3090 VRAM cooling project for Alienware R11/R12 (will probably work with any card if you have space)

[Evosnipe]

Im here to solve a problem, the problem being 110C VRAM temperatures dropping the performance of my 3090 card constantly while the backplate turns into a griddle stove (get the eggs ready). 

 

Ive looked around and have seen some pretty cool water cooling solutions, but most of which just will not easily fit into an R11/R12 case (one guy did an external cooling tower which was pretty nifty).

 

Im looking to keep that sweet warranty (im cheap), do a job as easily as possible with as little work as possible (im lazy), with as little change to the aesthetics as possible (im a purist, i guess). 

 

I think i found the solution:

 

R11/R12 owners requirements:

1. Water-cooled CPU (to free up the CPU Fan header, optional, but highly recommended if you arent down to split headers everywhere. 

2. No HDDs in the lower bay, and the trays must be removed (future thread planned for upcoming lower bay mod, mainly for 3080 or lesser GPU owners)

 

Stage 1 - Parts selection

#1 - 1.5mm thermal pad material, for this project i ordered ThermalRight Extreme Odyssey pads because frankly they were the only decent ones that had 1 day shipping on Amazon

#2 - Noctua Low-Profile Cooler in sexy black (the official color code IMHO). If you want to cut the cost in half grab this one, it should work as well. both are 92mm and give a sweet spot of 45mm~ total height which should work nicely in our application

#3 - 100mmx100mmx2mm copper sheet. Im hoping that this is actually flat, but it IS cut so your mileage may vary. I may end up having to buy again and get a molded or even better MACHINED plate to ensure relative flatness. Im hoping when it comes in it wont be a YUGE deal though, since the thermal pads will forgive a little surface variation.

#4 - 3D printer using PETG/ABS (i prefer PETG) filament, try to have at least a 150mmx150mm build area 

 

NOTE: If you have the R11/R12, i highly recommend snagging the water cooled model to give you the extra precious CPU Fan header, which will be right where we need it to be (close to the Noctua) and save you a lot of trouble. I have considered doing the old switch-a-roo and using the water cooler for the VRAM with some slightly longer hoses and just putting a decent air cooler on the CPU, but methinks the air cooler for the rear VRAM should be adequate since the CPU should pump out more heat (and getting that CPU heat out of the case will help alot overall in such a stuffy configuration).

 

Maybe some of you can see where this is going, stay tuned for more as soon as the parts start trickling in!

 

 

 

[Evosnipe]

Stage 2 - backplate and VRAM heatsink modeling. All good to go so far, just waiting for the Noctua cooler to arrive this afternoon. For those interested, here is a link for the 3d model of the backplate (left blank for editing)

Copy of dell rtx 3090 back plate (blank) | Tinkercad

 

I ended up grabbing a 12"x6"x1/4" aluminum plate for 20 bucks off amazon,  ill be getting this machined locally for a few extra bucks to get a sick (and thick) backplate with mounts for the noctua cooler and an extra 80mm fan (for extraction). 

 

below is a sneak peek of the unfinished backplate

[mousesnob]

Im not sure if its identical but i have the noctua l9i and the mounting bracket feet are removable. Maybe just mounting it without feet would yield a lower profile.

[Evosnipe]

Ty i did have to take the feet off, but so far its looking good! I had to order longer screws though

[Evosnipe]

Whilst i wait, gotta make room for the two Corsair ML120 pros for induction. Its not easy getting the bottom off, prepare to cringe constantly if you attempt

[Evosnipe]

This probably voids the warranty, but i got the fans fitted up for when the ML120s arrive

[Evosnipe]

Finally....done....thank god it still works. For those interested, temps hover around 98c now, still not great but it doesnt thermal throttle anymore. Lesson learned: just sit a fan on top of the stock backplate and bump the GPU down for same results

[Relative Clock 79]

Good work Dude! Your project is quite ambitious and I like that you were bold enough to go for it. However, I see a few descrepances about the course of your project and questions from me as i have been in a similar adventure a few times witha bunch of my 5600 / 5700 xt's.
1. In the link to the aluminium plate it has 6 mm thickness while the final result has another aluminium heatsink. Looks like you evantually used another type of aluminium profile, which I fully support. I also use the same one, except that I don't get it machined, just cut a piece and put on the GPU instead of the backplate. Milling the bar to create a heatsink of it would be too much of a labor overkill and material waste.
2. On the second image it looks like you removed the part of the aluminium heatsink bottom and inserted the copper plate. How exactly did you make the joint? I researched the options to join aluminium and copper for the heat transmit and found that there is no simple solution(thermal pads/grease is suboptimal) . Are you sure that in your case there is enough wattage throughput interface betweeen these two parts? This may be the reason why you are gettin lower than expected temeratures drop .

3. How exactly did you attach it to the back of the GPU? Did you reuse the existing screw holes to attach with a long M2 bolts or do you use a workaround? For me it has been particuarly a challenge because mostly the  GPU's have their backplate screw holes on the back in a kind of random places and it almost never perfectly fits the space between the heatsink wings, where I'd want it to be drilled for an M2 bolt.

4. The thermal pads best thickness is 3.5 mm, this is what I learened from the OOB Strixes backplate pads. This is because there is a lot of elements on the back of the PCB and you don't want any proximity. I use 2 mm + 1.5 mm and it works perfectly. It results in a distance that is not too distant and not too close. Gigabytes do use just 3 mm pads under their PCB's but I don't like it.
5. Also I use the insulative tape which is called Kopton (a transparrent-yellow one, don't know how it's called in English), to cover some areas that would hang against the critical areas of the PCB.
5. The best thermal pads for me have been the gelids extremes (12 W/m) and then thermalrights that you suggest (they claim to be 13 W/m, but they somehow provide a bit worse result, although good as well). Never use the 4-6-8 W/m thermal pads! They will create too much insulation / heat resistance and the huge heatsink will not get properly heated.
Thank you

 

Edited May 27, 2021 by Relative Clock 79
Addes a few more points

[Evosnipe]

I actually had a few issues with this original setup, to answer your question i cut out the middle to fit a 100mm copper plate and painstakingly filed the aluminum heatsink (i think it was intended for LED light) to fit flush with the copper plate. Then i soldered the two together (very difficult, had to preheat with a torch) with some lead free solder and honed the bottom down with a diamond knife sharpener. I ended up going for a third iteration, which is watercooled, by simply attaching a peltier style 80mmx80mm water cooler to a 1/4" thick aluminum plate. The thread for that is below. My fourth iteration is going super pro while still being cheap, ill have updates in the other thread! I definitely noticed the need for thicker pads so now im rocking 3mm, good to k ow 3.5mm is the upper limit. Thanks for the interest, sometimes you just gotta do it!