EVGA 3090 in DAN A4 v2

[hoc]

This forum has helped me a lot during hardware selection formy dan case, so I made an account to give some info back.

Today I fitted an EVGA 3090 XC3 Ultra into my case. I run my case with an Asetek 645 and my PCI extender cable switched over to the GPU side for a better mobo fit.

Little summary of how I came to my solution.

1. Tried fitting it without the backplate, as some on the internet seem to have done when fitting the same card.
The card was able to fit this way, with the front of the card tucked in the case, but with the back of the card slanted to the outside, possibly due to my pci extender cable being at the GFX card side. The holes at the back of the case to fixate the card in place - no idea what the correct term is - did not line up with the card's mounting bracket.
2. When I had removed the backplate I noticed it has copper conductors to spread the heat of the thermalpadded ic's. I preferred this backplate without using the case's separator film, over having no backplate and using the insulating separator. Tried fitting with the backplate on and the fit was of course the same way, slanted.
3. I realised I could leave the backplate on and align the card correctly with the case, if only the fan body would be like 1.5mm more depressed. That way it would properly fit under the case's back-rim. Some of that fan-housing needed to go.
4. I lack a real tooling place at home and was eager to fit the card, so I made a makeshift milling maching in my living room. Disclaimer: if you try this, know what you are doing.
5. Milled the card and it fits nicely. No stress on the pcb and the bracket lines up perfectly with the case-mounting holes. Closed the panel, turned the PC on and noticed the fan-logos scrubbing against the case.
6. Added some felt spacers around the fan-housing to offset the case-cover from the fans. Works perfectly.

Next steps:
- Upgrade from Corsair SF600 to SF750, if I ever find one. It runs, but under load the SF600 is stressed, resulting in more fan noise than I like.

 

[hoc]

Apparently I can't edit the post. Forgot to add that I will add some pictures.

 

[hoc]

Card recessed under case rim
Card recessed + backplate view
sideplane - fanlogos sticking out just barely

 

[joconnell]

Wow, I'm really impressed by that! Very stupid question but what type of thermals and clocks are you getting? We aren't being fair to such a big card but I'm kind of tempted. I've got a 3950x in mine and I've been waiting for the 20gb 3080ti for a while, if one of these came around I might be tempted if it's not totally choking!

 

[hoc]

Wow, I'm really impressed by that! Very stupid question but what type of thermals and clocks are you getting? We aren't being fair to such a big card but I'm kind of tempted. I've got a 3950x in mine and I've been waiting for the 20gb 3080ti for a while, if one of these came around I might be tempted if it's not totally choking!

Thanks for the kind words. It's not that great of an engineering feat, but the card fits nicely. Mostly I wanted to inform people this card can fit with the backplate on, with a slight modification.

I understand the holding-off approach. Tbh, I think the 3090 is too expensive of a card, but I wanted an upgrade to my monitor and its refresh rate for so long. Coming from my still very capable 1080TI, I was also waiting for the 3080TI, but since the announcement that the 3080TI was delayed due to current stock-conditions, I decided to look for a regular 3080. For several days I was unable to track down an EVGA 3080 xc3, but in my search I stumbled upon this 3090 in stock at some store. Bit the bullet on the purchase and the card arrived the next day. Felt a bit dirty, knowing people have been waiting for months on their card, but hey, that's why I purchase only after a stock-check.

I don't know what case you have in mind, but for the dan case at least, and even aside from the current stock shortages, the choice in 3080-GPU's is very, very, very limited. This post by Dan gives you an idea what cards fit: https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/dan-a4-sfx.252/page-176#post-218290

For now, I didn't find the time yet for really long gaming sessions, but I did play an fps-game for about an hour on my old monitor. 2560x1600@60Hz, high gfx-settings (not ultra), framerate around 60fps, so not stressing the card too much. GFX/CPU/mobo stayed within max temperature-thresholds. I didn't write down the exact temps. Only my m2 drive gets way too hot sometimes (>115°C) and throttles. I tend to think that was already an issue before, since this was the first time I checked the m2 temps. I'll be trying to fix that with an extra 40mm fan.

Anyway, I have not really stress-tested this setup yet, because my 600W PSU is barely sufficient. Quality high wattage SFX PSU's currently also suffer from severe stock shortages, but I did manage to find an SF750 in stock this week, so ordered it. If all goes according to plan, I will fit that PSU and the 40mm-cooler in my dan case puzzlebox by the end of the week. Will try to stress-test it a bit afterwards and assess thermals and throttling. I'll post the temps from the hw-sensors afterwards.

 

[joconnell]

Superstar! This has definitely become more interesting with the 3080ti being dropped down to 12 gb of ram. Not totally clear on how you're cutting down your 3090, seems like you're going for the shroud and fan area rather than the backplate?

Very interested in your thermals and noise levels. I realise that I'm not providing the optimal housing for such a big card but if I'm not losing too much performance through thermal throttling I might go for it too!

 

[KulaHI]

For my EVGA 3070 Ultra, I printed the losercard mod PCIE riser bracket to clear Asetek AIO and added a strip of 3M double sided tape between the GPU back plate and the PSU to pull in the GPU. I then used a blowdryer to carefully heat and debadge the fans as the embossed emblems were rubbing against case sides. With the embossed fan badges gone, the fans spin freely and the GPU side panel closes with no bulge.

 

[joconnell]

@KulaHI Were you using the larger fan under the asetek IO with the losercard power supply raising mod too? Are the badges on the fans just simple stickers and the heat is loosening the glue?

Cheers!

 

[KulaHI]

@KulaHI Were you using the larger fan under the asetek IO with the losercard power supply raising mod too? Are the badges on the fans just simple stickers and the heat is loosening the glue?

Cheers!

I tried the larger fan but was having fitment issue even with the PSLATEN custom power cables and losercard PSU bracket mod so switched back to the Noctua Chromax slim fan. Since then I’ve figured out how to route the power cable so may revisit the larger fan next time I do a tear down.
The fan emblems are hard plastic with adhesive, blow dryer on the hottest setting will loosen it enough that you can pry it loose with gentle pressure. Just be careful you don’t bend the fan shaft.

 

[joconnell]

Super, much appreciated for that. My system is currently down with a blown capacitor on the motherboard but I reckon i'll hop on an evga card when the right amount of ram comes out.

Cheers for the advice!

 

[DaHans]

Thanks for sharing.
I found this post some months ago:He fit also an 3090 xc3 in the dan case but it doesn't look like he cut in the cooler.

Also why didn't you cut in the Dan Case?
By cutting into the 3090 you lost your complete warranty (EVGA is up to 10 years). And it is easier to get a new Dan Case than a 3090.

 

[Saren]

Thanks for sharing.
I found this post some months ago:He fit also an 3090 xc3 in the dan case but it doesn't look like he cut in the cooler.

Also why didn't you cut in the Dan Case?
By cutting into the 3090 you lost your complete warranty (EVGA is up to 10 years). And it is easier to get a new Dan Case than a 3090.

I am that OP. Just registered to add more information to this.
I did not remove my card's backplate. I did not cut my case nor card.
I have no cables behind the card's backplate, The card should slide in, and side panel should close.

However one of the fans would be rubbing against the side panel. To solve that some rubber pads are added near the fans to make extra room.
The side panel will not close nicely, so I used transparent tapes to reduce the gap between side panel and the case.
No permanent modification should be done for the setup to work.