Zotac 1080 mini or 1070 ti mini in the Skyreach 4 Mini?

[R4H8E]

Both have the same power usage listed on their website spec info. Both look to be a pretty tight fit. What are the pros and cons of each?

Also, would replacing the stock shroud and using noctua fans require taking off the heatsink to get to the fan headers?

 

[Josh | NFC]

I can't help you with the first choice. You will need to look at benchmarks and decide if you want to save $40 and go with the 1070, or spend $40 more and go with the 1080. Most people go with the 1080 in the end over the 1070ti (for my chassis anyway).

If you want to use Noctua fans over the GPU you will need to remove the stock shroud and the stock fans. You will not use the GPU headers, but rather the motherboard headers and setup a curve in your UEFI.

Peace

 

[Nanook]

Both have the same power usage listed on their website spec info. Both look to be a pretty tight fit. What are the pros and cons of each?

Also, would replacing the stock shroud and using noctua fans require taking off the heatsink to get to the fan headers?

I’d recommend saving up a little bit more, and spring for the GTX 1080. I never had problems with temps of the 1080 in the S4M.

 

[R4H8E]

Thanks for the response Josh.

You will not use the GPU headers, but rather the motherboard headers and setup a curve in your UEFI.

I mention GPU fan headers because of this picture from this post. lf fans for the GPU are hooked up to the motherboard is there going to be good real time temp sensor feedback? I imagine the card could get critically hot before the temperature sensor on the motherboard would pick up on it. Also, I've never seen the option to select a GPU temp sensor for a motherboard's fan curve.

The stock card will get used for awhile to see how noisy it really is before putting noctua fans in.

One more thing for you Josh, the noctua L9a AMD CPU cooler looks like it can't be orientated so the fins are parallel to a motherboard's ram. Noctua does make an adapter kit for the L9i so it'll work on AM4 sockets. Do you have to have experience with this? Is the adapter kit the better option?

I’d recommend saving up a little bit more, and spring for the GTX 1080. I never had problems with temps of the 1080 in the S4M.

I'm leaning that way. Thanks for your feedback.

 

[Josh | NFC]

Thanks for the response Josh.



I mention GPU fan headers because of this picture from this post. lf fans for the GPU are hooked up to the motherboard is there going to be good real time temp sensor feedback? I imagine the card could get critically hot before the temperature sensor on the motherboard would pick up on it. Also, I've never seen the option to select a GPU temp sensor for a motherboard's fan curve.

The stock card will get used for awhile to see how noisy it really is before putting noctua fans in.

One more thing for you Josh, the noctua L9a AMD CPU cooler looks like it can't be orientated so the fins are parallel to a motherboard's ram. Noctua does make an adapter kit for the L9i so it'll work on AM4 sockets. Do you have to have experience with this? Is the adapter kit the better option?



I'm leaning that way. Thanks for your feedback.

So here are my thoughts...

Firstly I don't know of a way to monitor GPU temp and adjust fan speed accordingly in the UEFI. I'm sure a motherboard mnf has this feature somewhere, but I have never used it. You can, however, set a profile for your fans and switch between them if you know you are going to be gaming (most mnfs have software where you can do this in Windows.) You also can set a curve based on CPU temp, which with some fiddling, seems to work best for me. If your CPU is ramping up and reaches a critical threshold you can ramp your GPU fans up.

This really only works because the whole point of replacing your fans is achieving the max tolerable sound emissions you can live with. If you didn't have this "metric" this adjustment would be impossible. But I just set it to what I can stand because I hate loud machines, and the A9x14 is probably my favorite fan ever for the combination of air pressure, CFM, and sound emissions.

I'm explaining myself badly here, but I think you get what I am trying to express.

Secondly, I can't make up my mind with the NHl9i with adapter plates and the NHl9a for the MINI. The NHl9a seems to perform very well, and I would consider it, but I don't like the idea of dumping heat into my first RAM module. So overall I feel that the NHl9i is a better choice, even if it slightly underperforms the NHl9a. I have shared this story before, but I killed alot of RAM for a big customer that used the S3 because the heatsinks I used at the time dumped ram onto the first stick, and I got something like 30% failures of that first stick after a year. I did end up replacing the RAM with much better more expensive modules, and haven't had a failure, but I'm still superstitious and believe that RAM can be killed by overheating it...just that cheaper stuff is more likely to die faster, I guess. It's not a fact, just a preference.

Peace

 

[Nanook]

Thanks for the response Josh.



