[SOLVED] gpu water block temps running identical to stock

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Jun 18, 2020
42
2
35
Beginner liquid cooler here. Just bought a PC that came with a cpu Liquid cooler pre installed with a 2080 ti MSI gaming X trio. stock temp for GPU while gaming then was between 70-73. Just installed the waterblock on my GPU, idle temps are sitting at 42 C, opened up call of duty, temps started out mid 50s then slowly kept going up. Saw a high of 77-78 C before I shut the game off because I wasn't seeing an improvement. Since I just got the full loop with the GPU waterblock installed running a few hours ago, should I just continue to let it run for the next day or so and see if temps change? Also, looking on the bottom of my GPU, I see what looks to be like a bit of an air bubble on one of the middle part that goes over the gpu core, but I could be wrong and thats how the waterblock is designed to make it flow over the core? It's the msi gaming vector trio from EKWB.

GPU stock under load: 70-73 C
GPU Waterblock idle: 41-43 C (Doesn't change with side glass panel removed)
GPU Waterblock under load: 78 C ( was slowly climbing before Load was relieved)
update: ran call of duty again, temp got as high as 85-86 C

Specs:
mobo: msi z490 meg godlike
2080 ti
10900k Processor
360mm rad mounted on top
three fans on top, 1 on left side ((exhaust?), three fans on the right (intake?)
Case: be quiet darkbase pro 900

I've tried running dragon center to monitor and change my fan speeds, but it shows all of my fans at 0 rpm even though they are all spinning. Was going to try and edit fan speeds to run at max, but don't know exactly how to do that. Removing the side panel doesn't change idle temps, so I don't know what my next course of action should be logically aside from re applying thermal paste onto the GPU, but I wanted to see if there was another option that was more viable before I jump to that.

Edit: Images
https://ibb.co/vVNfVC9
 
Last edited:
Solution
Now, I'm no liquid cooling expert - the actual experts here should show up later - but isn't a single 360mm rad a bit low for BOTH a 10900K and a 2080Ti:
10900K: 250w max power limit, assuming stock operation.
Msi's 2080Ti Gaming X Trio - depending on the bios version, is between 330w - 406w! A list of validated vbioses can be found here: https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios...&version=&interface=&memType=&memSize=&since=
A 360mm rad around 30mm thick is good for about 350w of heat, with thicker ones having even higher thermal capacity.

If you're sure you see air bubbles elsewhere in the loop, I'd suggest trying to tilt the chassis around gently to try and flush it out from that...
Jun 18, 2020
42
2
35
Got an Update!

So the radiator came in before the other fans and pump did, and I got impatient, so after hours of disassembly and re-assembly, I managed to get my second radiator in the setup. idle temps sit almost the same, a few degree lower at 30-32 (gpu), and 32-33(cpu). Turned on Warzone, let it run into a game, and monitored GPU not going above 48 C (huge change from 86!) The cpu was running around 10 degrees hotter, going from 56-62c. I was thinking that it's normal and some CPUs just run hotter, but I'm no expert? Just basing off of what was said about the 10900k possibly known for being spicy. In any case, huge temperature changes under load. I was looking at my setups liquid flow, and the P500 pump seems like it's managing to get through flow throughout my whole setup( can't tell exactly how efficiently it's actually flowing through speed of flow wise). At this point, I still plan on putting in the new pump and fans when they come in. Perhaps it'll help to lower temps a bit more or at least maintain them.
 
Last edited:
Jun 18, 2020
42
2
35
Another update with the new pump and noctua fans installed:

So my setup is finally completely done after hours and hours of trying to get everything right. currently running 4 noctua IPPC 140mm 3000 rpm fans (1 rear exhaust, 3 intake rad push) and 3 120mm noctuas on top on my rad intake pulling. With those and the new d5 pump, set for ~1100 l/h, the setup is running great! fans and pump didn't do much to lower idle temps from previous fans and pump, but it's nice to have the extra power just in case. After overclocking GPU, running under load hitting 2065mhz clock speeds, the gpu doesn't go over 52c, which I would say is a huge win! One cool thing I did notice though is under load, the CPU temps seemed to have dropped to those of the gpus temp, so about a nice 10c drop on the CPU! Does that have anything to do with OCing my GPU and taking some load off the CPU? I know they have their separate roles and all, just couldn't see why the CPU temp dropped so much, but I'm happy with it! Overall, I think the biggest factor in getting the pieces to work as properly as I would have liked was having that extra radiator as initially suggested! Also side note, 7 noctua fans running at 3000 RPM sounds like a damn VTOL flying by my house! Lucky to have the slide toggle next to my towers power button so I can adjust the fan speeds via software
 
  • Like
Reactions: Phaaze88