I'd still have been on my(sadly, reference model(as I got it off step-up)) 780ti, which itself replaced a 570hd, which replaced my original 9800gtx+ after it died(as I was stupid and 16, and not smart enough to register it within 30 days for my free lifetime warranty upgrade that was offered on all EVGA GPUs back then, though I do remarkably still have it in a drawer somewhere, my first "real" GPU) - all of them EVGA of course(and also all air cooled)). It's rare for the money to come around for me to be able to afford stuff like this, sadly.
post edited by craze42 - 2021/11/19 08:45:56