Leak Detection RTX 3080 Gigabyte Aorus Water Block Teardown Thermals Water Cooling SFF Case Testing

[@lordjadeite]

Hello! Another nice video!

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment 🙏 I am working on another series of videos now and your comment is very encouraging! Thank you for watching!

[@vectornetwork]

Please enjoy watching 🙏

[@bartosz3i]

hello could you please link the thermal pads that you used , you have some excellent results when it comes to temps. i have a nr200 loop with rtx3090 waterforce extreme WB and a i5 13500kf , 2x240 + 1x140, at idle my gpu keeps a core temp of 38degrees and memory of 50 degrees , under benchamark the memory gets to 90 degrees. is that a normal temp?

[@JohnA...]

I just bought one of these cards to put in a build. The card looks to be in great shape but I noticed that one of the screws around the ports has some of the previous owners blue coolant inside. The card did leak out some during shipping (previous owner didn't do a very good job at emptying it or sealing it for shipping, so the card was a little wet when I opened the box). Is there an easy way to get those screws out or will I also have to remove that logo plate? Curious if you bothered putting the other decals back on this card and if so was it difficult to stick then back down? I'm already going to be putting a few extra pads on the backplate for the vram to help cooling some and changing out the stock thermal paste, with the leaking during shipping I'm thinking taking it apart might be a good idea just to make sure it doesn't have fluid on the board also.

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment 🙏 It sounds like there is some blue coolant around one of those big screws on the In and Out Port. I never tried to remove those screws, but by inspecting it, my conclusion was that the only way to get those screws out was to take off the logo plate and simply unscrew them out. However, if you don't have the rest of the block torn down, you won't be able to open the block (only just take out the screws). I never bothered with the decals. The large plastic stuff just went in the trash (its plastic and covering up the actual waterblock and coolant) and the remaining sticky substance and decals I carefully wiped off (it took a long time, its a lot of glue, I didn't show that part bc its kind of boring). I am not sure you need any pads on the backplate if you have a 12GB 3080 as all the memory are on the front. The only time the memory is on the back are the original 3090s. The 3090 ti used 2GB modules (rather than 1) so they were able to stick them all on the front. The reason this model even has a single thermal pad is to make it even as one side sticks up because of the RGB in the backplate. I would absolutely open it up to repaste it at the least. Hope that helps.

[@JohnA...]

@@vectornetwork Appreciate your getting back to me. I took apart the card and glad I did as there was some coolant on the PCB from shipping, that could have caused some issues. I also got a closer look at the bolt mounting the connector block. I honestly can't tell where the fluid is coming from now. There is a line of it from both the seal going into the block AND from the crack going outside of the connector block. So it could have come from a leak OR from the outside of the card during shipping. I sent a message to GIGABYTE with a pic asking their advice but that might be a dud since it was bought used. I also MIGHT have managed to destroy the leak detection cable when removing it... was trying to be careful to not tug on the wires so I took a small pair of needle nose pliers to pull it out from the connector, and they slipped clamping down on the wires and instantly breaking them off. Guess I'll either have to find a replacement cable or work on my soldiering skills some to make a new one. The cable has a little slack so I could possibly just repair it with the same one. Oh well for now everything I've seen has shown issues with the leak detection anyhow.

[@vectornetwork]

@@JohnA... Hm, coolant on the PCB would absolutely cause a problem. I want to pose the possibility that the card may have leaked prior to shipping. If I had to venture a guess, the liquid came from inside the card and not outside. I wouldn't expect much from Gigabyte at this point. I wouldn't also worry so much about the leak detection, most people turn it off or unplug it anyways. I sincerely think that the issues are with the seller. But if you have no recourse, I would take apart the whole block, clean it and let the PCB try, reassemble and hope that the card isn't already broken from the initial leak (which I think is due to the seller and not the shipping). Hope that helps.

[@JohnA...]

@@vectornetwork I actually already had taken it apart as I was planning to add thermal pads to the back and put better thermal paste on the die. The coolant on the pcb wasn't much at all just droplets, that's why I assume it's from shipping. I also took the time last night to hook the block up to a thing I rigged up for rinsing out the rads and it didn't seem to have any leaks, so at this point I am going to assume that the fluid got into that spot during shipping, from the outside. I did heat up the decal and take it out then easily got the little coolant off the bolt with a paper towel. Gatta say gigabyte is not thinking ahead of time covering up the screws on this block, makes maintenance a hassle. Anyhow besides me messing up the leak detection cable it seems okay, I'm going to put the card back together and hopefully put the whole build together today, fingers crossed I've no other leaks in the loop. Thanks for the feedback.

[@vectornetwork]

Ah, makes sense. I think you would know best since you have the card in front of you. Good idea to heat up the decal prior to taking it off. I sort of just went to town. It was a mess. I hope it works out and the build gets up and running soon.

[@graffiti73]

This video really helped. I just recently bought a used one off of Ebay and the block needed a little cleaning. I also decided to repaste and install new thermal pads too. Thanks for the tutorial on the breakdown. 💯

[@0Testos]

Could you please tell me how much (ml) cooling liquid you've put? I have rtx3080 Xtreme Waterforce AORUS REV1.0 and liquid has leaked. Now it's empty, I need to fill it again.

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment 🙏 Do you mean how many drops (ml) when I activated the leak detection? It was 1-2 drops of water. So maybe 1-2 ml? Very little water. Actually, the prior owner of the card had unplugged the sensor because it was too sensitive and would cause leak detection even when there is no leak. For your case, what is happening? Your waterblock is leaking?

