Watercooling RTX 2080. Gpu variant matter?

[Gmoney06ss]

Hello all,

With tax season right around the corner, I'm planning some PC upgrades. A new 1440p monitor is on the top of the list as well as a new gpu, planning on an rtx 2080. I also plan to finally add the gpu to my loop.

Current specs:
Asus Maximus VIII hero
I-5 6600k @ 4.5ghz, may be able to up a little. Current voltage around 1.3v, temps in low 50* range while stressing and upper 40 range during gaming.
G Skillz ripjawz 5 16gb 3000mhz, planning to upgrade to some corsair dominator platinum 32gb, 3200.
Asus strix gtx 1070.
Corsair hx750i
Fractal design r6.
Western digital blue m.2 ssd and 2x 1tb HDD, which I plan to upgrade to a single 2tb ssd.

MSI optix 1080/144 monitor currently, grabbing same brand but 1440/144 soon. Unless you all have some suggestions on a better 1440/144 27" monitor around the $400-450 mark?

I'm planning on holding onto the i-5 until the launch of the 3000 series ryzen and making a decision on cpu upgrade after that.

Since I'm going to be adding the gpu into the loop, with probably ek blocks, unless someone suggests better, does brand/ variant of the gpu necessarily matter? I know with the ek blocks I'll need a reference design pcb. So I was looking at the evga black or gigabyte windforce cards, as they are on the cheaper side, and overclocking shouldn't be an issue as I'm using water. Or should I look at better cards? I just don't want to spend an extra $50-100 or more on a better cooler design when I'm just going to pull it off for a waterblock. I'll only use stock cooler for a bit to make sure the cards not doa, then will swap out to water.

Any suggestions on which gpu to use?

 

[Eximo]

I've always used reference cards, doesn't seem to make all that much difference from what I have seen. I've sprung for the superclocked versions from EVGA to hopefully get better binning. Though with water cooling all the Pascal cards seemed to fall in the same rough performance. Not heard enough about the Turing cards to say, but I would guess it would be similar.

Paying an extra $100-150 for one of the high end GPUs and then having to get a specific block for it might gain you 50Mhz on the core. Not worth it to me.

EK is just one company, but they do tend to make blocks for a lot of the custom cards, which is why you tend to hear about them more. On reference cards there are dozens of companies making blocks. Very rare to see a round up, so really it is just a matter of going with the ones you like. (I use XSPC Razor blocks myself, though some of the ones from Alphacool look nice, and I see Phanteks has joined the fray)

 

[Gmoney06ss]

I was looking at the xspc block as all of my current setup is from them minus the tubing itself.

Sounds like the best bet is to find the best reviewed, lowest cost card. Since it seems other than the cooler there's little performance difference between reference design cards.

 

[Eximo]

No issues on my blocks, fittings, or the radiators I have used from them. I also bought one of their XSPC Ion pumps, but I haven't used it yet, mostly because I like the look of it. Might convert it into a reservoir at some point, but I want to test the pump and see how it does with two GPUs only in a loop.

 

[Gmoney06ss]

https://www.performance-pcs.com/xspc-x4-photon-170-reservoir-pump-combo.html

I have this pump/res combo from them. Zero issues so far, and it'll be used with the gpu added as well. Very quiet and seems to have plenty of flow potential. I think I may end up with the xspc block just to complete the set. It looks nice, has a nice backplate to go with and price is about the same vs the ek. Now I just have to decide which gpu to grab, leaning more towards the evga black, if only because it has more reviews.

 

[Gmoney06ss]

Decided on a monitor today. Should be grabbing it tomorrow if still in stock. If not I'll have it shipped. It's a Dell - S2719DGF 27" LED QHD FreeSync Monitor - Black. Read great reviews on here as well as a few other places. Now to wait and save for the gpu and cooling!!