Watercooling the RTX 3080 Founders: AMAZING EK Quantum Vector FE Special Edition waterblock!

We take an ilook at the EK Quantum Vector FE Special Edition - the sexiest waterblock so far for the RTX 3080 Founders Edition.
How to dismantle the RTX 3080 (see tools you'll need below), install the waterblock and also some thermal testing!
Get EK's 3080 waterblocks here amzn.to/39yyq6Q
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Tools for this guide:
Gorilla tape amzn.to/369VckL
Screwdriver set amzn.to/3qBno7x
Ductape amzn.to/2XS4KvZ
Paster cleaner amzn.to/3svVCLA
Magnetic parts tray amzn.to/3qzRiJI
Recommended Playlists For YOU!
bit.ly/3h9dcBU (My PC Mods)
bit.ly/3xSkVu4 (Mini-ITX reviews and builds videos)
bit.ly/3w0ppNF (CPU reviews)
#rtx3080 #watercooled3080 #pchardware

[@CrazyTechLab]

2:48 - removing the pesky screw caps 8:21 - a look at the block and parts 11:02 - timelapse build 11:48 - sexy shots 13:34 - thermal testing

[@AbyNeon]

what are all those stains inside the block? did u break it or it was sent to you defective?

[@zero-daytech8093]

I see yours is seeping as well. Cryofuel solid white stained my block and the window.

[@no0bftw]

You're meant to use the small black screws to secure the GPU die area, not that it will make a difference tbh.

[@pepe59650]

it s make great difference i have also made this error !!!

[@v33man]

For anyone watching this and wondering what the memory temperatures are following the swap, maxes out at 60-62 degrees Celcius at room temperature of 22-23 degrees, at 100% controller load. Naturally, this may fluctuate a degree or two depending on loop setup and radiator size etc.

[@4gbmeans4gb61]

If you are watercooling does it matter which card you get? Like founders vs like a ftw3? On water will they both overclock the same?

[@flydrones]

junction temperature??? before and after -? this value is importand ;))

[@lalo7]

Same question here, difference memory junction temp please?.

[@swinny650]

I got the 3090FE block last Friday. Junction temps sit around 86-90c when mining. A massive improvement.

[@martinyung4817]

@@swinny650 Sounds like a big improvement. What was the temp before? Around 106-110?!

[@swinny650]

@@martinyung4817 Yeah it would hover around 106 with +1200 mem and the core locked to 1110Mhz @ 725mV any higher it would hit 110 and throttle. Now I can hit +1500 on the memory and it still sit between 86-90c

[@martinyung4817]

@@swinny650 Thanks!! Will need to do this also. Nvidia responded and said normal temps between 100-100 degrees, but I'm not sure how long the card would survive for like that!!

[@Nasty_J]

I just got the 3080 and want to do this but I'm scared of breaking something like that blue dye. I need a water Block for dummies step by step guide lol.

[@jasonwoody8041]

love how the coolant lines come out the end like that.

[@leedo03]

what about the VRAM temperatures? can you check HWinfo and let us know what temps those were hitting. seems to be a major problem on 3000 series FE cards

[@Zermelo]

Agreed, that is what took me to this video. What looks promising is that they also instructed to use thermal pads for the back plate which should improve cooling performance over water blocks which just use thermal pads on the front of the card.

[@conin.v]

GPUZ already is able to show both "Hot Spot" and "Memory Temperature" aside from just "GPU Temperature", but seems like he disabled them on purpose. In my case, I have a 3090 FE paired with an Alphacool Eisblock Aurora Acryl waterblock: under load, the GPU temps are quite similar to this video (50 degrees) but the VRAM temps go as high as 70 degrees which I don't know if they're are acceptable or not since I made the mistake of not installing the card and test the temps before I slapped the waterblock.

[@SebastienChedalBornu]

@@conin.v on AIR your memory may rise up to 106 degres (freidn of mine got that on his 3080 and he installed thermal pads to get 30 degres) so 70 is still better than on air with thermal pads. but yes he didn't liked my comment but his video is almost useless and more like a promotion youtube video. (like all the DJI FPV these last 2 monthes)

[@GuyVanBogart]

FYI: duct tape ≠ gaff tape. Generally, the adhesive on gaff tape (aka gaffer's tape) is made to be resistant to leaving a residue, while we all know how duct tape is.

