Water-cooled GPU weight?

[Gdourado]

Hello, how are you? 

I am wondering what is the weight difference of a GPU with a full coverage water block and backplate against a custom aib air cooled GPU like the evga acx of gigabyte g1. 

 

Does a water cooled GPU sag less than an air cooled one? 

 

Cheers 

[Mr.Meerkat]

1 minute ago, Gdourado said:

Hello, how are you? 

I am wondering what is the weight difference of a GPU with a full coverage water block and backplate against a custom aib air cooled GPU like the evga acx of gigabyte g1. 

 

Does a water cooled GPU sag less than an air cooled one? 

 

Cheers 

Yes, usually a watercooled GPU sags less as it's a bit of metal with a bit of water vs an ass ton of metal...

[OddsCrazyStuff]

They also tend to sag less, do to the use of backplates. Backplates are getting more standard these days, but you can tell the difference in sag by using it and not.

[leadeater]

A water cooled graphics card is much heavier than an air cooled one. I have two 290X's water cooled and they are very heavy. However the full cover water block + backplate does add extra strength to the card so the sag is very little.

 

If I look directly at the top of card and line it up with the bottom of the CPU block there is almost no change in distance between the backplate running the length.

 

Edit: I could use a small spirit level and take a photo but it's so minor it's not worth worrying about. FYI I use rigid tubing also so this also helps.

[OddsCrazyStuff]

5 minutes ago, leadeater said:

A water cooled graphics card is much heavier than an air cooled one. I have two 290X's water cooled and they are very heavy. However the full cover water block + backplate does add extra strength to the card so the sag is very little.

 

If I look directly at the top of card and line it up with the bottom of the CPU block there is almost no change in distance between the backplate running the length.

 

Edit: I could use a small spirit level and take a photo but it's so minor it's not worth worrying about. FYI I use rigid tubing also so this also helps.

That depend on the GPU. Some coolers are massive and made of copper, meaning that the water block weighs far less.

[leadeater]

18 minutes ago, OddsCrazyStuff said:

That depend on the GPU. Some coolers are massive and made of copper, meaning that the water block weighs far less.

The stock 290X coolers are huge chunk of copper also. I know the water block weights more, I did a before and after scale test. Also compared it to my old 6970 and a GTX 570.

 

EKWB does have a short 980 Ti Strix/TF5 block so I can see how that would be lighter.

[OddsCrazyStuff]

42 minutes ago, leadeater said:

The stock 290X coolers are huge chunk of copper also. I know the water block weights more, I did a before and after scale test. Also compared it to my old 6970 and a GTX 570.

 

EKWB does have a short 980 Ti Strix/TF5 block so I can see how that would be lighter.

That is not as massive as some other coolers.

I mean, the once that comes on the GIGABYTE 980Ti cards are much bigger in comparison.

[leadeater]

37 minutes ago, OddsCrazyStuff said:

That is not as massive as some other coolers.

 

I mean, the once that comes on the GIGABYTE 980Ti cards are much bigger in comparison.

True, I've not exactly sampled a huge range of cards. One thing to note though is most of a water block is solid compared to heatsink, really surprised me how heavy they were. Also went looking after my post to see what the spec weight was for the block, not listed. Went looking for graphics card weights, also not listed. Rather annoying these aren't standard listings, especially for water blocks.

 

I did find this though, http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-280x-third-party-round-up,3655-3.html. Would be interested in other cards too.

 

Edit:  GeForce GTX 980 Ti Xtreme Gaming's 1347-gram, thanks again toms hardware

Edit 2: Apparently a Swifttech GPU block is 1247g, but they list that number for ever single one so not very believable.

[pyrojoe34]

I just added a AIO to my GPU and it's a lot heavier with more sag. I just ordered one of these though which will fix the issue.

 

right now I'm using a bit of fishing line.

 

[Mick Naughty]

zero sag with water blocks or air cooling but I air cool with Titan blowers so they can't sag. Not a fan of open air in sli.