Got the Heatsink from AliExpress. Some of the fins were bent, but nothing I couldn't bend back into place easily. Couldn't really find a 3d print file that worked for my specific card and I thought to myself... why would I use plastic when I have a welder...

I am going to need a support stand for this thing. That's next on the build list.

It's not perfect, but you wont even be able to see it. I also am debating on taking out the bottom mounted fan on my case. With two 120mm fans in this thing I think it will have a lot of air flow... but maybe its just better to have in there for an intake... 
 

Nice work!

I was wondering if you were buying a used cover or going to 3D print one ....
 
Nice sheet metal work & IMO, exceptional with only hand tools @ home
 
How did you make the 90 degree bends, they look tight ... do you have a sheet metal break ?
 
If you ever want to use custom Fans with factory mounting, take a look at this thread EVGA RTX 3080 Ti FTW custom fans guide

Cool GTX
I was wondering if you were buying a used cover or going to 3D print one ....
 
Nice sheet metal work & IMO, exceptional with only hand tools @ home
 
How did you make the 90 degree bends, they look tight ... do you have a sheet metal break ?
 
If you ever want to use custom Fans with factory mounting, take a look at this thread EVGA RTX 3080 Ti FTW custom fans guide

I use to be a shift lead for the fabrication department of a place that made Truck boxes and cab racks, so I pulled that information from 10 or so years ago out from the cob webs I guess. 

I don't have a break sadly. Have had a 12" vice mounted break on my amazon wish list for the last 6 years or so, but haven't committed to paying almost $300 for it.
 
What i did here was, with a angle grinder, carefully make a line down where i needed the bend, to thin the material a little, then take two 1x1 steel bars and clamp them to each side. Then I would slowly work the metal into place, moving the clamps way to many times, and then in the final bend, tap it with a nice sized hammer. 
 
Today, I am still laying in bed, because every ounce of my body hurts from this thing! 

Thanks for that link on the fans, i just ordered some Noctua NF-A12x25 fans that should arrive tonight. The plan today is to remove the old heat sink and clean up what I can, and install them when they arrive. Silly me was just thinking I could just plug them right in, but DUH!

It looks like the Noctua line up pretty well for this situation. I will just have to make sure to set that max fan speed setting so they dont explode on a heavy load.

You always have the option to run the fans (with a standard connector) from a fan hub or MB header ... though you would loose the direct thermal interaction from the GPU fan header.
 

MidgetMania
Thanks for that link on the fans, i just ordered some Noctua NF-A12x25 fans that should arrive tonight. The plan today is to remove the old heat sink and clean up what I can, and install them when they arrive. Silly me was just thinking I could just plug them right in, but DUH!

Happy to Help
 
EK sells an adapter cable so the stock PCB fan header on the card, can be used with typical case fans.
 
You could buy directly from EK , one of their retailers like at PerformancePCS & I even see some on Amzn
 
(excerpt)

Details

EK-Cable PWM Fan Adapter for GPU is a simple adapter cable for connecting your GPU to PWM-enabled fans in your custom loop and thus controlling the PWM profiles based on the graphics card temperature. The cable is approximately 50cm long.