[@holdthissl]

Saving this video for later when I land the 3090 waterblock 😀

[@jamestiller]

exact same

[@SebastienChedalBornu]

For example you didn't even mention the fact that as always with ek you have to cut the thermal paste to the right size, and from what I saw really really briefly from your video you had to do a lot of cuts, which for this price tag is a shame

[@neonneel]

Can i buy your stock cooler? I broke the ribbon cable on mine and the fan won’t work now… i would really appreciate it if you could send me your stock cooler or even just the fan!

[@CrazyTechLab]

Subscribe: bit.ly/2QYAZK9 Recommended Playlists For YOU! bit.ly/3h9dcBU (My PC Mods) bit.ly/3xSkVu4 (Mini-ITX reviews and builds videos) bit.ly/3w0ppNF (CPU reviews) Check me out on social: Instagram: instagram.com/crazytechlab Facebook: facebook.com/CrazyTechLab​ Twitter: twitter.com/antonyleather

[@ElectricDreams10]

Christ! If ever there was a reason NOT to get this product, this is it. Look at that fluid bleed on the face of the block. Why didn’t you mention it? - and more importantly, why on earth would you praise a clearly faulty product? This seriously compromises your credibility. I don’t care how long you’ve been professionally reviewing, sharpen it up mate. I’ll check back in a few years.

[@emiliabunko4518]

ek is known for paying for silence

[@badzilla7491]

That bleed through on the block is so bad. 300 bucks for this thing. It's crazy.

[@Predator18999]

That's nothing... Did you saw the small cracks at 11:47? I had the same issue with my previous card (Gigabyte GTX 1080 Xtreme Waterforce) and i had to remove them with flame polishing... Now i have a 3070 Dual and i want to buy a block for it... Now im a bit afraid, EK is top tier, if they also have issues like this, im lost...

[@antonchugay]

Can you measure memory temps under load? GPU-Z 2.37 can show it

[@extraglutenplz3758]

It boggles my mind how much difficulty people are having with the screw cap covers, using clear packing tape was plenty to just pull them up. It's not rocket science yet people seem to really struggle...

[@miloISdead]

Good video, but you spent 5 minutes explaining how to take off a screw cover and time-lapsed the disassembly/assembly. Would have liked to see the process explained a little better.

[@CrazyTechLab]

Thanks for the feedback! The rest is straight forward to be honest and just screws and ribbon cables. The tricky part was getting the covers off so decided to focus on that and the cooling performance. However seeing as you’re interested I’ll make sure to do the next one in full detail.

[@wyliecoyote1696]

RMA the block; it has oxidation.

[@Jhenka]

Hey! love the video what case is that??

[@JoeyGlover]

Great video buddy, I've saved it and will be using it as a guide when I'm lucky enough to land an FE.

[@marioasenov3383]

It's very hard to get one, and in my case i wait to see the available second hand .

[@neonneel]

Can i buy your stock cooler? I broke the ribbon cable on mine and the fan won’t work now… i would really appreciate it if you could send me your stock cooler or even just the fan!

[@mods-qo4pr]

great video -thanks. Amazing block and that drop in temps over an already solid stock Nvidia design is impressive.

[@CrazyTechLab]

Sure is a sexy block :)

[@xlarti]

What a stunning block and nice video!

[@sascha148]

I got a 3080 Ti FE. This block should do it for this card as well. What do you think?

[@CrazyTechLab]

Yes according to EK's configurator, the 3080 FE block is compatible with the 3080 Ti FE.

[@eznemo2346]

so other than the waterblock what else do i have to buy im really interested

[@scotianbank]

I love this cooler, but damn... Why did EK decide to have the silver edition have a BLACK backplate, and the black edition have a SILVER backplate? I guess it's not that big of an issue, since you can't see it in a vertical mounting position, and if you're buying such a fancy showy (and expensive) water-block, you probably want to use it in a vertical mount... And if you have the money for a $300 water-block, you can always just look for a replacement on eBay, I've seen a few (specially for the 3090, since that has an optional active backplate, and you end up not using the included backplate).

[@mrhacker99999]

Should have shown memory temps with hwinfo

[@hobothebest6127]

Do the thermal pads come with the waterblock

[@AbyNeon]

what are all those stains inside the block? did u break it or it was sent to you defective?

[@CrazyTechLab]

Not stains. It was filled prior to the video for some testing so the coolant has seeped into a few areas. Definitely not broken either 😊

[@AbyNeon]

@@CrazyTechLab ok..but that is NOT supposed to happen...can You please follow up with EK and see what the fuck is going on with this block?! i need to order 8 3090 ones and if thats what i have to get, then its a very srious problem..especially if we consider acrylic basically self destroys itself pretty fast. You should immediatley contact EK, because this is goign to becoem an extremely seriou problem for them , as these blocks wil be purchased by peoel who wil for th emost have 4 of these gpus in their systems and not one , with dual or tripel pump set ups..all that head pressure is gonna destroy those tops in hours. On top of that EK migh tacutlay get upset if u make this video and not mention the issue to them.... wil put you in a very bad light, next time you need something from them.

[@4gbmeans4gb61]

If you are watercooling does it which card you get? Like founders vs like a ftw3? On water will they both overclock the same?

[@CrazyTechLab]

Water just helps with temps and noise tbh. It's unlikely you'll overclock much further because of it so just pick the card with the highest stock clocks or one that's known to overclock well. You'll be able to push the power limit and voltage as high as is safe and not have to worry about temps.

[@metalwolf1]

Thank you for making this video. Ill be ordering the same water block.

[@danielpindell1267]

That 1 air bubble 🤣 good video 👍

[@rmp5s]

What is the name of that case...motherboard...reservoir...thing?

[@RevansNightmare]

Love the video but ek is out of their minds for the price tag. Corsair offers everything they do plus some for half the price.

[@a7kilr]

Doesn’t look anywhere as good and I’m a Corsair fan

[@EmoEmu]

Where do people actually get hold of a founders edition? Is Nvidia planning on re-introducing them once they've caught up on orders from third party boards?

[@LoveMyKleeKai]

I got mine from bestbuy 2 days later scored a ps5 there too.. join a discord group they share drops way faster then email notifications

[@radostinavramov8175]

Do you have to cover all the chips on back plate with thermal pads ? What are the pads used and thikness ? I'm about to change the pads on ine 3080 FE just to improve memory temps . Thank you in advance mate.

[@CrazyTechLab]

Hi there. Yes you have to add pads to the rear of the block for the backplate but everything is included and detailed in the instructions

[@danigeus8878]

Are the thermal pads included?

[@Jack-tc5gv]

hey mate, any idea if ek will eventually release a more basic version of the 3080 FE waterblock? im interested in getting one but this version is very expensive, id be looking at getting one about half the price

[@Elaba83]

What size radiator is needed to cool this loop?

[@stephanehoareau4325]

sadly on mine, I had a hard time pluging out the yellow/back cables from the socket on the back pcb, and the tiny socket broke apart from the pcb. I haven't had the nerves to test the card since then :(

[@no0bftw]

That's only the LED feature of the stock cooler. Makes no difference to the working of the GPU, i also broke mine haha. No worries, i'll never use the stock cooler again anyway.

[@beejrubixcube3448]

Just put it back in the box and sell it, In description just write "Only taken out of box for pictures"

[@neonneel]

@@no0bftw Can i buy your stock cooler? I broke the ribbon cable on mine and the fan won’t work now… i would really appreciate it if you could send me your stock cooler or even just the fan!

[@tylercampbell6301]

Would you consider selling it?

[@ericlevasseur]

Can you post the temperature of the memory underload? You need to use HWiNFO64 to see the "GPU Memory Junction Temperature"

[@CrazyTechLab]

It’s in progress with a selection of founders blocks 👍

[@khmergodhobbies]

They just put up pre orders for the 3090 variant but the photos are lacking and I can't see if NVLINK is supported on the 3090 block. Can you help me find out, please?

[@mavericksyao708]

In the latest ek q&a they show a sample 3090fe waterblock. It has a cover for the nv-link bridge. So if you want to do sli you can. But think carefully before doing that even if you get the cash to burn. You won’t benefit from it except some professional software. I was a 2080ti nvlink user and never benefited from it except 3dmarks and some old 3a titles.

[@khmergodhobbies]

@@mavericksyao708 thanks bro. I've decided to do a 5950x ceberus X system with NVLINK 3090 for 4k gaming, and doing a gundam build with the gundam 3090, z490 gundam, and ROG Helios x Gundam case.

[@mavericksyao708]

@@khmergodhobbies x570 doesn’t have that many pcie lanes. If you do nvlink. Each 3090 will only run on pcie 4.0x8 instead of pcie 4.0x16. This decrease in bandwidth will limit the performance of gpu. Which means for games that does not support sli, you will have less FPS using sli than a single card. And now most of the triple a title does not support sli and no new games will support sli from now on. Think carefully, if you only build it for 4K gaming, you are getting less FPS for double the price. The only triple a title that support sli now that I can think of are tomb raider, rdr2 and far cry 5. That’s it. Even you think sli is cool and you have the money, you are decreasing your gaming performance by paying more.

