Latest Build - Watercooled 3080, Replaced PSU fan
Watercooling the 3080
Update Early 2021
(2019, 1700x, 1080Ti) Build has been updated with specs below
Outfitting the blower GTX 1080ti with an Aftermarket GPU cooler. best decision EVER
and here we go! temps stay nice and cool aroung 60C under load
Without RGB
The Setup as it stands currently. 3400x1440p 100Hz Ultrawide and 27" IPS side-monitor.
(outdated) 75Hz 27" Monitor, Will soon add a 34" Ultrawide, of the exact same height.
(2018, 2200g, r9-280x)
Airflow optimized. Fans running at 22% idle and 30% under load.
Icarus
This build is made with the main focus being Price/Performance as well as Futureproofing without compromise.
(updates shown underneath)
Some of the Items might seem overkill for the moment being (PSU and Mobo), but those choices have been made to accommodate future CPUs and GPUs. (Didn't expect 3080 levels of POWER but yes.)
- And it payed off! Thanks Lisa Su!
(updates shown underneath)
Some of the Items might seem overkill for the moment being (PSU and Mobo), but those choices have been made to accommodate future CPUs and GPUs. (Didn't expect 3080 levels of POWER but yes.)
- And it payed off! Thanks Lisa Su!
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Update 7, Mid 2021:
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Update 7, Mid 2021:
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AMD 3900XT 12-Core CPU - Undervolt 1.2V 4.2GHz All-Core
1Usmus's CTR utility broke. Somehow the bios doesn't consider 4.3 @1.15V stable so I had to drop it to 4.2 @1.2v. Stable since and less hassle.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition - NOW WATER-COOLED & UNDERVOLTED
The AliExpress Water-cooling Kit I ordered in November finally arrived. Before, Core temp would be 83C and Memory would immediately ping 100C in Cyberpunk 2077. Now with water-cooling, core is stable at 70C, with memory at 86 Max. This is after a burn-in test. In gameplay it is around 60C for both.
Using Afterburner I undervolted the card to 0.887V with a boost up to 1900MHz. This Lowered W from 350W to 250W without percievable performance loss. I play my games with adaptive sync turned on in system settings, so Most of the times I'm limited by my screen refresh rate anyways. (3440x1440 100Hz)
CORSAIR 850TM PSU - Fan Replacement
The Fan inside the power supply was killing my nerves. The entire system is running on Noctua fans @500RPM, virtually silent but the PSU fan must go brrrrrrrrrrrrr 1500RPM at all times.
I swapped it out for a Noctua Silent NF-A14 PWM that I soldered on. DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS YOU KNOW EXATCTLY WHAT YOU ARE DOING YOU COULD DIE
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Update 6, Early 2021:
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Update 6, Early 2021:
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AMD 3900XT 12-Core CPU - OC+Undervolt 1.15V 4.275GHz All-Core
Using 1Usmus's CTR utility, my chip has been tested and undervolted to provide max performance at lowest noise possible. Since More power means more heat which equals higher temps and therefore faster fans, this has an immediate effect on system quietness.
Dropped temperatures to 60C max with fans at minimum, power draw dropped from 120-150W to only 70W under full load! And Faster! All Hail 7nm!
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition - Stock
I tried undervolting it to great success, using 240W instead of 380 with only 5% performance drop, but the fans don't go under 30% when using custom curves so back to stock we go. At least now, most of the time, the card stays absolutely silent, like the rest of the PC (I love you Noctua ♥ )
Intel X540-T2 10 Gigabit Network Card
In addition to the main computer, I also built a 16TB Freenas Server, for my Steam Games, Windows Libraries, and everything else that one might store on LAN. It has redundancy, cloud backup, snapshots for Windows file history, syncs my iTunes library, Plex..... you name it, the whole shebang!
10 Gigabit, although expensive (£75 for each card, £180 for a 10 port router 2x10gig) is a requirement and it makes loading games super snappy, especially with 500GB nVME L2ARC
Only problem now is the power supply fan... TX850M has 90% efficiency at 450W so under full load so only 45-50W of heat to dissipate, yet still the rifle bearing fan inside goes nuts and grinds even when idle (60-100W).
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Update 5, End 2020:
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Update 5, End 2020:
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AMD 3900XT 12-Core CPU
Best zen 2 currently has to offer, especially for 330£ what a bargain!
More single core performance to avoid bottlenecking the 3080 upcoming upgrade!
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Update 4, Mid 2020:
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Update 4, Mid 2020:
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Intel 900P Optane SSD
280GB of pure speed, best upgrade ever, especially with Primocache!
Optane Memory might not be the fastest in continuous read applications but it has ultra-low latency and unbelievable random4k reads/writes. It is simply insane how snappy windows becomes with a bit of Optane to chew on.
Updated the 1700x's OC to 3.8GHz PState0,
Temps are lower and CPU only boosts to 3.8GHz when needed, otherwise downclocks to 2.2GHz @ 0.9V. This keeps temperatures in check on my first-gen Ryzen
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Update 3, Early 2020:
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Update 3, Early 2020:
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7x Noctua NFL12 PWM Fans
Fan Curve changed to 17% when idle (450RPM) and 40% when under full load (800-1000RPM)
Now all the fans are inaudible and only the airflow can be heard!
All other components have been gifted to family.
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Update 2, Late 2019:
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Update 2, Late 2019:
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Aaaaaand here we go, the future is here! The build has been updated with:
AMD R7 1700x 8-Core CPU
OC to 3.8GHz 1.365v all core. Nice and Stable but a little bit toasty. 150W and low fan speed as a priority this chip is on fire!
32GB of Crucial 3200Mhz RAM
Ryzen loves fast RAM so this set is running 3400MHz CL16
2TB BX500 Crucial SSD
Nice and Cheap 2TB QLC Nand, fast reads (sata still) and very, very slow writes. Hopefully there will be good TLC alternatives soon.
GTX 1080ti
I took the beast apart, then added the awesome Morpheus II air cooler, modded the BIOS for a different Zotac Card with 0RPM Fan-Stop mode. Now, when Idle, the card's fans don't spin and it stays completely silent.
Thankfully there isn't even any coil-whine!
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Update 1, Late 2018:
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Update 1, Late 2018:
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AMD R3 2200g APU
Nice and Cheap 4-Core CPU with integrated graphics. I was hoping to use this whilst waiting on some good CPU/GPU deals but it turns out the Motherboard does not have a HDMI out *facepalm*
AMD R9 280x GPU
Picked this gem up at CEX for £70. It's a true hero of it's time, although aging, it still is a good entry to gaming and served me well in the past.
16GB Corsair 3000MHz RGB RAM
2 Sticks for good measure, dual channel and room to upgrade later.
Color(s): Black Purple White
RGB Lighting? Yes
Theme: Technology
Cooling: Air Cooling
Size: ATX
Type: General Build
Contests
This build participated in 1 contest.
| Rank | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| #227 | Build of the Month - April 2021 | ended |
Build Updates
Late 2019
Late 2020
Hardware
CPU
$ 325.00
Motherboard
$ 238.00
Memory
$ 94.99
Graphics
$ 800.00
Storage
$ 468.68
Case
$ 113.57
Case Fan
$ 209.65
Estimated total value of this build:
$ 2,595.85
Approved by: