Dell Alienware RTX 3090 custom waterblock options?

[VR-AR_Nerd]

Hello! I just ordered a prebuilt alienware R11 from Dell because It was the only conceivable way to buy a 3090. I didn’t realize however that the aircooled 3090 dell ships is the short bus version and has kinda not great thermal performance. Does anyone know of a waterblock that would be able to work with this card or a place that can make me a custom one?? (Im in West Coast USA) Thanks! :)

[Chris Greene]

2 hours ago, VR-AR_Nerd said:

Hello! I just ordered a prebuilt alienware R11 from Dell because It was the only conceivable way to buy a 3090. I didn’t realize however that the aircooled 3090 dell ships is the short bus version and has kinda not great thermal performance. Does anyone know of a waterblock that would be able to work with this card or a place that can make me a custom one?? (Im in West Coast USA) Thanks!

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-quantum-vector-tuf-rtx-3080-3090-d-rgb-nickel-plexi   here is a link to a site i found although I cant seem to find if they ship to the US

https://www.corsair.com/ca/en/Categories/Products/Water-Cooling-PC-|-Water-Cooling-Kit-|-CORSAIR/Blocks/GPU-Blocks/Hydro-X-Series-XG7-RGB-30-SERIES-GPU-Water-Block/p/CX-9020012-WW Link to the corsair site for another block as well.

[narrdarr]

personally I'd skip all that. I'd grab a crj dual fan fan splitter and 2x 120mm fans. deshroud and remove the fans from the GPU. then strap the 2x 120mm the heatsink using zip ties. the crj cable will allow you connect the fans to the GPU. this will drop temps and noise. you can make it look really clean,. 

[LogicalDrm]

-> Moved to Custom Loop and Exotic Cooling

[VR-AR_Nerd]

14 hours ago, narrdarr said:

personally I'd skip all that. I'd grab a crj dual fan fan splitter and 2x 120mm fans. deshroud and remove the fans from the GPU. then strap the 2x 120mm the heatsink using zip ties. the crj cable will allow you connect the fans to the GPU. this will drop temps and noise. you can make it look really clean,. 

Thank you so much for your response! I think this would be a great option since I haven’t found any compatible waterblocks yet. Just to make sure is this the cable you were referring to? 

[VR-AR_Nerd]

16 hours ago, Chris Greene said:

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-quantum-vector-tuf-rtx-3080-3090-d-rgb-nickel-plexi   here is a link to a site i found although I cant seem to find if they ship to the US

https://www.corsair.com/ca/en/Categories/Products/Water-Cooling-PC-|-Water-Cooling-Kit-|-CORSAIR/Blocks/GPU-Blocks/Hydro-X-Series-XG7-RGB-30-SERIES-GPU-Water-Block/p/CX-9020012-WW Link to the corsair site for another block as well.

Thank you for your response! The dell 3090 is a different size than the founders edition though so I wasn’t sure if those would work. I tried checking the compatibility chart and submitting a support ticket to ek and corsair but no dice yet in confirming compatibility  

[Chris Greene]

25 minutes ago, VR-AR_Nerd said:

Thank you for your response! The dell 3090 is a different size than the founders edition though so I wasn’t sure if those would work. I tried checking the compatibility chart and submitting a support ticket to ek and corsair but no dice yet in confirming compatibility  

Theres a little dropdown menu selector where it says FE theres Reference edition, Ventus and Strix. Glad to be of assitance.

[narrdarr]

2 hours ago, VR-AR_Nerd said:

Thank you so much for your response! I think this would be a great option since I haven’t found any compatible waterblocks yet. Just to make sure is this the cable you were referring to? 

yes. use that if you are only going to need 2 fans to cover the whole heatsink. otherwise use a single to a fan hub for 3x+ fans.

 

 

if you do go this route and need help just let me know. I have done a few of these mods.

 

[narrdarr]

also isn't  msi the source for Dell's rtx cards...?

[VR-AR_Nerd]

5 hours ago, narrdarr said:

also isn't  msi the source for Dell's rtx cards...?

I’m pretty sure I heard that somewhere but never found any details 

[VR-AR_Nerd]

5 hours ago, narrdarr said:

yes. use that if you are only going to need 2 fans to cover the whole heatsink. otherwise use a single to a fan hub for 3x+ fans.

 

 

if you do go this route and need help just let me know. I have done a few of these mods.

 

Thank you!! I really appreciate the help! Ill keep that in mind and see how many fans I can fit! The more the merrier! Haha

[MaratM]

Dell used to use reference design in their gpu’s so i suppose that dell uses reference design in this 3090, do not mix them with the founders edition they are different!!! Have a look at the pcb and have a look at ekwb compatability for the reference block

[N3URAL]

On 2/28/2021 at 12:24 PM, MaratM said:

Dell used to use reference design in their gpu’s so i suppose that dell uses reference design in this 3090, do not mix them with the founders edition they are different!!! Have a look at the pcb and have a look at ekwb compatability for the reference block

@VR-AR_Nerd I am in the same boat, bought the R11 for the 3090 and temporarily put a massive heatsink on the backside since my memory temps were sitting at 108^oC!! I have it out of the case with an office fan blowing directly on it to keep it down to a bearable 90^oC. I am very interested in watercooling and would love to find out if the 3090 is indeed a reference board.