I mention GPU fan headers because of this picture from this post. lf fans for the GPU are hooked up to the motherboard is there going to be good real time temp sensor feedback? I imagine the card could get critically hot before the temperature sensor on the motherboard would pick up on it. Also, I've never seen the option to select a GPU temp sensor for a motherboard's fan curve.

The stock card will get used for awhile to see how noisy it really is before putting noctua fans in.

One more thing for you Josh, the noctua L9a AMD CPU cooler looks like it can't be orientated so the fins are parallel to a motherboard's ram. Noctua does make an adapter kit for the L9i so it'll work on AM4 sockets. Do you have to have experience with this? Is the adapter kit the better option?



I'm leaning that way. Thanks for your feedback.

Only some motherboard monitor graphics temps, but I believe they need to be from the same manufacturer. One way to control gpu fans is to use a controller hub such as NZXT Grid and their Cam software.
Another alternative is to get an adapter from the mini 4 pin to a splitter, and from there two 92mm A9x14 fans. You can control the fan using a software like MSI Afterburner.

 

[R4H8E]

If you want to use Noctua fans over the GPU you will need to remove the stock shroud and the stock fans.

Can the shroud be removed properly without taking off the heat sink as well? Drew Duncan's review says it's not possible to take off the shroud without also taking off the heat sink.

Regarding the cpu cooler, I think I'll end up going with the 120 low profile fan on the skybracket over the L9a as seen in Tek Everything's video:

 

[Nanook]

Can the shroud be removed properly without taking off the heat sink as well? Drew Duncan's review says it's not possible to take off the shroud without also taking off the heat sink.

Regarding the cpu cooler, I think I'll end up going with the 120 low profile fan on the skybracket over the L9a as seen in Tek Everything's video:

Sorry I can’t answer the question regarding opening up the Zotac mini. But it shouldn’t be impossible. It also depends on whether you’re interested in reselling the Zotac.

 

[R4H8E]

It also depends on whether you’re interested in reselling the Zotac.

Knowing that, I might as well buy a used one.

 

[brt02]

Can the shroud be removed properly without taking off the heat sink as well? Drew Duncan's review says it's not possible to take off the shroud without also taking off the heat sink.

Don't let that put you off doing it. It's easier than it sounds. Take off the 6 screws that hold the backplate to the heatsink and it all comes apart. The heatsink needs to come off the card to get to the the fans and LED plugs. The fans and shroud are screwed in to the heatsink, but they are not a problem to get to and unscrew.

All this is fully reversible - if i were to sell the card on and undo the mod, there would be no sign that anything had happened

With wiring up the new fans the easiest way to go about it would be to connect the noctua fans to the GPU via an adapter to the GPU fan header. The GPU would then handle fan speed vs temperature according to the profile set in its BIOS. No extra work needed on your part.

 

[R4H8E]

With wiring up the new fans the easiest way to go about it would be to connect the noctua fans to the GPU via an adapter to the GPU fan header. The GPU would then handle fan speed vs temperature according to the profile set in its BIOS. No extra work needed on your part.

Have you done this? If so, did you use the skybracket duo? I feel like I've heard mounting the fans with the bracket offsets them from the heat sink. I guess some centered holes could be drilled into the frame of the Skyreach 4 Mini.

 

[brt02]

I have. You can zip tie fans to the heatsink/heatpipes or use the skybracket. I have done it both ways, the mounting points for the skybracket are slightly offset, but i did not notice any impact on thermals vs zip ties. You can drill holes into the chassis as you suggested if you do want the skybracket centered.

https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/zotac-gtx-1080-mini.1116/

This thread is worth a read - watch out for posts by @CubanLegend and @ceski in particular.

 

[Reldey]

I can't help you with the first choice. You will need to look at benchmarks and decide if you want to save $40 and go with the 1070, or spend $40 more and go with the 1080. Most people go with the 1080 in the end over the 1070ti (for my chassis anyway).

If you want to use Noctua fans over the GPU you will need to remove the stock shroud and the stock fans. You will not use the GPU headers, but rather the motherboard headers and setup a curve in your UEFI.

Peace

Why would you suggest to not use the GPU header? I got a couple PWM Noctua Fans, and a GPU fan header to 4 pin PWM adapter, with a Y cable to accommodate both fans, and it seems to work fine. It also requires less fiddling with fan curves, and at least with my Asus Z270i, I have no way of reading GPU temps.

