[SOLVED] RTX3070 with 2 x 140mm Noctua fans - load temps improved by 14 degrees, and very quiet!

[HWOC]

I bought a Gainward Phantom RTX3070 back in December, and even though I'm happy with the card otherwise, the noise under load is quite annoying. Since I had a spare NH-D14 lying around after replacing the fans on my old NH-D14 CPU cooler with NF-A15's, I thought I might as well use it on the GPU. So I bought another one, the new equivalent of the same fan is now the NF-P14s redux-1200, and I got the PWM one. After removing the old, crappy 3 x 92mm fans, I mounted the 140mm fans with zip ties and also used two fan clips of the NH-D14, since it made the job easier.

The fans are identical in terms of specs, but different models, the left one is NF-P14 from the CPU cooler NH-D14, and the right one is NF-P14 redux-1200 PWM. Both are 1200 rpm, 110.3 m3/h (65 cfm), 19.6 db, 1.29 h20.

The end result was well worth the hour spent on the mod, 11 degrees Celsius improvement in temps under load, and a HUGE improvement in acoustics.
EDIT: The load temps actually improved by about 14 degrees, I had initially left the other fan in PWM auto mode, which meant that it was hardly spinning. Once corrected, temps went down further.

I removed the old fans and the plastic shroud with LED lighting, but I decided to leave the old plastic fan mount cage in place, since removing that would have required the removal of a screw that had the dreaded "Warranty void if removed" sticker on it. This way I can easily revert back to the original setup if I need to.

Of course, it would look better if I had two identical fans, especially the black ones, but I don't have a window in my case so this is absolutely fine for me. I value performance and acoustics above looks anyway.

It's cozy enough in the case. The Gainward Phantom RTX3070 is so long that I had to bend the Fractal Design Define R3's hard drive cage a little to fit it in, even before the fan mod.

More photos here if you are interested:

https://imgur.com/a/7UB4f7P

View: https://imgur.com/gallery/7UB4f7P/comment/2025603799

 

[Dj0gany]

Nice job,honestly doesnt look that bad in my opinion.
Bruh that hdd cage xD

 

[Dj0gany]

May i ask,what is that silver thing that goes between the rear exhaust fan to your psu?
Is that something custom for noise cancelling or does the case come with it?
Also what is that foamy material under the optical drive?

 

[HWOC]

Nice job,honestly doesnt look that bad in my opinion.
Bruh that hdd cage xD

Thanks for the comments. Yeah, I need to cut that cage out, been too lazy so far. 😑 Should get rid of HD's anyway and move fully to SSDs. Maybe later on this year.

 

[HWOC]

May i ask,what is that silver thing that goes between the rear exhaust fan to your psu?
Is that something custom for noise cancelling or does the case come with it?
Also what is that foamy material under the optical drive?

That is acoustic padding for PCs, with a layer of bitumen and foam. Makes the case even quieter than standard. Also a bit heavier, but I don't mind that since I rarely move it. I have stuffed that material pretty much everywhere inside the case. You can easily see the two layers under the optical drive, the thin layer is the bitumen, and then the foam layer underneath it. I didn't even notice myself but it looks like the sticky stuff on the bitumen has finally started to lose it's grip. I've used the same pieces of that material in several cases now, I originally bought it back in 2003.

 

[Dj0gany]

That is acoustic padding for PCs, with a layer of bitumen and foam. Makes the case even quieter than standard. Also a bit heavier, but I don't mind that since I rarely move it. I have stuffed that material pretty much everywhere inside the case.

Link,please?

 

[HWOC]

Link,please?

I'm sorry but I can't find any suppliers for the bitumic+foam material at the moment. I'm not sure if it's still available. overclockers.co.uk sell pre-cut foam kits for various cases here: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cases-and-modding/modding/noise-dampening
I doubt pure foam would be as efficient, but I guess it depends on the type of noise you are trying to reduce. Bitumen is probably most efficient at reducing vibration type sounds, which are of lesser importance now that we are using traditional hard drives less than before. I suspect for fan noise reduction foam is just as effective.
The material that I bought was supplied in large sheets that I cut to desired size with a utility knife.

 

[Dj0gany]

I'm sorry but I can't find any suppliers for the bitumic+foam material at the moment. I'm not sure if it's still available. overclockers.co.uk sell pre-cut foam kits for various cases here: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cases-and-modding/modding/noise-dampening
I doubt pure foam would be as efficient, but I guess it depends on the type of noise you are trying to reduce. Bitumen is probably most efficient at reducing vibration type sounds, which are of lesser importance now that we using traditional hard drives less than before. I suspect for fan noise reduction foam is just as effective.
The material that I bought was supplied in large sheets that I cut to desired size with a utility knife.

Thanks

 

[RTX 2080]

Thanks for the comments. Yeah, I need to cut that cage out, been too lazy so far. 😑 Should get rid of HD's anyway and move fully to SSDs. Maybe later on this year.

If you do that, it'll draw more attention to all the PSU cables you have stuffed down there at the bottom of your tower lol. Maybe while you're at it, a modular PSU would clean things up even more.

 

[HWOC]

Good points RTX 2080. To be honest I'm not too worried about looks, since I don't have a window in the case, and it's tucked under my desk in a dark corner of the room. However, a true enthusiast is not able to sleep properly if he knows the internals of his case are a mess. 🙂 I had to buy a new PSU for the RTX 3070, and at the time the only Seasonic that was in stock at a reasonable price was this one, and I was dead set on getting a "Seasy".

 

[RTX 2080]

Good points RTX 2080. To be honest I'm not too worried about looks, since I don't have a window in the case, and it's tucked under my desk in a dark corner of the room. However, a true enthusiast is not able to sleep properly if he knows the internals of his case are a mess. I had to buy a new PSU for the RTX 3070, and at the time the only Seasonic that was in stock at a reasonable price was this one, and I was dead set on getting a "Seasy".

Fair enough!