rjbarker
Hey Obscure.....I had a couple of 780Ti's and 1080Ti's (SLi) also w EK Blocks and I think we are just more "sensitive" to the high pitched / frequency "squeal / whine" (white noise) we hear as we dont have any racket from GPU fans to drown it out....you know what I mean?
Sometimes the 3080Ti I notice it (if I really listen and focus on it) other times dont really notice it......completely bearable vs the GPU Fans imho....
Interesting though removing the pads....good find my friend!
 
I too am old school and my loop is 3/8 - 5/8 flex tubes...dont have the patience for hard tubes at this stage ;) My Loop hasnt changed (other than components and replaced the D5 Vario pump once) since 2013/14...still using the same BP fittings amd Rads ;)
Replaced the "O-Rings" in the BP fittings as well...and of course replace the tubing on average may once ever 18 months when I get off my lazy butt and flush the system or when I replace a component...I use EK clear concentrate coolant w distilled.
 
And yes I can confirm the 3080Ti FTW3 with its power draw really increases temp. For example the 3080Ti FTW3 under full load in my loop maxes at 46c...while waiting on my RMA I threw the Evga 1080Ti SC Black w EK Block back in the same loop and the highest temp it would reach was around 34c ....playing either SOTR or CP77.....same CPU (9900K) OC....so I would think your 2080 Card likely running cooler than these power beasts ;)

I think even a deaf person could hear it with how godawful it was. I recorded it prior to removing the pads (link below) thinking I may have needed to reach out to EVGA about it, but then I came across that Reddit thread I linked earlier. Although, my phone’s mic didn’t really do the loudness of the whine true justice. Since removing those pads, it’s been a much more enjoyable experience when gaming. Temps are about what they were with those two pads in place, maybe 1-2° higher. I’m not going to sweat that. Now, if I could just figure out why the fluid level in my res keeps slowly draining. I’m thinking it’s a either a leak or permeation, but there is no trace of a leak anywhere.

https://youtu.be/i7Luw5v4x9I

rjbarker
All of my thermal pads on my EK backplate look like they really take a load from components after removing the backplate....as in big indentations in the pads...think there 1.5 mm or even 2 mm (most of them)....I'm half deaf with high frequencies anyhow (my age).....  ;)
 
If your losing coolant either a leak or possibly simply evaporation if you have your Rez "open" to the atmosphere....as in a filling tube left attached (I leave my filling tube attached to the top of my rez, so over a period of months, yes my coolant level will go down)....
 
...another possibility is a a few big air bubbles finally work themselves out of a Rad....
....if a small leak in a fitting just look for signs of it at the bottom of your case...I have had that as well....a "seep" from an old "O Ring" in a Bits Power fitting.....generally not leaking enough to make it really obvious....so you have to just kind of look for some "signs" of coolant staining at the very bottom of your case or at the "O Ring" part of your fittings.
I try to change out the O Rings on my fittings every few years.....just buy a bunch when I find them available....

The pads on the back of the card, the ones meant to cover the solder points of the MOSFETs/chokes, are 2mm I believe. And yeah, they sure to leave an impression in the pads.

I redid my loop this past July for annual maintenance. Fresh everything except the fittings and the radiators. I even replaced the EK pump/res combo because I had to settle for one I didn’t truly want when I first bought it in 2020. As it is, I’ve had to top off my res several times since July, definitely more added than just to compensate for bleeding air. Every time I top it off, I give it a thorough inspection but I never find any moisture. As far as being open to the atmosphere, I keep the lid on the res after filling, so it shouldn’t have anything to do with that. Who knows? At least there’s no discernible damage if there is a leak, and temps are just fine. Maybe I’ll buy one of those EK leak testing tools.

ObscureEmpyre

rjbarker
All of my thermal pads on my EK backplate look like they really take a load from components after removing the backplate....as in big indentations in the pads...think there 1.5 mm or even 2 mm (most of them)....I'm half deaf with high frequencies anyhow (my age).....  ;)
 
If your losing coolant either a leak or possibly simply evaporation if you have your Rez "open" to the atmosphere....as in a filling tube left attached (I leave my filling tube attached to the top of my rez, so over a period of months, yes my coolant level will go down)....
 