[@AbyNeon]

the nvlink slot with its dedicated cap you can take off, is there on the block

[@AbyNeon]

@@khmergodhobbies total waste of compute power runing them at 8 x... you lose 10% with nvlink plus another 10 15% at 8x.... on top of that ryzen conumer cpus hsave a pretty shitty memory bandwidth capped at 64 gb if u good at overclocking ram... I got 8 3090, but i woudl never ever drop one in a x570 motherboard

[@metalwolf1]

What size/brand thermal pads did you use?

[@CrazyTechLab]

They come with the waterblock.

[@metalwolf1]

@@CrazyTechLab Wonderful, Thank you again.

[@neonneel]

@@metalwolf1 Can i buy your stock cooler? I broke the ribbon cable on mine and the fan won’t work now… i would really appreciate it if you could send me your stock cooler or even just the fan!

[@RngmonsterX]

I guess you have some GPU on your Thermal Pads!

[@MarmaladeSally]

Looks like it’s leaking within the block.

[@CrazyTechLab]

It's a rare occurrence and covered under warranty. I received a new block having gotten this early sample and it was fine - my fault for not noticing in the footage really!

[@emiliabunko4518]

@@CrazyTechLab no its not rare! ek is making a crap stuff, leaking, oxidation... etc, you'er just paid actor here

[@LoveMyKleeKai]

just noticed the 3090 fe just went up for preorder ffs m8 415USD after tax with a mysterious 10% tax over my state tax

[@CrazyTechLab]

Ouch!😂

[@LoveMyKleeKai]

@@CrazyTechLab not sure the cost of import customs either if you arent from slovenia

[@mavericksyao708]

Which state are you in? I am in CA. I’ve had 3 orders on ek website now including preorder this 3090fe water block. You don’t need to pay any tax. Just have to pay around 30 usd for DHL express shipping and potential foreign transaction fee if you use a us credit card. The block retails for 339. Adding those fees will make it about 380. About custom, if the order is not over 800 usd. There is no custom fee. My very first order was over 1000 usd but still no custom was charged. I am not sure how you get the 415 usd price.

[@LoveMyKleeKai]

@@mavericksyao708 I'm in WV when I go to checkout it says an insane amount of sales tax

[@mavericksyao708]

@@LoveMyKleeKai I’m not sure why. Because I finished the order just over a week ago when the preorder started. If that’s the case for you. I think you should buy from performance-pc when it’s available.

[@matejunsagris]

I want to buy but I want to see temps T-junction VRam when mining ETH or other aggressive VRam punishment app runing

[@CrazyTechLab]

Okay - enough people have asked! I'll do another video focussing on the memory temps :)

[@matejunsagris]

@@CrazyTechLab thanks I'm going to order if I see results shopping cart Is filled and waiting 😅. I have Asus TUF rtx3080 Gaming OC on stock VRam on ETH earning mission T-junction 102c. I had Gigabyte 3080 Eagle after week usage pads melted

[@davidellison1423]

@@CrazyTechLab i ordered this because i had to rma my 3090 fe. Have no idea what happened to it besides a melting vram

[@sammyb304]

I doubt this waterblock will do much for the T-Junction temps. I have this on order for 3090 FE but what I’m excited for most is the upcoming active backplate for that block - I think only then will we see decent control of T-Junction temperature.

[@matejunsagris]

@@sammyb304 still waiting my Ekwb kit for gpu. But what I saw Backplate with pads shave of a lot of heat from vrams

[@AegisHyperon]

double slot... not the card I was looking for

[@BOOM-vi7qb]

Dude what are you smoking. The 3080 fe has around 7-10 screws and dissembles in around 10 mins using 2 driver bits and gorilla /duct tape to remove the 4 magnetic screw covers on the heat shroud. Seriously, 10 mins.....

[@CrazyTechLab]

16 screws actually, three delicate ribbon cables that are easy to damage, four sizes/ types of screws. It's definitely the most involved card I've dealt with compared to dozens of others I've watercooled. It doesn't hurt to forwarn anyone does it? Especially as you'll likely need some extra tools.

[@BOOM-vi7qb]

@@CrazyTechLab then you haven't torn down the 2080/ti variants. What 40-60 screws lol....

[@CrazyTechLab]

@@BOOM-vi7qb watercooled all from 2060 Super up to 2080 Ti. Just a bunch of screws.

[@codypesta9604]

there are magnets in those screw caps. no need for xacto or tape lol

[@aaronjessome1032]

Um um um um

[@Garrett1974]

For that price it BETTER be awesome... what an absolute ripoff omg... But thanks for the video anyway!

[@GG-cq5vj]

i dont like ut