 

[Nanook]

I recommend trying all the components stock, prior to tinkering, to get a baseline. With small tweaks to UEFI / BIOS, GPU fan curve, you may be satisfied with your hardware setup as is.

 

[brt02]

Why would you suggest to not use the GPU header? I got a couple PWM Noctua Fans, and a GPU fan header to 4 pin PWM adapter, with a Y cable to accommodate both fans, and it seems to work fine. It also requires less fiddling with fan curves, and at least with my Asus Z270i, I have no way of reading GPU temps.

I settled on using the motherboard fan headers as it was the only way i could retain full functionality of my 1080, whilst being able to achieve the noise levels i wanted. I outlined what i did here as well as some of the drawbacks of doing so...

https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/zotac-gtx-1080-mini.1116/page-15#post-95247

I recommend trying all the components stock, prior to tinkering, to get a baseline. With small tweaks to UEFI / BIOS, GPU fan curve, you may be satisfied with your hardware setup as is.

+1. Always a good idea. In the case of swapping the GPU fans though keep in mind that you gain nothing by way of thermals /overclocking/ performance. The only reason for doing this is to reduce noise.

 

[Reldey]

I settled on using the motherboard fan headers as it was the only way i could retain full functionality of my 1080, whilst being able to achieve the noise levels i wanted. I outlined what i did here as well as some of the drawbacks of doing so...

https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/zotac-gtx-1080-mini.1116/page-15#post-95247



+1. Always a good idea. In the case of swapping the GPU fans though keep in mind that you gain nothing by way of thermals /overclocking/ performance. The only reason for doing this is to reduce noise.

Interesting... OK so if you care about being able to lower fan RPM below 37%, than the motherboard header is probably the safer way to go (outside of flashing a BIOS to your card).

 

[R4H8E]

I settled on using the motherboard fan headers as it was the only way i could retain full functionality of my 1080, whilst being able to achieve the noise levels i wanted.

Interesting. I will definitely keep this in mind. I picked up a used zotac 1080 mini off ebay for about a hundred dollars less than new. One of the few I could find with a 30 day return option.

OK so if you care about being able to lower fan RPM below 37%, than the motherboard header is probably the safer way to go (outside of flashing a BIOS to your card).

Apparently the zotac 1070 ti mini also has the 37% minimum fan speed. https://thepcenthusiast.com/zotac-geforce-gtx-1070-ti-mini-review/2/ So even if it runs cooler than the 1080, it's rated for the same power usage and will never be quieter stock.

 

[brt02]

Interesting... OK so if you care about being able to lower fan RPM below 37%, than the motherboard header is probably the safer way to go (outside of flashing a BIOS to your card).

Yep, losing one displayport output didn't bother me much but the BIOS uploaded in the 1080 thread locked my GPU memory clocks to 405MHz. Thankfully i had made a backup of the BIOS that shipped with the card which reversed that. I must have a later revision of the card - bought it in February. So flashing the BIOS was a no go.

Interesting. I will definitely keep this in mind. I picked up a used zotac 1080 mini off ebay for about a hundred dollars less than new. One of the few I could find with a 30 day return option.

Apparently the zotac 1070 ti mini also has the 37% minimum ran speed. https://thepcenthusiast.com/zotac-geforce-gtx-1070-ti-mini-review/2/ So even if it runs cooler than the 1080, it's rated for the same power usage and will never be quieter stock.

Nice one on the purchase. Looks like the 1070ti mini is very similar to the 1080 mini in every way - even down to the coil whine

 

[Reldey]

Nice one on the purchase. Looks like the 1070ti mini is very similar to the 1080 mini in every way - even down to the coil whine

Man the coil whine, that alone has turned me off Zotac altogether. I might change my mind again in the future, but on my unit at least it has been extremely annoying. I have to frame limit everything to 90 FPS to maintain my sanity.

 

[Elerek]

If you haven't bought a card yet, look at the gigabyte 1080 mini, preferably the aorus gaming box e-gpu version.
It's smaller than the zotac card, no coil wine in my experience (I think I got some slight coil wine in one specific game only in the menu or something, but I don't remember which one), and dead silent.
It has a minimum fan speed like the zotac, but it's a 130mm fan with no shroud and is pretty much inaudible all the way up to ~80-90%.

I don't remember my thermal benchmark results off the top of my head, but the card has no issues staying cool in the s4, I don't think it's ever gone over 80c in normal gaming situations even with my shunt mod and OC on it.

After taking out the card you can sell the e-gpu box if you don't have a use for it to lower the cost.