Corsair HG10 N980 on a nvidia 970?

[GBreslin]

I am looking to AIO cool my nvidia GTX 970, as i dont like the aesthetics of the Kraken g10, I found the HG10 n970, but it doesn't work with the titan reference pcbs, from what I've gathered though the pcb is similar to the 980 and that it is possibly compatible. Is there a solution that doesn't involve the g10 or a custom loop?

 

[Crossbred]

You could do some zip-tie work, but it wouldn't perform much better.

[GBreslin]

Lol true, I see that the Nvidia Titan X is compatible with the n980 and here are all 3  PCBs, am I missing something?970

 

980

 

Titan X

 

Also, from what I understand, Corsair isn't too up to date on their list as a couple of the cards listed as compatible just aren't. Either way, I'll update when the n980 arrives.

[SecretAuthor]

You can try it. I installed that on my 980ti earlier this year. It's junk. I took it off after a week. Even the revised version bends the PCB. Even if you're tightening the thumb screws by hand, it bends horribly. If you install it lightly to where it doesn't bend the PCB, your temps skyrocket to air cooler temps. The problem lies in the design of the cooling bracket. It does not utilize some of the screw holes in the PCB. And the cooler screws into the bracket, not the card. So yeah...

 

Don't let them fool you. They'll say that you installed it wrong.... Pretty much the bracket isn't attached to the card enough in the middle, and the cooler screws on to the bracket - not on to the card - pushing up on the card.. in the middle... yeah..

[Mick Naughty]

How does a hg10 n970 not work with a reference 970?

[GBreslin]

13 hours ago, SecretAuthor said:

You can try it. I installed that on my 980ti earlier this year. It's junk. I took it off after a week. Even the revised version bends the PCB. Even if you're tightening the thumb screws by hand, it bends horribly. If you install it lightly to where it doesn't bend the PCB, your temps skyrocket to air cooler temps. The problem lies in the design of the cooling bracket. It does not utilize some of the screw holes in the PCB. And the cooler screws into the bracket, not the card. So yeah...

 

Don't let them fool you. They'll say that you installed it wrong.... Pretty much the bracket isn't attached to the card enough in the middle, and the cooler screws on to the bracket - not on to the card - pushing up on the card.. in the middle... yeah..

Thanks, I read about the pcb bending, I didn't realize that the cooler mounted to the adapter and not the card, that sucks...

4 hours ago, Mick Naughty said:

How does a hg10 n970 not work with a reference 970?

Apparently they Titan cooler isn't a reference pcb and was built on the full length 980 pcb. You should see some of the arguments that people have gotten in to over that. The N970 is built for the short pcb aftermarket cards while the nvidia branded card is reference cooled it isn't a reference pcb.

[SecretAuthor]

Quote

Thanks, I read about the pcb bending, I didn't realize that the cooler mounted to the adapter and not the card, that sucks...

Yeah... If the bracket somehow screwed into the four mounting holes surrounding the GPU chip, then it wouldn't have been a problem...

 

You will see it when it arrives. It'll bend the card mainly on the PCI-E connector side, since there will be no screw there. Since the connector gets bowed, installing it is a bit unnerving. It'll bend on the other side just slightly, though.

[GBreslin]

So with the card, N980 bracket, and a Corsair H75, it is installed. and I can confirm the "Founders edition"/ Titan cooler/ Best Buy exclusive/ Nvidia made branded Geforce GTX 970 is fully compatible with the Corsair N980 and I see a positive thermal impact.

 

 

Stock cooler removed.

 

 

N980 and H75 installed, and damned if I didn't forget to plug in the fan, so I reinstalled. 

 

 

The pcb bending, it is very pronounced in the photo compared to the bend in person. I was able to insert the card with out bending the card into the pcie slot.

 

 

It seems to sag a bit more than the stock cooler, but with a single Corsair led sp120 installed in pull, I'm very pleased to say at idle i'm seeing 27-31 degrees Celsius and at full load over the course of an hour a max temp of 55-63 degrees Celsius.