Your Thoughts: Bykski Waterblock + Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming OC

[mikegray]

Hi guys!

 

This is a rough post to write. I've been on team red for over 15 years now, but my 290x cards are dying, and I just don't see my way to paying current prices for a Vega. So, I'm looking for a used 1080 Ti.

 

Since I have a custom loop, I was originally expecting to buy an FE model and waterblock it - only, FEs are pretty scarce in my neck of the woods. However, I may have a deal on a second-hand Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming OC (I'm haggling for $650 might settle for $700). Custom PCB is always a problem for WC, but for $100 and a little China-time I could pick up a full-length Bykski water block. (They even offer free shipping to Switzerland - cool!)

 

Here's the card: https://www.gigabyte.com/Graphics-Card/GV-N108TGAMING-OC-11G#kf

Here's the block: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Bykski-N-GV1080TIG1-X-VGA-Full-Cover-Water-Cooling-Block-with-RGB-Light-for-Gigabyte-GTX/32827748867.html?spm=2114.search0303.3.13.7nX22A

 

Any thoughts about the gear? I've never run a Gigabyte card before, and that one is ugly as sin. (Seriously? White, black and ... orange?! Is this the Netflix Lady Criminal Edition?) But since I'm going underwater, it doesn't really matter. And then ... Bykski?! Never heard of them either!  EK, they ain't. Any stories, good or bad?

 

Also, PRICES! Are they really this bad right now or am I missing something?? I've checked both sides of the Atlantic, and this seems to be about as good as it gets. I could have sworn I was seeing 1080 Ti a good bit cheaper just a couple months back, but it looks like mining and dram-prices are taking a toll ...

 

P.S. Forum mods: Thanks for deleting my double post. Have a great day!

[8uhbbhu8]

31 minutes ago, mikegray said:

Hi guys!

 

This is a rough post to write. I've been on team red for over 15 years now, but my 290x cards are dying, and I just don't see my way to paying current prices for a Vega. So, I'm looking for a used 1080 Ti.

 

Since I have a custom loop, I was originally expecting to buy an FE model and waterblock it - only, FEs are pretty scarce in my neck of the woods. However, I may have a deal on a second-hand Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming OC (I'm haggling for $650 might settle for $700). Custom PCB is always a problem for WC, but for $100 and a little China-time I could pick up a full-length Bykski water block. (They even offer free shipping to Switzerland - cool!)

 

Here's the card: https://www.gigabyte.com/Graphics-Card/GV-N108TGAMING-OC-11G#kf

Here's the block: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Bykski-N-GV1080TIG1-X-VGA-Full-Cover-Water-Cooling-Block-with-RGB-Light-for-Gigabyte-GTX/32827748867.html?spm=2114.search0303.3.13.7nX22A

 

Any thoughts about the gear? I've never run a Gigabyte card before, and that one is ugly as sin. (Seriously? White, black and ... orange?! Is this the Netflix Lady Criminal Edition?) But since I'm going underwater, it doesn't really matter. And then ... Bykski?! Never heard of them either!  EK, they ain't. Any stories, good or bad?

 

Also, PRICES! Are they really this bad right now or am I missing something?? I've checked both sides of the Atlantic, and this seems to be about as good as it gets. I could have sworn I was seeing 1080 Ti a good bit cheaper just a couple months back, but it looks like mining and dram-prices are taking a toll ...

 

P.S. Forum mods: Thanks for deleting my double post. Have a great day!

From what I remember Bykski is the one of the largest sellers of water cooling in China to their people. So i'd say it should be fine BUT just to be sure test the loop and blocks outside the system for a while first just to be sure. I wouldn't be surprised to find a loose screw or messed o-ring somewhere in it.

[Vellinious]

I used a Bykski on a single 1080 FTW and EK blocks on two other 1080 FTWs I've had in an out of my rig.  I kept the GPU with the Bykski block and sold the FTWs with the EK blocks.  The Bykski cooled better than the EK blocks by about 12c under load, with clocks above 2200.  I tried several different mounts, moved the blocks from one card to another, to see if it was something in the mount, or the GPU itself, but it didn't matter.  The flow rates were slightly better and perform better by a decent margin every time.

Now, that's just this ONE block, but......I'm sold.  I'll be using them again.

[mikegray]

1 hour ago, Vellinious said:

I used a Bykski on a single 1080 FTW and EK blocks on two other 1080 FTWs I've had in an out of my rig.  I kept the GPU with the Bykski block and sold the FTWs with the EK blocks.  The Bykski cooled better than the EK blocks by about 12c under load, with clocks above 2200.  I tried several different mounts, moved the blocks from one card to another, to see if it was something in the mount, or the GPU itself, but it didn't matter.  The flow rates were slightly better and perform better by a decent margin every time.

Now, that's just this ONE block, but......I'm sold.  I'll be using them again.

Sweet. I actually read a very positive review of that block (or a similar 1080 block) on techpowerup. I think I've got a deal here. And I'll let it run nicehash at night to offset costs - the 1080 Ti isn't a big mining card, but a rebate never hurts ...

 

I'm not super happy about pulling the trigger right now. My master plan was to wait until OLED monitors are out with freesync, then buy a 4k OLED screen with freesync - and a new GPU to drive it. But them's the breaks - and don't think I'm going to get a much better deal right now.

[Jumper118]

yes i have a gigabyte gtx970 g1 bysksi watercooled and it definitely work ok, but the nickel plating has cracked a bit. 

[mikegray]

Thanks Guys!

 

Update: I pulled the trigger on the 1080 Ti - the seller WAS willing to come down to about $650.* So I'm looking at getting the card sometime next week. I'll run it stock for a couple days to make sure it's OK before I buy that water block ...