...another possibility is a a few big air bubbles finally work themselves out of a Rad....
....if a small leak in a fitting just look for signs of it at the bottom of your case...I have had that as well....a "seep" from an old "O Ring" in a Bits Power fitting.....generally not leaking enough to make it really obvious....so you have to just kind of look for some "signs" of coolant staining at the very bottom of your case or at the "O Ring" part of your fittings.
I try to change out the O Rings on my fittings every few years.....just buy a bunch when I find them available....

The pads on the back of the card, the ones meant to cover the solder points of the MOSFETs/chokes, are 2mm I believe. And yeah, they sure to leave an impression in the pads.

I redid my loop this past July for annual maintenance. Fresh everything except the fittings and the radiators. I even replaced the EK pump/res combo because I had to settle for one I didn’t truly want when I first bought it in 2020. As it is, I’ve had to top off my res several times since July, definitely more added than just to compensate for bleeding air. Every time I top it off, I give it a thorough inspection but I never find any moisture. As far as being open to the atmosphere, I keep the lid on the res after filling, so it shouldn’t have anything to do with that. Who knows? At least there’s no discernible damage if there is a leak, and temps are just fine. Maybe I’ll buy one of those EK leak testing tools.

What fluid are you running?  If it's one with ethylene glycol and you can't smell it, then there isn't a leak.  I had a rad with a micro crack that never had a visible leak, but I could easily smell the fluid.
 
Oh and you can fix that coil whine by simply reducing your framerate.  

ObscureEmpyre

rjbarker
Probably not necessary other than to satisfy a little Water cooling OCD  :)
 
Yeah you're fine...if temps ok....no obvious signs of "little stains" at the bottom of your case...no obvious signs of seepage or weeping on your fittings I wouldnt sweat it....how much coolant are you adding and how frequently ?

Seems like it’s lowering at a rate of about 1/4-inch a month, and I’ve been topping it off roughly monthly.

talon951
What fluid are you running?  If it's one with ethylene glycol and you can't smell it, then there isn't a leak.  I had a rad with a micro crack that never had a visible leak, but I could easily smell the fluid.
 
Oh and you can fix that coil whine by simply reducing your framerate.  

Using Mayhems X1 Eco pre-mix in UV clear blue. It definitely has a distinct smell to it, and I don’t smell it unless I’m topping it off or filling it after flushing for maintenance.

Huh....1/4" a month does seem a little excessive....mine is around maybe 1/8" every 2-3 months....so little that I generally dont bother topping .....and because I leave the filling tube attached to the top of the Rez I chaulk it up as evaporation.
.....how many months has that been going on ? again if its just once or twice could simply be air pockets working there way out....you have lots of micro bubbles clinging to the inside of your rez....prior to this?
What you could try is unplugging everything...set the tower on a table...plug in just the pump (like your leak trsting) and get vigerous with the case....tilting from side to side almost to the horizontal in both directions just to ensure you dont have some little pockets of air trapped somewhere......that are working themselves out....you know?
 
Top up the loop and continue to monitor.....in all honesty if your temps are good and no obvious visible signs of a leak I wouldnt sweat it....
 
My preference the last few years for coolant has been EK Concentrate (clear)...they're is never any obvious smell....I have also ran straight distilled water w no additives for a few months ....no biggie...my loop is about 1.75L (not quite 2L) to fill.

ObscureEmpyre

rjbarker
Huh....1/4" a month does seem a little excessive....mine is around maybe 1/8" every 2-3 months....so little that I generally dont bother topping .....and because I leave the filling tube attached to the top of the Rez I chaulk it up as evaporation.
.....how many months has that been going on ? again if its just once or twice could simply be air pockets working there way out....you have lots of micro bubbles clinging to the inside of your rez....prior to this?
What you could try is unplugging everything...set the tower on a table...plug in just the pump (like your leak trsting) and get vigerous with the case....tilting from side to side almost to the horizontal in both directions just to ensure you dont have some little pockets of air trapped somewhere......that are working themselves out....you know?
 
Top up the loop and continue to monitor.....in all honesty if your temps are good and no obvious visible signs of a leak I wouldnt sweat it....
 
