[SOLVED] RTX 3090 AIO & The Flashin' LEDs of Doom

[Mystic_Donut]

Hi Guys,

I recently bought a 3090 for gaming and figured I would mine at night with it to help subsidize the cost. I wasn't a big fan of the fans (no pun intended) so I removed the stock fans and put on some Noctua static pressure fans instead and control them through iCUE to according to core temps.
I can't remember exactly when the problem started, but not when I mine, after a while the white LED lights near the 8 pins flash. I know this means there is an issue with power delivery. So I bought a Seasonic Prime 1000w.. after I while I would still get the same flashing lights. I thought maybe 1000w isn't enough (which sounds crazy to me), so I returned the Seasonic and picked up a be quiet dark power 1200w.. same problem pops up. I have tried multiple different PCI-E cords. Braided aftermarket cables, cables that came with the Seasonic PSU, and the braided cables that came with the be quiet! PSU.. the flashing lights will eventually come on.
It is worth noting that my previous video card (2080ti) did not have this problem. So my thought process is the surge protector or my home's power really shouldn't be suspect (am I wrong?)
The only other thing that I can think of that is causing this problem is that the stock fans are not plugged into the GPU. I unplugged the cords directly from the PCB connector when I put new thermal pads on to help lower heat on the GDDR6X modules.
Sorry, long post. Any suggestions or insight would be really appreciated.
Thanks!

edit: Oh also... would MSI Afterburner be causing the problem? I am dropping the power limit to 68% to curb heat. could that be setting off the power LEDs?

 

[drivinfast247]

edit: Oh also... would MSI Afterburner be causing the problem? I am dropping the power limit to 68% to curb heat. could that be setting off the power LEDs?

Reset to default and see if the problem persists.

 

[sizzling]

Id be very concerned about only monitoring gpu temperature to control the fans. The 3080 and 3090 get extremely hot VRAM even when the gpu is at reasonable temperature. My 3080 Gaming OC when I tried mining would adjust fan speed to >90% to cool the VRM’s even when the gpu temperature was safe. I think using iCue and only gpu temperature is dangerous for the cards VRAM.

 

[Phaaze88]

There's a high probability the red LED is thermal related. 3090 mining hasn't been very attractive due to the difficulty of managing the Vram thermals.

You're gonna have to DIY a heatsink or something to the back of that card if you want to mine on it.

FYI: hwinfo reports gpu Vram thermals. Keep it under 95C if you want to keep the card for a reasonable amount of time.

Oh, here's one video on it:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToTWaZtGOj8

 

[Bassman999]

I have a Gigabyte 3080 Gaming OC and the core temp is well controlled. It wasnt till HWIFFO64 showed me VRam temps into the 100s that I realized that was an issue. I am going to tear down my card Friday when I have spare time and add new Thermaliright 2mm pads and Noctua paste to the diel.

Ive seen video evidence that this works well

 

[Mystic_Donut]

So a little update. I put the stock fans back on and set everything back to default. I played Cyberpunk 2077 to tax the card a little and see if the problem comes back. After I closed out the game the white lights started flashing again. I was super surprised that hwinfo said my vram was at 100c from just playing a game. I’m a little ticked that Nvidia threw a card together like this. It’s like they had to have the fastest card on the market so jacked up the watts .. no thought or care to the memory modules in the back of the card not being actively cooled

 

[Bassman999]

So a little update. I put the stock fans back on and set everything back to default. I played Cyberpunk 2077 to tax the card a little and see if the problem comes back. After I closed out the game the white lights started flashing again. I was super surprised that hwinfo said my vram was at 100c from just playing a game. I’m a little ticked that Nvidia threw a card together like this. It’s like they had to have the fastest card on the market so jacked up the watts .. no thought or care to the memory modules in the back of the card not being actively cooled

I agree!
Its not just their memory selection. Its the way they decided to cool it using crap marshmallow thermal pads.
I dont know how much difference there is in the GDDR6 and GDDR6X.
What I do know is the 3080 has 10GB ox the GDDR6X it cant cool under 80c without water. The 3060 has 12GB of GDDR6 (non X) and while mining full out on it the Memory junction never passes 60C in 75F house.
Here it is right now. Its been mining for 24hrs straight and its 75F in my house right now
https://postimg.cc/RJSNtDQH

 

[Phaaze88]

🤔
It's not in Cyberpunk, but still:

View: https://youtu.be/oEn7hwCXzBI?t=554
(saved at 9:14)
^3090s

View: https://youtu.be/0tk9vTaxRNc?t=712
(saved at 11:52)
^3080s

 

[Bassman999]

The 3080 GB Gaming OC is the one I have. I bought a Skytech prebuilt and it came in there.
Its a nice card with high memory temps, but not as bad as the Aorus or FE.
It makes sense that the die is the botleneck, and at a certain point every addl watt is correlated directly into heat.
I agree that the 3090s are best served with an aio bolted on as a default.

 

[Phaaze88]

It makes sense that the die is the botleneck, and at a certain point every addl watt is correlated directly into heat.

Yeah, the key to greater performance on Ampere isn't a higher power limit... if you don't want to count LN2, I guess?
That does jack-all but make it require more robust cooling solutions, which usually means more noise too, because the gpu fans and chassis fans need to spin up faster too for the user to leverage any kind of extra performance from the higher power limit and enhanced cooling.
Gpu Boost has gotten most of the extra performance out of the card for the user as well, so there's little left after that.

I agree that the 3090s are best served with an aio bolted on as a default.

IMO, I believe all 300w+ cards qualify for liquid cooling. Cpus seldom see that kind of power draw normally, except in specialized applications, and using the following: i7s(specific models), i9s, X-series, and Threadripper.

Every other person installing hybrid coolers on their cpus, plus overclocking isn't what it used to be either:
"Imma get a 10850K, OC it and install a hybrid cooler - or custom loop - and pair that with an air cooled 380w+ 3080/3090."
I'm laughing a little internally at how some setups have looked 'backwards'.

No offense intended though. Having tried both, cooling the gpu on liquid sees more benefits to the system as a whole. It's not as convenient to set up, so that turns people away.

The new Eiswolfs are in, and I've not managed to acquire either a new gpu: https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/...for-nvidia-ampere-and-amd-rdna-2-gpus.281590/