Effects of PCIe Lanes and Overclocking on GTX 1080 Ti

[Golgatha]

I put some aftermarket cooling on my GTX 1080 Ti, which made my boost clocks 24/7 stable. Like any good PC tweaker, I benchmarked my card with 3D Mark so I could get a feel for the improvement in performance. I used the Firestrike Extreme setting since I have a 1440p display. On stock cooling (FE blower HSF setup), I got a score of 12771, which is within expectations. However, after the mod on the card's cooling I got 12735, which was not.

In concentrating on proper placement and cooling, I neglected to take into account that PCIe 2 on my ASrock x99 motherboard is a PCIe 4x, 2.0 slot, and not a full PCIe 16x, 3.0 slot. My score after correcting this is 13545 now.

So, two neat observations:

1) The modded card's performance penalty for using a PCIe 4x, 2.0 slot was roughly 6% versus a PCIe 16x, 3.0 slot.

2) Removing the thermal constraints on the card by modding it increased performance by roughly 5.7%.

Also, the 12771 score was with the FE blower running 100%, which is obviously not ideal in terms of noise. I can now hear my hard drives over the video card cooling. The fan speed profile is set to 60% until 50°C, and then ramps up steadily to 100% by 80°C. Even at 100% fan speed, the card is still extremely silent. Under normal gaming conditions the card never breaks 70°C. With the Heaven benchmark looping, it will get near 80°C, then stay there by downclocking from 1999 Mhz down to around 1936 Mhz.

 

[TypoFairy©]

Thx for sharing

 

[Darkhelmutt]

Golgatha,

What cooler are you using?

I just tried reusing an accelero III from my 1070, pretty much a disaster and had to return to stock FE cooler.

 

[Golgatha]

Golgatha,

What cooler are you using?

I just tried reusing an accelero III from my 1070, pretty much a disaster and had to return to stock FE cooler.

I'm just using an Accelero III and a bunch of small heatsinks attached with Arctic Alumina epoxy wherever there was a thermal pad (power delivery, RAM, etc.) on the FE cooler.

One thing I did different than the instructions was not using the thin nylon washers on the screw mounts on the side where the Accelero III meets the GPU core. With those in place, it doesn't make good contact with the copper plate. I also didn't use the thin plastic film to protect the back side of the card. I opted to use the thermal foam pads that came with the kit to keep the metal plate from touching instead. I used a foam square on the backside of the GPU and strips where the RAM and power delivery stuff is.

 

[Darkhelmutt]

Golgatha, thanks.

I have an older model, I see arctic has switched to studs rather than the cheesy screws that came with mine, was half my problem. Was also trying to reuse the ram sinks and attach them with thermal tape. Which kept falling off.

Think I'll find some studs for mine and try that epoxy that you mentioned.

Wish I could purchase that back plate separately, my version didn't come with one.

 

[Golgatha]

Golgatha, thanks.

I have an older model, I see arctic has switched to studs rather than the cheesy screws that came with mine, was half my problem. Was also trying to reuse the ram sinks and attach them with thermal tape. Which kept falling off.

Think I'll find some studs for mine and try that epoxy that you mentioned.

Wish I could purchase that back plate separately, my version didn't come with one.

It's a bit of a pain, but make sure to remove any glue from ramsinks before using the Arctic Alumina epoxy. Also, have a plan for how you're going to position the small heatsinks before you mix the epoxy up and apply it to the card. It hardens up within 5 minutes, which is plenty of time provided you have a plan ahead of time.

 

[w3rd]

I can say without a doubt, that keeping your CPU cool as possible on air, starts with keeping the inside of your case cool.

Golgatha, I am curious as to what do you use your rig for? And inquire if thermals are so important, why such an outdated inefficient case design..?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I can say without a doubt, that keeping your CPU cool as possible on air, starts with keeping the inside of your case cool.

Golgatha, I am curious as to what do you use your rig for? And inquire if thermals are so important, why such an outdated inefficient case design..?

Which case design? Which case?

 

[Golgatha]

I can say without a doubt, that keeping your CPU cool as possible on air, starts with keeping the inside of your case cool.

Golgatha, I am curious as to what do you use your rig for? And inquire if thermals are so important, why such an outdated inefficient case design..?

Gaming, video editing and transcoding, molecular modeling, and the occasional VM are the main resource intensive uses. The case is an all aluminum Zalman Z-Machine case. The layout isn't the newest and greatest, but the whole case is one giant heatsink. I have two 92mm front intake fans and two 120mm exhausting if you include the PSU's fan. The expansion slot covers are all open type covers to allow air to flow through that section of the case as well. The over-engineered air cooling is so I can have high performance computing, at 100% utilization if need be for extended periods of time, with rock solid stability, and as little noise as possible.

 

[w3rd]

Just one look at your picture I can tell you, that you certainly do not have efficient thermals, not even close. Specially for the component cooling, you are trying to do.

Mind you, I understand any suggestion comes with a cost considerations. But, I did notice you are mod'ing things and putting on heatsinks on component, in a case that has pisspoor thermal design. Your ambient temps inside that case have to be horrid. And there is no need to lecture here, but even your wiring doesn't suite airflow. I have a graveyard of old expensive cases.

I suggest a new, modern case design that aids in thermal dissipation. At least a design, that separates unwanted components, away from the mobo for better airflow & thermals. Something such as the cheap Corsair Air 540 case ($120), for instance (just look at the pics). Would do wonders for a mobo config such as yours, and ready for radiators when/if you ever go that route/configuration, etc. But superior airflow & design.

It's science! <---

 

[Phynaz]

Just one look at your picture I can tell you, that you certainly do not have efficient thermals, not even close. Specially for the component cooling, you are trying to do.

You have no idea what you are talking about. That's a great case.

 

[Golgatha]

I'm computing along with temperatures under 80°C on both the CPU and GPU when both are utilized at 100%, under 60°C on both when gaming, and nearly at ambient when the system is just on; my cooling is just fine. Radiators are useful in SFF systems, if you want maximum cooling, or if you want a quieter system. Me, I don't want liquids inside of my computer tower as long as air cooling can keep up with the heat generated. I can hear my 6TB backup drive's heads moving (the access clicking noises) over all the fans in my case, so I'm going to call my setup silent enough from that angle as well.

 

[w3rd]

You have no idea what you are talking about. That's a great case.

Bro, that case is a damn joke. It is 2017 now, not 1995.
Time to crawl out from under your rocks and look at what engineering a case for heat dissipation, does for you.

 

[Golgatha]

I have the silver version. My case is sexy AF, even if it is 10 years old. Sure case design has gotten better in terms of component placement and isolation, but the brute force cooling of an entire case made entirely of 3-5 mm thickness aluminum panels isn't trivial.

https://www.pcper.com/reviews/Cases...ine-GT1000-High-End-Computer-Enclosure-Review

 

[Headfoot]

No top exhausts, no bottom or side intakes, only the 2 front intakes and 1 exhaust. I dunno man, that's getting long in the tooth for an air cooled build. I'm sure its adequate but it is probably worth looking at long term.