GPU 3080Ti Asus TUF shroud mod (need Technical Drawings). NCase M1

[AlionX]

Hey All!

So I have a NCase M1 V6.1 running a i7 11700k with a 3080ti Asus tuff. Let’s just say “She can get toasty!”

The i7 is cooled with an EK basic 240mm aio (with Artic P12 fans) that I am quite please with the performance. However the 3080ti overclocked and undervolted is a monster! The heat this thing puts out is crazy, my deck & DAC are almost untouchable and the noise level is not great too!

So my idea is to remove the stock shroud on the 3080ti, get 120mm thin noctua fans (run them at 100% or a decent amount without to much noise) and draw the air stright from the bottom of the case (rather then have it reingest some of its waist air)

But I need some help! Does any one have any technical drawings for the Asus 3080ti? Would save me a lot of time. Will keep everyone up to date on the progress too!

 

[Gotmachine]

There are a few r/sffpc posts about builds with deshrouded Asus 3080 TUF Ti/non Ti (same design), including one in a NCase M1.

What I can tell from those is :

• You won't get a much more thermal headroom with a deshroud mod over the stock 3080 TUF fans/shroud, but that will definitely improve the noise situation.
• The 3080 TUF radiator isn't flat, there are several thick ~5-10 mm protruding metal tabs that will get in the way of fitting 120mm fans right on the radiator surface. this leaves you with 4 options :
  1. Bend the tabs, possibly allowing that modification to be reversible. Looking at those tabs, I seriously doubt it is possible to really bend them back without at least some minor damage/deformation to the radiator.
  2. Cut the tabs with a dremel, preventing the original shroud from ever being usable.
  3. Some people are reporting being able to fit 120 mm fans by a combination of bending a few tabs and cutting with a dremel some clearance pockets in the fans plastic frame, but looking at where the tabs are, I'm quite skeptical this is viable, and those people might have been talking about another GPU model and/or a case where you have more leeway in the fans horizontal positioning.
  4. Don't touch the tabs, have the fans 5-10mm away from the radiator surface, and make a custom air duct/shroud to fill the gap. Some people are doing this with the Noctua fans packaging material. But there seems to be a consensus that this is quite suboptimal from a cooling performance PoV.
• Options 1, 2 and 3 will apparently give just enough clearance for 25mm (non-slim) fans in a NCase M1
• Option 4 will limit you to 15mm slim fans, and cooling performance might end up worse than stock. Still worth to experimenting with first if you have static pressure optimized slim fans on hand.
• Using 3 NF-A9 92x25mm fans could be an option to consider, as they should fit without the metal tabs being in the way.
• There isn't a solid consensus on what solution works best between 2x120x15, 2x120x25, 3x92x15 and 3x92x25 configurations, and neither on if an exhaust or intake configuration is best. Some people are reporting worse thermal results than stock, other slight improvements, the only constant is a reduction in noise levels.

Reddit/Imgur sources :

 

[dream3]

sorry to hijack but speaking about TUF cards, do we have a step by step solid thermap pad replacement for the TUFs 3080ti/3090?

 

[makoto14]

everything that Gotmachine said plus there is a debate on intake or exhaust of the fans once they get de-shroded. In my m1 with a 5600x and 3080, it was CPU AIO intake, GPU fans exhaust. I suspect the AIO wasnt getting too hot so the air sucked in was still cool and the 2 120MM Noctua fans just flushed the CPU and GPU heat out the bottom. Weird setup but got really good temps. its YMMV for every setup on if exhaust or intake is better.

 

[AlionX]

Yeh. The issue with the de-shroud and using full height fans (like A12x25) is that the fan only partly blows over the fins like a circle peg in a square hole. The heat pipes help transfer the heat around but a certain percentage of the fins are useless. (And you have to bendthe tabs)

The idea is to use the standard mounting tabs on the 3080 TUF and 3D print a shroud that covers the 100% of the fins. Then mount the A12x15 under. Hoping to slightly better performance.

Later when a new series of GPU is released I can return the card to stock and upgrade.

Guess I will need to pull the card apart to get the measurements.

 

[AlionX]

Just thought I would update here. Have pulled it apart and got it ready to take measurements.

 

[AlionX]

Design 0.1 done. To big for one part so will need to split it. ):

 

[AlionX]

For anyone following this I have uploaded the full build here

Asus TUF 30 Series Shroud MOD in NCASE M1

Heya All! Well, what a fun time I have had with my first SFF build! To be honest most of it was great, the power supply a bit to big being a Silverstone 1000w SFX-L. Ohh and the NOISE that a ASUS TUF 3080TI makes when your pushing it!!! DAM #firstworldproblems Below is my hardware! N-Case M1...

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