1st world struggle - cpu on open loop + hybrid graphics card?

[Kalm_Traveler]

Long story short I'm debating putting together a new gaming-only rig as soon as I convince myself to hit the Checkout button but have run into a final sticking point.

 

Initially wanted to do a single loop with just one big radiator for cpu + graphics card (9900ks + some sort of 2080 Ti that will OC higher than the pair of Titans in my main rig) and I still have some thick 480mm rads from a previous build in the Thermaltake Core X9 so I searched high and low for a case with 480mm radiator support. The Phanteks Enthoo Luxe 2 (renamed 719 I think) supports them on the front and side I believe.

 

However, that case is a little less sturdy than I'd prefer given that I'm going all-out on this thing. Anyway, so I kept looking and accepted that a dual radiator config would be acceptable if it could be bottom + front for dual intake (both breathing cold air) and decided that the Cooler Master Cosmos 700M would be fine with the front plastic thing removed.

 

Next (and the problem I'm asking about) was the graphics card. I already have two Titan RTX in the main rig which I power modded for ~ 434 watt max power limit and they're great, whatever. Anyway, I had one in last years 9900k rig as well, but even with that modded power limit they are still power limited when I go for max OC benchmarking during sub-freezing winter runs (just for fun I like to see how far I can push things with a fully-assembled, daily-usable PC so no LN2 - just overbuilt custom water cooling + below-freezing ambient air).

 

Because of this (and because I see 2080 Ti's in some top spots for 3dmark 'hall of fame' lists) I wanted to use one of the custom PCB 2080 Ti's with a triple 8-pin PCIE power input setup and found that with the EVGA 2080 Ti Kingpin version you can actually disable NV OCP entirely. But... it seems EVGA stopped selling the waterblock for that card a few months ago so if I use it, I'd be 'limited' to running it with its included 240mm AIO instead of being able to include it into a loop with the CPU.

 

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So the TLDR; question I have for you guys is 'how stupid would it be to use the graphics card with its attached 240mm AIO but have the 9900ks (delidded + direct die cooled) on its own open loop with a 420mm radiator?

[Tristerin]

Just a thought, if you are confident with your DIY you could potentially mod the Kingpin and gut the pump so its just a GPU block passthrough and splice the hoses (new or just adapter the current lines its using) to your loop and use the already included cooling on the VRMs etc so it would keep the Kingpin look but be in the loop series.  

 

Im watching a teardown video now

 

EDIT - Gen 6 asetek pump, they have teardown videos of it (per the video Im watching now) 

 

[For Science!]

Apart from the fact that it lacks elegance and has more single points of failure, it isn't intrinsically "stupid" since it will work.

[Kalm_Traveler]

39 minutes ago, For Science! said:

Apart from the fact that it lacks elegance and has more single points of failure, it isn't intrinsically "stupid" since it will work.

Good point, thank you!

 

42 minutes ago, Tristerin said:

Just a thought, if you are confident with your DIY you could potentially mod the Kingpin and gut the pump so its just a GPU block passthrough and splice the hoses (new or just adapter the current lines its using) to your loop and use the already included cooling on the VRMs etc so it would keep the Kingpin look but be in the loop series.  

 

Im watching a teardown video now

 

EDIT - Gen 6 asetek pump, they have teardown videos of it (per the video Im watching now) 

 

 

 

That's definitely a possibility - hadn't even though of that so thank you as well. On a similar line of thought might there be some kind of GPU waterblock that could be used in place of the Asetek pump as well? I remember back in the early days of PC water cooling there were some kind of generic vga water blocks but I've never used one and haven't specifically looked for something like that in the last 2-3 years that I finally got into the hobby.

[Tristerin]

11 minutes ago, Kalm_Traveler1 said:

Good point, thank you!

 

That's definitely a possibility - hadn't even though of that so thank you as well. On a similar line of thought might there be some kind of GPU waterblock that could be used in place of the Asetek pump as well? I remember back in the early days of PC water cooling there were some kind of generic vga water blocks but I've never used one and haven't specifically looked for something like that in the last 2-3 years that I finally got into the hobby.

There are, but imho being that its such a good looking GPU with a readout etc - that converting the pump into a block itself would be the easiest, most aesthetically pleasing (my opinion) solution for such a nice card.  Ive researched it enough Im about to do a similar/not similar loop using the Corsair H100i GTX pump/block combo using the pump as is in tandem with a res and 3 radiators but for the fan control and iCUE software to control and monitor the entire loop.  I was originally going to use my own pump and res and just gut the block but its a nice pump in and of itself so I decided against that (for space saving and aesthetics as well)

 

Good luck and enjoy!  My direct thoughts are just remove the impeller from the pump and cut the current lines and use a barb to barb fitting to use the current hoses and just splice them at the GPU housing so it be a plug and play solution for a closed loop (also disconnecting and tucking the pump power connector away).  Could even get fancy and use angled barb fittings too

[Kalm_Traveler]

3 hours ago, Tristerin said:

Good luck and enjoy!  My direct thoughts are just remove the impeller from the pump and cut the current lines and use a barb to barb fitting to use the current hoses and just splice them at the GPU housing so it be a plug and play solution for a closed loop (also disconnecting and tucking the pump power connector away).  Could even get fancy and use angled barb fittings too

Thanks again - I will probably just try this and see how well it works. I agree with you that it would look the best since it wouldn't really alter the card's aesthetics. 

If we're being honest I'd still prefer to install the official water block that they made for a short time, but can't seem to find them anywhere even used and since my power modded Titans are still ultimately being limited by power and voltage, the only conceivable option for this new build is the Kingpin card since it has a much higher max power limit (and can even be entirely bypassed with the Classified tool).