My preference the last few years for coolant has been EK Concentrate (clear)...they're is never any obvious smell....I have also ran straight distilled water w no additives for a few months ....no biggie...my loop is about 1.75L (not quite 2L) to fill.

It’s been about 5 months since I filled the loop, and already went through the tilting process to get trapped air out of it. I was even able to get all the air bubbles out of my 3080 Ti block, unlike my 2080 Ti block.

As for EK fluid, I’ve heard mixed reviews. I’ve heard that it used to be relabeled Mayhems fluid, but then EK went a different path and users were ending up with gunked up loops after the change. I’ve also heard mixed reviews about Mayhems liquid, so it’s six in one hand and half a dozen in the other. Maybe I’ll give EK a shot next time. Of course, Corsair entered the game recently, so maybe I’ll look into their fluid and try that.

Cant speak for the others but I have had no issues with EK clear concentrate....been using it since around 2015/16 when I couldnt get Fesser anymore....even after going around 18 months between flushes no issues, took both the CPU n GPU blcoks completely apart and quite clean in the fins.....

ObscureEmpyre

rjbarker
Cant speak for the others but I have had no issues with EK clear concentrate....been using it since around 2015/16 when I couldnt get Fesser anymore....even after going around 18 months between flushes no issues, took both the CPU n GPU blcoks completely apart and quite clean in the fins.....

My loop was dirty after a year. Had to completely disassemble, clean, and replace mostly everything. Maybe the Mayhems stuff isn't that good after all.

That was with Mayhem or EK concentrate? Could be residue as well from the tubes.....no I was pleasantly surprised when I took the Blocks apart....expecting to see a lot of gunk in my Cold Plate fins after 18 months...once was actually 20 months ...I know right?! I get lazy ...there was some gunk (easily cleaned out with a toothpick) but not bad.....
For rads I use hot water n CLR cleaner....rinse n repeat....final rinse w distilled...
 
One thing when taking the GPU blocks apart...the big O Ring can be a little finicky to get back in the groove...soak in some hot water to get it pliable...then carefully tap into the groove with a cold wet rag all the way around...the cooling will help it to contract and stay in the groove :)

I think it's difficult to get every bit of stuff out of the rads and some may break lose during operation too. Blocks make pretty good filters so it naturally collects there. Probably the only way to avoid it completely is to run a filter just before the blocks. Not sure how much of a flow restriction they are.

Nereus
I strongly recommend the EK Leak Tester

That’s what I’m thinking of getting. My loop’s already filled though, so I’d have to tap into the top of my res. That means propping up my case’s top radiator mount. Should be fun! 🤣

Another tip when your flushing you're Rads:
- 1/2 fill em with (whatever you cleaner you use), as said I use CLR mixed 1:2 with distilled and shake the crap out of...like your mixing a martini...do this several times then
- rinse n repeat with distilled.
- the last rinse, pour the liquid out of your Rad n thru a regular coffee filter, inspect the filter...this will let you know if you still have crap in there or not.
- I then stand the rads up on end for a few hrs to let any residual liquid works it way out...this with 3 Rads (1 x 480 / 1 x 360 n 1 x 240 XSPC RX series...there thick buggers)
 
Try EK clear concentrate w distilled...simple...effective...cheap.....and will keep your blocks clean for a very long time....for flex tubing I used to use Fesser, but cant get it anymore so have switched to either XSPC or Primochill....these have proven great ...they are stiff though, so soak in the end in some extremely hot water for a minute or so, then you can get the ends over your barbs on your compression fitting easier.
 
I have stayed away from all the "gimmicky water cooling accessories" (there are so many now vs 7 or 8 yrs ago) since I began WC'ing several years ago.....except I did purchase a proper tube cutter for nice clean cuts, hell I havent installed my Water Temp probe yet (keep forgetting to) ... ;)
 
For what its worth over several years I had one serious leak....was my fault being hasty installing an EK Terminal Block on 3 x 1080Ti's .....one of the little O Rings on the terminal block was pinched...was obvious!
Another situation similar to your whereby I was losing a bit of coolant over time..a quick look in the bottom of the case (some dried coolant staining) steered me to a Bits Power fitting....the little O rings on the fittings dont last forever...mine were probably 3 yrs old, so purchased a bag of replacement O Rings.....
....Although I still leak test ...not 24 hrs....maybe 15 hrs...finishing building in the evening..fill and leak test till next AM...if its going to leak...it will right away or in the next 12 hrs or so.....n cycle your pump from Min to Max periodically (its why I swear by my D5 Vario w manual pump control knob)....

rjbarker
Another tip when your flushing you're Rads...

