RTX 4090 (Palit GameRock) with Eiswolf 2 and 280mm radiator

[Jaxom]

Hello everyone,

I'm currently working on a project involving an RTX 4090 GameRock from Palit (price is right, but visually...) and thought about converting it for a water-cooled using Alphacool products.
My case's front being already equipped with a 420mm AIO for my CPU, I was thinking about downsizing the 360mm radiator for a 280mm one and placing it on top of my case to allow everything to fit properly.
I plan on using 2 units of Arctic P14 Max on the radiator, as their CFM and speed range are quite good. I also plan to undervolt the GPU and overclock the memory, if it can help your understanding on the situation.

Thus, my questions are the following:

• Has anyone already tried to cool an RTX 4090 with a 280mm radiator?
• What have been your experience/temps so far?

Thanks in advance for those who'll take the time to answer.

 

[Eddy]

I can only tell you that you can cool a 4090 with a 280mm radiator. The temperatures you achieve depend on many factors. Airflow in the case and the internal temperatures in the case. Ambient temperatures, water flow, how good the fans are and so on. No matter who writes to you here, you cannot apply the results 1 to 1 to your system. There can be differences of 5° and in extreme cases up to 10°.
I understand your question, but I've been in the business for over 25 years and any answer to this question can at best only be taken as an extremely rough guide. Basically, however, if you want it to be quiet, I would calculate 120-140W per 120mm fan and corresponding radiator surface area and approx. 10W more for 140mm fans. then you can run it really quietly (not silently). You can use that as a rough guide.

As an aside, you can only rely on the CFM values for fans to a limited extent. The pressure they generate is more important. CFM can be used as a value if the fan is only used as a housing fan, i.e. if there is no resistance for the air flow in front of or behind the fan. As soon as resistance occurs, this value becomes increasingly irrelevant.

 

[Jaxom]

I can only tell you that you can cool a 4090 with a 280mm radiator. The temperatures you achieve depend on many factors. Airflow in the case and the internal temperatures in the case. Ambient temperatures, water flow, how good the fans are and so on. No matter who writes to you here, you cannot apply the results 1 to 1 to your system. There can be differences of 5° and in extreme cases up to 10°.
I understand your question, but I've been in the business for over 25 years and any answer to this question can at best only be taken as an extremely rough guide. Basically, however, if you want it to be quiet, I would calculate 120-140W per 120mm fan and corresponding radiator surface area and approx. 10W more for 140mm fans. then you can run it really quietly (not silently). You can use that as a rough guide.

As an aside, you can only rely on the CFM values for fans to a limited extent. The pressure they generate is more important. CFM can be used as a value if the fan is only used as a housing fan, i.e. if there is no resistance for the air flow in front of or behind the fan. As soon as resistance occurs, this value becomes increasingly irrelevant.

Thanks for your answer. Don't worry, I understand that many parameters would have to be taken in account for a fully detailed and accurate answer, but yours already give me a good idea to help keeping my expectations in check.

For the pressure they can exert, the P14 Max are rated at 4,18 mmH²O.
Following your explanation, though, cooling a 450W-rated GPU with 280W dissipation potential seems like a bad idea (I counted 140W per P14 Max), but sandwiching the radiator should make it work.

 

[Eddy]

At least it's not the best idea if you want it to be quiet. You can also cool 450W with a 240mm radiator, but then you have to turn the fans higher. In the end, the question is how important is the noise level to you?
For example, I once cooled a computer with 550W waste heat with a 360mm radiator and it was quite quiet but audible. You could hear it, but it wasn't loud. The 360mm only has ~10% more radiator surface area. However, the radiator was virtually outside the case (long story, I'll save it). You usually have higher temperatures directly in the case than when the radiator is inside the case. Almost no matter how good the ventilation is. The smaller the housing, the worse it usually gets.

 

[Jaxom]

At least it's not the best idea if you want it to be quiet. You can also cool 450W with a 240mm radiator, but then you have to turn the fans higher. In the end, the question is how important is the noise level to you?
For example, I once cooled a computer with 550W waste heat with a 360mm radiator and it was quite quiet but audible. You could hear it, but it wasn't loud. The 360mm only has ~10% more radiator surface area. However, the radiator was virtually outside the case (long story, I'll save it). You usually have higher temperatures directly in the case than when the radiator is inside the case. Almost no matter how good the ventilation is. The smaller the housing, the worse it usually gets.

Thanks for this valuable insight. I'm currently working on a Fractal North XL, so the volume is pretty good and the airflow is mainly directed from front to rear.
Noise level is important, but I can withstand a few decibels when the workload requires it.

I think the experience is tempting, and I'm pretty sure I could achieve good balance between heat management and decibels levels with careful fan tuning (especially if the heat dissipation is better handled with water cooling, I'm pretty sure the inside of the case will end up being cooler than it actually is, as my current GPU is greatly dissipating itself within it).

I'll try to budgetise that and will surely give it a try soon, thanks again for taking the time to answer my question!