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AlexiTQ · ‎09-04-2017

Waiting for my 1080Ti to arrive I’m thinking of an old problem I had with my current graphics card, a Strix 970 GTX.

I’m using a Noctua NH D15 heatsink for my CPU and when mounting the card in the first PCI-E slot (on an X99-A motherboard) the backplate touches the heatsink. The solution was pretty simple - just put the card in the second slot and run it at x8 instead of x16.

With the 1080Ti though, there might actually be some difference in performance.

The question then, is it alright for the the heat sink to touch the backplate? Is there anything on the back of the card that could get shorted?

Also, should I be worried about the thermals with the card sitting so close to/touching the heat sink?*

Chino · ‎09-05-2017

Put some electric tape on the clips that are touching the backplate.

AlexiTQ · ‎09-10-2017

Chino wrote:
Put some electric tape on the clips that are touching the backplate.

Thanks!

As it turns out, there was actually no way to get the graphics card to fit. Even if I would have been able to squeeze it in I would have had to remove the CPU heatsink just to reach the clip and the back of the PCI-E port.

Considering the CPU heatsink is a big, ugly, beast and doesn't perform that well on the 5820K (there's just too much heat when overclocking) I've ordered a water cooler instead.

Nate152 · ‎09-10-2017

Hi AlexiTQ

Which one did you go for ?

ROG Strix 1070 OC Guide - ROG Spatha X Rapid Fire - ROG Falchion Touch Panel - z270 BCLK Overclocking - Xsplit Gamecaster Guide - ROG RX 460 OC Guide

cmno00 · ‎09-11-2017

I have the same kind of VGA and the same cooler.
I installed noctua on horizontal orientation, and it exhaust to top, to avoid touching backplate.
By doing that i got ~2cm between sink and VGA.

I don't think electric tape or card board options are good.
And be care, water coolers in general seems to be noisi.*

56c on CPU playing PUBG on i7 7700k 4.2Ghz(default clock) and 32c idle. *

AlexiTQ · ‎09-11-2017

cmno00 wrote:
I have the same kind of VGA and the same cooler.
I installed noctua on horizontal orientation, and it exhaust to top, to avoid touching backplate.
By doing that i got ~2cm between sink and VGA.

I don't think electric tape or card board options are good.
And be care, water coolers in general seems to be noisi.*

56c on CPU playing PUBG on i7 7700k 4.2Ghz(default clock) and 32c idle. *

*
I considered that solution but the GPU is also exhausting tons of hot air into the chassis, and pulling more of that hot air through the heat sink that is already struggling doesn’t seem like a good idea. On top of that it would mean a lower air pressure inside the case, pulling in a lot more dust.

The 7700K is not comparable to the 5820K I use. I’m already close to 90c running AIDA64, and that’s just with a 1.27V core with the graphics card sitting in the second PCI-E slot (the situation was somewhat better with only a GTX 970 exhausting heat). At these settings I should get below 70c with water.

*

AlexiTQ · ‎09-11-2017

Nate152 wrote:
Hi AlexiTQ

Which one did you go for ?

*
I got the Fractal Design Kelvin S36. I’ve used one before and it worked well until the pump broke, so I’m giving it a second chance.

It’s one of the few AIO water coolers that can handle the heat from an overclocked Haswell-E. The heat transferring capacity gets saturated with smaller coolers or air coolers (the Noctua runs 15-20c hotter, if not more, than the Kelvin S36).

Decided to avoid the newer Celsius series as it’s based on Aseteks design and therefore uses a copper waterblock with an aluminum radiator. I don’t like risking galvanic corrosion.*

Strix 1080Ti touching heatsink