When considering water cooling, investing in a higher-quality card can still offer benefits despite the cost.
When considering water cooling, investing in a higher-quality card can still offer benefits despite the cost.
I'm organizing my initial water cooled setup. I was considering a 1070 ti and based on what I've seen, the main variation comes from the cooling system. If that's accurate, then there really isn't much to choose except the most affordable option?
I focused on the EVGA 1070 ti gaming series. There are multiple models in this range, but so far the only distinctions are related to the cooling configuration. The price gap between the cheapest and most expensive units is sufficient to cover the cost of a waterblock.
p.s. Any general advice or tips about water cooling would be greatly appreciated.
You should review the watercooling sticky in my signature to learn more about this topic.
Alternatively, you can use reference cards because the aftermarket cooling solution requires a full cover block. You can obtain a reference card and even upgrade it yourself.
Aftermarket cards provide strong power delivery and extra cooling, but if you're watercooling and overclocking, remember that chip limits now apply to how much they can be overclocked.
You should review the watercooling sticky in my signature to learn more about this topic.
Alternatively, you can use reference cards because the aftermarket cooling solution requires a full cover block. You can obtain a reference card and even upgrade it yourself.
Aftermarket cards provide strong power delivery and extra cooling, but when overclocking with watercooling, keep in mind that chip limits are now imposed to prevent damage.
Graphics cards are also constructed to meet specifications from Nvidia or AMD, or partners may adapt a reference design to create their own PCB layout. Most full-cover waterblocks for graphics cards are intended for reference PCBs. A few will offer special components for non-reference boards, though these tend to fit only certain card models. The key decision here is whether you want to integrate the GPU into a cooling system. An alternative is to use universal GPU blocks that resemble CPU blocks by covering the IHS and die, which would then need extra cooling for vRAM, VRMs, and MOSFETs that aren’t already managed by the factory cooler.