That's some good advice. I only got into custom water cooling just last year, so I'm still learning. And, I was originally going to go with all EK stuff, but people on overclock.net steered me toward other products. So, I wound up with only an EK GPU block/backplate and a D5 pump/res combo. The rads are Hardware Labs and the fittings are Bits Power. At this point, the O rings on the fittings are the oldest, and they're only about a year and a half old. I should hope they aren't breaking down already, but you never know. 

zyther
Hey all,
 
I just got the Vector block and backplate (not active) for my 3080ti ftw3.
Hoping to install it over the new years break. Any tips for easy installation? Ive herd preheating the card makes removing the stock cooler with putty alot easier.

Congrats on the block! If it’s your first time blocking a card, the biggest piece of advice I can give is to take your time. Don’t rush it. If you get frustrated, take a break. Otherwise, read the installation instructions thoroughly. As far as preheating the card before removing the cooler, I didn’t have to. In fact, it might make it harder to get the putty off since it’ll be more malleable once heated. I could be wrong. Maybe someone else can chime in on their experience with heating it. Anyway, good luck and enjoy!

TahoeDust
Are you guys using the RGB header on the card to control the lighting on the block?  The RGB header on the card is an RGB output right?

 

KingEngineRevUp
You will not be able to unless you remove the right side of the block, which is the RGB itself. The RGB terminal block will block the right two ports at the end. Unless you find a RGB low profile cable extension that can fit in that area, you will have to use your motherboard or anther aRGB source. 

I am using adapters and controlling my RGB through Corsair iCUE.  

 
I have an odd situation where i am using an EK RGB splitter to connect to my RGB header on my mobo (Asus z690 Gaming G) and the RGB is working on the terminal but not on the end part - think its a duff part is there anything i have missed?
 
Cheers

Just finished my install on the 3080 Ti FTW3.  Took me a while to get it done.  I was very cautious, much more so than usual because of the ridiculous prices of the GPUs and how hard they are to get.  Ran into a snafu when I was doing the back.  I ended up pinching and flat our piercing the upper portion of the RGB cable with one of the screws.  It shifted after I had arranged it in the back and I didn't notice I was pushing the fastener straight into it.  Anyway, ended up cutting and stripping the wires, then soldered them back together and I was back in business.  So far the temperatures at +165Mhz/+1200Mhz are peaking at 51C and everything is reading nice and even, stable, so I have a good mount.  I'm running continuous loops of TimeSpy to see whether it holds up and just how hot it gets.  So far very happy with the block.  I was debating the Optimus but could not justify the price.  I made a good choice.  Even if that block drops my temps by another 1-2C, it won't make any difference.  Not worth spending an extra $200 USD, not even close.

dejanh
Just finished my install on the 3080 Ti FTW3.  Took me a while to get it done.  I was very cautious, much more so than usual because of the ridiculous prices of the GPUs and how hard they are to get.  Ran into a snafu when I was doing the back.  I ended up pinching and flat our piercing the upper portion of the RGB cable with one of the screws.  It shifted after I had arranged it in the back and I didn't notice I was pushing the fastener straight into it.  Anyway, ended up cutting and stripping the wires, then soldered them back together and I was back in business.  So far the temperatures at +165Mhz/+1200Mhz are peaking at 51C and everything is reading nice and even, stable, so I have a good mount.  I'm running continuous loops of TimeSpy to see whether it holds up and just how hot it gets.  So far very happy with the block.  I was debating the Optimus but could not justify the price.  I made a good choice.  Even if that block drops my temps by another 1-2C, it won't make any difference.  Not worth spending an extra $200 USD, not even close.