[@stinkybeam]

no wonder they cover the whole water block up, it's such a simple design of waterblock. But simple as it is, the temperature is really good

[@vectornetwork]

Thank you for your comment 🙏You're right. They covered it up because it looks like a bathtub. But like you said, temps are good. In the end, tearing it all down, really helped me understand the components of the water block and just how simple the whole thing really is. Its a piece of metal that is carefully cut-out, but can follow a simple design. The rest is just a way to enclose water around the metal, which seems like just rubber and acrylic is chosen because we want to see it. And then you have a terminal for the water to flow in and out. I am sure there is more to it - but the mystery is gone.

[@calebrose2031]

I feel like all graphics cards in the far future will have this kind of technology, water-cooling will become the main way to cool pc's, graphics cards and cpus are pulling more and more power meaning more people to put it on water and even with the highest end parts there is always that chance of it leaking and killing potentially thousands of dollars in hardware😅

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment 🙏 Agreed, I do think that the risk of a leak and potentially losing hardware is a real fear that prevents people from doing water cooling. The technology likely needs to have some improvement because I have read several instances where people had problems with false positives from the sensors, causing their cards to turn off even without a leak. That can be frustrating, so maybe the manufacturers will put in an easy off mode rather than trying to unplug the 2-pin sensor.

[@calebrose2031]

@@vectornetwork I haven't seen any other water-cooling leak tech like this other than some niche aios, Its still a "let's try this and see if it works" stage but within just a few years I see it being more mature will more precise such as fittings and other blocks will eventually have this tech for the people that's scared of mixing water and electricity, just my 2cents

[@vectornetwork]

@@calebrose2031 Makes a lot of sense. I didn't think anything of the tech (haven't seen it either) until I mentioned it to a friend. He was adamant that it was something interesting. So, I took the footage of it going black and glad I did! So, the red light will continue to blink until it completely stops detecting liquid. The first try, I wiped it away immediately and I thought the red light would only blink momentarily. The second try (for the camera), it blinked red indefinitely for a long time as I really had a hard time wiping off all the liquid while it was running. This is a used card (hence the cleaning) and the original owner said he had issues with the leak sensor always going off, so he shipped it unplugged to me. I cleaned the card as shown and the leak detection worked perfectly. It is kind of important that the card shuts off too, rather than it just being a warning light.

[@mikaelg79]

@@vectornetwork I have this card and I can confirm that false positives from the leak detection circuit is a pain in the rear. Using the non-micro EK Torque fittings the metal of the fitting will contact the leak detection circuit and prevent the GPU from working. If you get this card, make sure to use fittings that are narrower than the diameter of the wire around the ports.

[@frezara34]

Hello, great video. Can you help? I have the same graphics card and I have already checked everything and I don't know what's going on. I have a leak alarm all the time, the card flashes red and at the same time the two white diodes next to the connection also flash.

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment 🙏 This is an issue with the leak detection that I have read about online. That it is on all the time. I haven't come across this issue on this card. So, it is still hard to tell if this is due to some kind of product error or something else. What kind of fittings are you using? Are they somehow touching any of the leak detection portion? Have you tried cleaning any of the leak detection parts to see if some residue is causing the false positives?

[@frezara34]

I checked the connection and it doesn't touch the circuit anywhere, even without fitting it didn't change anything, I also disconnected the 2 pin cable from leak detection

[@vectornetwork]

Wait, the leak detection cable is disconnected and you're still getting the leak detection alarm going off? That tells me there is something wrong with the card rather than the leak detection unit. My understanding is that when people had leak detection issues with the card, they unplugged it the leak detection cable and it would then work fine.

[@dragonling748]

It makes me sad that you have to remove the decals to clean the block. Can they be reinstalled?

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment 🙏 In retrospect, I should have done a better job at removing the decals. In the future, I will make sure to use a heatgun to soften the glue and remove it in a manner where the decals can be reused. Hope that helps

[@briangao8397]

Could you please tell me the thermal gap filters' detail thickness? I could't see the thickness data on your ruler clearly.

[@briangao8397]

I mean thermal gap filter is the thermal pad.

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment🙏 The pads for the VRM are 1.5mm thick and the rest are all 1.0mm thick. Hope that helps.

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment🙏 The pads for the VRM are 1.5mm thick and the rest are all 1.0mm thick. Hope that helps.

[@linkdepredador]

1mm for vram and 1'5 for others? Sorry but i don't speak english very well and i don't understend good. I want buy the thermalpads for this graphics card. Thanks.

[@linkdepredador]

I already understood better. in the part where you place the thermal pads it is perfectly understood. Greetings and thank you.

[@vectornetwork]

Thanks for your comment🙏Got it, I hope you got what you needed and thank you for viewing and again for commenting.

[@gamebuster800]

it looks so much better without the fake mirrors

[@vectornetwork]

Thank you for your comment 🙏 I agree 100%. It wasn't until I tore down this block and then did the testing on the temps did I realize just how simple water blocks are in general. And it looked just fine cleaned up with the white opaque color and gold trim.

[@uchi23a]

Gigabyte AORUS RTX 4080 16GB Xtreme WATERFORCE 1200€ usada amazon 1 año 1750€ nueva amazon 3 años garantia 1350€ + 200€ waterblock (asus tuf + alphacool..) >_< ¿cual saldria mas a cuenta? / intencion a 2k 120hz full settings.... para 10 años al menos a 80fps ultra.... 1080ti >> 4080... o esperar a 5070ti