 

*It's funny. Switzerland is known for being one of the most expensive places on the face of the earth - but GPU prices actually seem to be a little lower here than elsewhere - besides the US I've also I checked Germany, the UK and Italy, and if there were any better deals, I sure didn't see them. I wonder whether our electricity prices are high enough to make mining less attractive here.

[mikegray]

5 hours ago, Jumper118 said:

yes i have a gigabyte gtx970 g1 bysksi watercooled and it definitely work ok, but the nickel plating has cracked a bit. 

Huh. That doesn't sound so great. As I understand it, having any two kinds of metal exposed can cause trouble - even if it's only nickel and copper .

[Jumper118]

1 minute ago, mikegray said:

Huh. That doesn't sound so great. As I understand it, having any two kinds of metal exposed can cause trouble - even if it's only nickel and copper .

nah its just certain metals. most fluid has all anti corrosion stuff anyway. i just use tap water myself 18L res and a pond pump.  

[mikegray]

Just now, Jumper118 said:

... 18L res ...   

What?!

 

Pix or it didn't happen.

[Jumper118]

6 minutes ago, mikegray said:

What?!

 

Pix or it didn't happen.

its a cool box with holes drill init. it might be 25l but i cant remeber

 

 

thats my small rad too  

[mikegray]

Cool! But doesn't tap water deposit calcium in your rads and blocks and stuff? (This is completely off topic, but hey ... I'm the OP!)

[Vellinious]

I dunno...I've had mine for over a year now, and haven't seen any cracking.  Still....copper and nickel aren't going to cause any problems anyway.

[Jumper118]

3 minutes ago, mikegray said:

Cool! But doesn't tap water deposit calcium in your rads and blocks and stuff? (This is completely off topic, but hey ... I'm the OP!)

depends how hard you water is i guess  i change hardware so often i wouldnt notice 

[mikegray]

BTW, and here I thought Linus' camping video was a little over the top. 

[RyanM923]

Is this the same model you guys have tried?  Any updates?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/BYKSKI-NIVDIA-GIGABYTE-GTX1080Ti-Gaming-OC-11G-Full-Cover-Graphics-Card-Water-Cooling-GPU-Block-N/32818056669.html?spm=2114.10010108.0.0.34254f16u9JWcF&traffic_analysisId=recommend_2049_2_83259_iswiall&scm=1007.12908.83259.0&pvid=80e4c1d0-95f6-4b37-94b0-c884e01651da&tpp=1

[mikegray]

On 11/21/2017 at 4:41 AM, RyanM923 said:

Is this the same model you guys have tried?  Any updates?

Yup, that's the one - and, oddly enough, I just installed it yesterday. (I've had all the parts for a while now, but re-building my WC is a significant undertaking, at least for me, so I had to wait till I had time for the adventure.) Here are a couple observations:

 

- The package took a little longer to arrive than expected, but not by much. (Maybe 10 days?) 

- The package and contents were in good shape.

- When you buy stuff from China you can pretty much assume that whatever they declare on the customs form will be considerably less than you actually paid. No exception here. ($24 declared.) This let me avoid custom tax entirely but obviously involves the risk of getting busted for, umm, water-block smuggling.

- Getting the stock cooler off was easy - EXCEPT for the fan headers. The headers were bloody murder, and I ended up damaging the connection to one of the stock power plugs. That's a shame, because if you're going to re-sell at some point, it's generally easier to re-sell a card with the stock cooler and re-sell the water block separately. 

- There is an instruction sheet included - it's a single sheet for SEVERAL DIFFERENT 1080 ti block versions. TBH, I wasn't even sure which diagram was meant to be my block. Oh - and did I mention that it's in Chinese? In positioning the thermal tape, I mainly looked at where the tape was positioned on the stock cooler. I figured that as long as I have tape on all the same spots the original had tape on, I'm good to go. Basically, if you're looking for a lot of hand-holding, this probably isn't the block for you.- The kit actually comes with a packet of thermal paste. Since I had a couple other parts to re-seat and my electronics supplier (digitec.ch) had a decent deal on large syringes of Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut, I went with the Kryonaut instead. But it was another sign that Bykski isn't cutting corners.

- Likewise: There was WELL more than enough thermal tape. I really appreciate not dealing with the fear of cutting one piece wrong and getting stuck half-way through the build. Thermal tape is cheap - but it you don't have it, you don't have it. If something like that happens to Linus, who cares - he's got plenty lying around. If it happens to me: (a) I have to wait at least 24 hours to have new tape delivered - that (b) maybe turns out not to be the right thickness/type/whatever. And until then (c) my system is unusable and (d) the time I had set aside to work on the system is gone. But as I said, there was plenty extra, so no sweat.

- The block looks nice, and after running for 24 hours, I'm seeing: no leaks, good temps, good water flow, nice optics.

- I haven't tried the RGB-LED yet, but it is included and even has a remote control thingy.

 

- Bottom Line: This was my second GPU block transplant - and I'm very glad that, at least for the first time round, I had an aquacomputer kryographics block for my 290x rather than a Chinese experiment. Not because anything wasn't up to spec, but because having access to a wealth of instructional material - paper, pdf and several videos - does a lot to calm the nerves. (For example, I probably could have avoided damaging the cooler-side plug that attaches to fan header if I could have watched a video of someone else dealing with the same thing.) 

 

OTOH, the package was inexpensive and made a professional impression. Absolutely no feeling that I was dealing with a fly-by-night operation making sketchy products. Besides: unless you have either a reference card or one of the mainstream variations, these guys are the only game in town. I feel (pretty) confident that I did everything right, or at least right enough. (I mean, if you mess up and fry the thing, it's only a 1080 ti, right?! Aaaargh!!!!) So far: Well done, Bykski!