[MaratM]

4 hours ago, N3URAL said:

@VR-AR_Nerd I am in the same boat, bought the R11 for the 3090 and temporarily put a massive heatsink on the backside since my memory temps were sitting at 108^oC!! I have it out of the case with an office fan blowing directly on it to keep it down to a bearable 90^oC. I am very interested in watercooling and would love to find out if the 3090 is indeed a reference board.

Take off the stock cooler and have a look, have a look at the reference board (i think some galax, palit and others make their cards based on the ref design) have a look at ekwb for the complete list of reference boards under compatability button on this waterblock EK-Quantum Vector RE RTX 3080/3090 D-RGB - Nickel + Plexi

search the techpowerup gpu database and you will find how the refference pcb looks like. 
I do not have this card but I assume dell use reference design due to the fact that they are the cheappest ones.

 

[N3URAL]

3 hours ago, MaratM said:

Take off the stock cooler and have a look, have a look at the reference board (i think some galax, palit and others make their cards based on the ref design) have a look at ekwb for the complete list of reference boards under compatability button on this waterblock EK-Quantum Vector RE RTX 3080/3090 D-RGB - Nickel + Plexi

search the techpowerup gpu database and you will find how the refference pcb looks like. 
I do not have this card but I assume dell use reference design due to the fact that they are the cheappest ones.

 

@MaratM Yes I understand what to look for, no argument there, the concern is I don't want to void my warranty by removing the cooler, only to find out its NOT a reference card and there is not water block that will fit it. With my luck I'll put the cooler back on and something will happen to the card in the next few days and I'm SOL. 

 

I'm hoping to find out if someone else has removed their cooler already or if there is some other way to find out if the design is a standard one.

 

Worst case scenario I'll remove everything myself when the card has paid itself off in two months. If so, I'll be happy to share the knowledge then!

[N3URAL]

Some info I just found from watercool.de in their compatibility list:

 

[MaratM]

1 hour ago, N3URAL said:

Some info I just found from watercool.de in their compatibility list:

 

That is a great piece of information) unknown pcb)))

[TPLII]

@VR-AR_Nerd  Hi im in the same boot, I plan on adding the heat sinks. I would love to see how you do your setup. I have the R11 with the 3090. 

I was thinking of swing out power supply and leaving open so i would have room to add the heat sinks to the back of the gpu??

 

Also let me know how we can add a second gpu to the R11, without getting any conflicts. Does it have to be a matching dell 3090 or can it be a nvidia 1070 or 2080 or 3070?

 

 

 

 

[N3URAL]

On 3/3/2021 at 2:28 PM, TPLII said:

@VR-AR_Nerd  Hi im in the same boot, I plan on adding the heat sinks. I would love to see how you do your setup. I have the R11 with the 3090. 

I was thinking of swing out power supply and leaving open so i would have room to add the heat sinks to the back of the gpu??

 

Also let me know how we can add a second gpu to the R11, without getting any conflicts. Does it have to be a matching dell 3090 or can it be a nvidia 1070 or 2080 or 3070?

 

 

 

 

I have a 3090 and a 3070 in the R11 right now, no conflicts and no issues with power supply.

[N3URAL]

On 3/3/2021 at 9:27 AM, MaratM said:

That is a great piece of information) unknown pcb)))

My point was that was the first time I have seen the Dell 3090 specifically called out ANYWHERE on a water cooling site. But thanks for taking the time to not be helpful whatsoever.

 

Also, your piece of information that "I think the dell uses the reference layout" based on zero facts or firsthand knowledge is not helping anyone. At least I am sharing what little ACTUAL information I am finding to try to solve this problem.

[For Science!]

....Assuming the card doesn't have a backplate, a photo of the rear side is probably a starting point

[MaratM]

58 minutes ago, For Science! said:

....Assuming the card doesn't have a backplate, a photo of the rear side is probably a starting point

It does, however it is not rocket scince to remove it, there is no waranty void stickers on the back plate

Here is some pictures from techpowerup

All the mounting holes are more the less identical

11 hours ago, N3URAL said:

Also, your piece of information that "I think the dell uses the reference layout" based on zero facts or firsthand knowledge is not helping anyone. At least I am sharing what little ACTUAL information I am finding to try to solve this problem.

if someone wants to watercool this card it will be taken appart, if you think it will void your warranty there is always a way to remove the cooler without breaking any stickers. A hairdryer a pair of tweezers a bit of accuracy do the job.

[N3URAL]

Ok so here are the backplate results from my deconstruction experiment:

 

[N3URAL]

Here is the front. I was not able to take off the black bracket, it felt like it was held to the board with a screw/tab/something I couldn't see so I got nervous and put it back together. This is after all a $3000 card :

[For Science!]

From what I can see, it looks consistent with a reference design PCB.