Yes I have done an EK Vector install / uninstall on a 3080 and the same on a 3080 Ti....funny you mention the pinching rgb wire...I did this on the first 3080 go...now I use a couple of very small pieces of masking tape to keep the wire from moving around while installing.
My 3080Ti decided to join the red light district so will be installing my Block on this RMA refurb soon.
I found when re-installing the Air Cooler there is the 1 nut / screw assembly at the bacl of the Card adjacent to the IO shield thats a bit finicky to get back in, had to use very small needle nose pliers to hold the nut in place while inserting the screw...have done it 3x now, just have to have steady hands and patience.

kamikazi!
 
That sounds like something I would do with nailing the RGB cable.  Glad you figured it out.  I got my Vector installed on my 3080 over Christmas.  My snafu was that the DDC 3.2 pump that my wife bought me for Christmas 2020 direct from EK in preparation for upgrading my loop leaked.  I previously was only watercooling the CPU.  I got my old loop disassembled and cleaned up, added another radiator, got the Vector installed (I used some Kapton tape on the backplate where there was a possibility of the backplate touching) and then I put the new DDC 3.2 pump into my distro-plate.  The original pump just seemed too anemic for me with two blocks and two radiators.  During leak testing, I quickly realized I had a leak and it was coming directly out of the pump.  I remounted that pump 3 times trying different O-rings, etc.  Then I put back the old pump and it worked fine.  So, after a week of back and forth with EKWB, they agreed to send me a new pump.  I limped along on the old pump.  I decided to buy a new EKWB DDC 4.25 pump from titan rig just to get going and use the incoming pump from EK as a backup.  The one from titan rig came in a nice retail box.  Also, as an upgrade over the 3.2 version, it has SATA power instead of molex.  The DDC 3.2 that came last year from EKWB had just come in bubble wrap.  I figured the replacement from EK would also be the new DDC 4.25, but no, they just sent me the pump bottom from a DDC 3.25 with molex power in bubble wrap again.  It will make a nice spare.
 
Anyway, depending on which temp sensor you look at in HWInfo, the warmest my 3080 core has been is either 51 or 55 degrees.  MS Flight Simulator 2020 warms the loop up pretty good.  I guess that's a decent, but not great temp.  It will do.  I have a Corsair R7 360 and R7 240 cooling a 5950x and a 3080.  Ambients in the room are typically 23 to 24 degrees.  At idle, my water runs about 5 to 6 degrees above ambient.  Under load, I've seen as high as 14 degrees above ambient.  I don't know how some guys have loops that max out at 5 degrees above ambient under load.  I could probably get it down to 10 or 11 max under load with everything at full tilt.

You know...I didn't mention some of the QC issues I ran into with the block.  Had I not been super careful (I've been LC for more than 10 years at this point) the supposedly "leak tested" block would have puked water all over my rig and probably taken out the card and a bunch of other stuff with it.  How you might ask?  About 5 screws keeping the acrylic sealed with the gasket down on the block itself were loose.  One was so loose, it was about to fall out all together.  I'm going to raise this up with EK because for the price they charge, they should make sure stuff like this doesn't happen.  Ironically, the leak tested seal is still there <_<
 

rjbarker
Yes I have done an EK Vector install / uninstall on a 3080 and the same on a 3080 Ti....funny you mention the pinching rgb wire...I did this on the first 3080 go...now I use a couple of very small pieces of masking tape to keep the wire from moving around while installing.
My 3080Ti decided to join the red light district so will be installing my Block on this RMA refurb soon.
I found when re-installing the Air Cooler there is the 1 nut / screw assembly at the bacl of the Card adjacent to the IO shield thats a bit finicky to get back in, had to use very small needle nose pliers to hold the nut in place while inserting the screw...have done it 3x now, just have to have steady hands and patience.

Yeah, I was overconfident in my cable bending and steady hands, and opted not to use tape.  Second go I used small pieces of electrical tape to hold things down.  That's definitely going to be the go-to in the future.  Also, I know exactly which nuts you're talking about.  I almost lost two of them after removal of the original cooler because they fell into the cooler and then rolled out while I was handling it.  Now I have them all but I forgot where they go.  Oh well, there's always EVGA support :D