Hello everyone!
This is my first time posting in the EVGA forums; after reading quite a few advice threads, I've seen some really great replies and advice, so I figured I would post this thread with a few questions of my own. I have very recently finished a new build and I had a few questions / am looking for advice going forward so I can improve this build. Thank you in advance to anyone that takes the time to help me out. Link to pictures:
https : / / imgur.com / a / GVknVKQ
Components: Case: Corsair 680X (8x Corsair 120mm LL RGB fans; 5 intake 3 exhaust for positive pressure enclosure running at 75%)
GPU: EVGA RTX 2080 Super FTW3 Ultra (1845 mhz boost)
CPU: i7 8700 (Non-K) @4.3 Ghz [240mm AIO configured mounted on top as exhaust]
MOBO: EVGA Z390 DARK
RAM: Corsair VengeanceRGB 2x16GB 3200 Mhz CL 16-18-18 (SK-Hynix)
PSU: Corsair RX750
Storage: Corsair Force MP600 (1TB)
Peripherals: Monitor: Alienware AW-Something 1080p w/ G-Sync & 240 Hz refresh rate
Keyboard: Corsair K70 mk.2 SE w/ double-shot PBT keycaps
Mouse: Corsair harpoon wireless RGB
Room for Improvement
There is always room for improvement in any build; to preface any potential harshness, I'm aware some things could be better in my build, and that's why I'm here. To begin, the motherboard and processor combination is very ironic, one of the best overclocking VRMs and OC BIOS' on the market with a non-k processor--I'm planning on an i9 once the price and stock settles down. The CPU and motherboard combo was a major point of contention when deciding which components I wanted for my new build. I was relatively set on a new Ryzen and ASUS combo, however, after reading the plethora of "DOA don't buy this" reviews about ASUS boards etc., I simply decided that I didn't want to deal with that **** and EVGA ALWAYS has excellent parts--so I settled for an EVGA / Intel build. My previous PC was an Alienware Aurora R7, a purchase brought about because of the mining craze and absurd GPU prices. Anyways, the 8700 was the ONLY salvaged part from that build into my new one. The following will address some relatively niche questions I haven't found the answers to yet concerning overclocking performance, cable management, and future water-cooling.
Overclocking Potential
I'm a huge fan of EVGAs GPUs, particularly the way in which they are organized and segmented. It takes a lot of guess work out of 'winning the silicon lottery,' I would rather pay the higher price up-front for THE BEST silicon available and it's clearly advertised, so plus one to EVGA for that. In addition to this, their cooling performance on air and other performance features are the best on the market bar-none. I understand that my maximum potential overclock isn't realized unless I get the GPU on liquid, which I am planning on implementing in the future. For the time being, however, I am wondering how high you have gone
on air before under-clocking occurs. My current max. stable OC:
- Core: +75 to 2085 mhz
- Mem: +750 to 8500 mhz (I believe, I am not at home right now to check the exact resulting freq. but +750 for sure)
- The power consumption at this OC ranged from 220W-250W over one hour during testing on Red Dead Redemption 2 using the precision X1 utility.
- The temp. reached a maximum of 54 degrees C--a very respectable number on air and overclocked.
How can I make sure that this is the maximum possible OC (on air)? I've heard that Nvidia's Turing architecture is heavily temperature dependent when overclocking, is there truth to this? Please let me know your experience with this, thank you.
Cable ManagementThe cable management during this build was a huge pain in the ass. All of the fans are RGB so they have their own hub, node, PWM headers etc. and it all gets very confusing, but I am relatively pleased with the final result. There are some areas where I need some advice though. I am specifically looking for the cleanest looking cable management possible--something that seems to only be achievable with 'closed cable combs.' The ones that shipped with my PSU were tremendously tedious to work with and it took me over and hour just to get the wires to look decent. When researching these closed cable combs, it appears much simpler because you can just clamp them in place where you need them instead of inserting the wires, then pulling back on them to get them tight enough so that they look clean (as in the case of the stock combs). Let me know what you guys think the best solution is as far as cable management--remember I want to have really clean bends and even-looking cable lengths to each component.
Future Water CoolingEventually I want to have an entire custom loop in here, and I'm sure that there are folks here with much more experience on this topic than myself. What would be the best radiator configuration for this case? I simply don't see the point in putting a 360mm rad. in the front only for its hot air to blow across the rest of the components; I think the best solution would be 2x 240mm (or 280mm) on the top and bottom. The Bottom would still be an intake and blowing hot air across the components, but I think much of the hot air would quickly be dispelled by the top fans. This as opposed to 3x intake hot air fans running across the components to the single hot air exhaust in the back. I would use hardline tubing and hopefully a white or very light blue liquid to run through the loop. If I'm totally wrong here, let me know! Thank you!
Final ThoughtsOverall, I am very happy with the final result and it runs just about everything I need it to seamlessly--I'm really just looking for optimization. I want it to be the best it can be; functional and clean-looking is the end goal.
edit by Cool GTX added photo to post
post edited by Cool GTX - Sunday, January 19, 2020 4:15 PM