Grey_4_Lance
Member
I don’t think that people who are really causing these price problems are interested in the 3090 water cooling 
'Gainward Phantom, Phantom GS, Palit GameRock, GameRock OC RTX 3090, 3080 waterblocks'
- Thread starter grizli9000
- Start date
Grey_4_Lance
Member
Whit1st
New member
And the active backplate
Grey_4_Lance
Member
The main thing here is that there should be a release and that it be based on the active backplate.
Yes, I'm selfish.
I want both for my 3090.
COVID fscked up normal working of logistics? Unfortunately common case these days
Well, i'm certain that we will get quality product at the end and kudos on not feeding us false availability ETAs of inventory and availability. Uncomfortable truth is better then wrong expectations and broken promises. LOL, meanwhile you have more time to design/make active backplate
Well, i'm certain that we will get quality product at the end and kudos on not feeding us false availability ETAs of inventory and availability. Uncomfortable truth is better then wrong expectations and broken promises. LOL, meanwhile you have more time to design/make active backplate
It is not about COVID. The main problem is the completely booked ships and trains and the lack of empty Cintainers in Asia. Since Asia has been exporting more than importing for some time, there are massive problems with deliveries via the logistics partners. If you take a closer look at the market, also away from water cooling and PCs, you will quickly see that many products are hardly or not at all in stock. The warehouses in Asia are full, you just can't get the stuff shipped over here.
grizli9000
New member
Would to thank you for making a block! Does someone know measurements for thermalpads on both sides or, maybe, Alphacool could share this information? (just swapped to 1,5 mm ones on the back side but temps became worse so it's definitely 1 or 0,5 even)
RosaPanteren
Member
I’m not sure of the thickness of the pads, and have been looking for the same information.
Did you check that the pads came in contact with all components?
You should see pressure marks from each component in the pads.
Be sure to check this as if there is a lack of contact you could end up with frying the card, check Luumi’s youtube channel and how he fried a 3090 Kingpin card because he didn’t have sufficient contact between pads and components.
What type of pads did you use, I have heard that the pads should be quite soft/squizzy and that some of the high W/(mK) might not be optimal because of hardness. I guess AC could give a recommendation for suitable pads.
Last edited:
@RosaPanteren, @grizli9000 hi, if you have any questions about the pads for the 3080/3090 cards, please email our support (info@alphacool.de). The guys there will help you in an uncomplicated way. With the help of pictures we will quickly find a solution.
I had a ton of experience dis- and re-assembling this card to try to cool it better. I would like to share my experience with the pads, since it will also help those trying to attach the water cooling block.
- The default thermal pad measurements on the PCB are 1 mm for everything, except the inductor, which uses 2 mm.
In the photo 1.png I attached, the green boxes are the inductors. The blue boxes all use 1 mm pads.
Note that it is NOT recommended to change the 2 mm green-colored pads on the inductor if possible, since their softness is already good enough and the inductors do not really need a pad. So the inductor pad really is more of a padding and support as it directly contacts the heat sink. If changed to something else, make sure the replacement is also soft and can be squeezed well under pressure.
- In the back memory modules that touch the backplate, the pads are 1 mm again. (see 2.png)
- In the cooling plate (between the black common plate and the heat sink), the pads are 0.5 mm (see 3.png)
I suggest trying to squish everything in first without a thermal paste to check for contact, because even if one is using the correct pads and the pressure is not sufficient, some pads will not be in full contact. It is discouraged to use a thicker pad than necessary since the heat dissipation suffers.
EDIT: This is only applicable for the default heatsink, things might change when the water block is available.
Attachments
Last edited:
Grey_4_Lance
Member
Thanks for the information, it is very helpful.
Sorry, but this isn't entirely correct...
I've attached the actual specs from Palit for doing a thermal pad swap, however their rep's recommendation was not to, because some of the custom sizes they used were such a PITA to recreate using off the shelf products.
Obviously I did it anyway, and tried using a squishier 1mm pad and squashing it down TF in place of the 0.75mm ones around the underside VRAM modules. However after disassembling and reassembling the card at least 20 times, I wasn't able to get the cooler to make proper contact with the die, and the card was throttling like hell every time.
Clearly YMMV, and I only had the pads I'd bought to do the swap on hand, so other 1mm pads may well work. As soon as I put the stock ones back on, the card worked perfectly again first time. Just something to hear in mind if you are doing this swap.
I also couldn't get the 2.25mm one right either (I'd bought a squishy 3mm one), so just be aware if you plan on swapping all the pads out (front and back), then I'd have a couple of options on hand for doing both the 0.75mm and 2.25mm pads.
I will also say that the stock pads on these are pretty decent compared to what you see with most AIBs, so I wouldn't expect a huge temperature improvement on your VRAM temps from this mod alone.
Remember a great deal of the heat we're seeing on the VRAM is what seeps over from the core, and having a higher power limit/core temp is the main thing that affects your VRAM temps (which is why water-cooling even just the core brings VRAM temps down considerably).
I'm not saying I regret doing it, as I'm definitely one of those who just can't live with not knowing. But knowing what I know now, I certainly won't be in a hurry to swap the pads out on it again until putting a block on it necessitates it.
Attachments
Thanks for the official sizes. I do agree with the advice to get a soft 1 mm pad, since 0.75 mm is not easily available. I used Thermal Grizzly minus pad which is expensive but got the job done. I wish some of the pads didn't tear off the first time I disassembled so they do not need to be replaced, but unfortunately they did.
Now, the real elephant in the room is that core you were talking about. The core GPU die is the main reason I opened it up first time, to try to get it to cool better. I easily throttled when my GameRock OC was new.
Most of the GPU dies nowadays are also convex (raised slightly at the middle), so when tightening the pressure plate to the cooler, one has to be sure that is tight to the point of almost stripping the screws. Another guy also suggested to me that after tightening, loosen all four screws by one turn, and then tighten again in a criss-cross pattern.
HWInfo's Hotspot temperature tells you if you have optimized the mount. A delta of more than 10C over the GPU die temp means the tightening process could be further improved.
Eventually, I settled on Liquid Metal. Not sparingly, but a little bit more LM than usual but not dripping. Now my Hotspot delta never goes over 10C (see attached OC profile). To protect the area around the die, I used Liquid Electrical tape.
As for the memory junction temperature, they need to be below 110C before they throttle. So far, if I run my OC profile, the max they ever reach with the Thermal Grizzly pads is 100C, but averages only around 86C when gaming.
