Watercooling a GPU, reference, ftw3, strix, aorus. Does it really matter which card i choose?

[crispybagel]

Basically i thought some of you might know a thing or two about watercooling and what benefits your card when you choose to put a block on it. Is there any major difference between choosing a reference card and a aftermarket card, like a EVGA Classified or a Gigabyte Aorus instead of the Founders edition? I know that manufacturers design their own PCBs etc but is there anything that i should look out for that could impact the performance of a watercooled card?

 

[McHox]

performance won't differ as much as you might think
i'd go with the best warranty,that allows cooler removal for example

[crispybagel]

4 minutes ago, McHox said:

performance won't differ as much as you might think
i'd go with the best warranty,that allows cooler removal for example

 

1 minute ago, Jorgen297 said:

PCB isn't a huge deal when properly watercooled. The real question here is if companies bin their chips for better models. If none of the chips are binned, then it's the silicon lottery, if they're binned, the better models will have higher overclockable chips. 

Yeah that's about the only thing i was thinking off, the warranty. I know EVGA has a great warranty for overclocking and watercooling so that's my main thought as of now. 

[Jurrunio]

Another thing is to make sure there is a block for that PCB. Most reference PCB get waterblock (s) for them, but not necessarily for custom PCBs. You have to list out custom PCB ones with waterblocks available first, then consider your pick.

 

For example, EK's waterblock only fit 5 cards https://www.ekwb.com/news/official-list-ek-water-blocks-geforce-gtx-1080-ti-series/.

[ravenshrike]

17 hours ago, Jorgen297 said:

I also think the "warranty void if removed"-sticker is illegal in the US and EU.

In the US at least it's non-enforceable. The vendor must demonstrate that it was used outside its rated specifications or damaged from being disassembled to refuse warranty. However those stickers do tend to keep muppets who have no clue what they're doing and who shouldn't be messing about with the internals from doing so in the first place which means less hassle for vendors.

[RicY]

I bought a refference PCB KFA2 GTX 1080Ti and slapped ad Phanteks Glacier block on it, got 2062mhz on core and 6001mhz on memory. All in it cost me like an ASUS ROG Strix card with aircooler. So if you know that you will be doing costum watercooling on it, then my advice would be - go for refference pcbs and best warrantry terms, if you are okay with potentially having like 100-150mhz lower overclocks (high end cards tend to have better chips, that clock better)