Watercooled GPU & GPU; do I need to block the VRM's and x570 or use a fan even?

[undertheradar]

What are my options here? My current & recently broken Rampage V Extreme setup has the CPU and 1080 Ti (Hydrocopper) water-blocked, and I also put a Watercool.de Heatkiller MB-X kit on it so the VRM and chipset are water cooled as well. It all sits in a Corsair Carbide 540 cube without a single fan running and my temps have never been a problem even though the only fan in the case is the PSU which sits in its own chamber behind the mobo anyways and rarely has its fan turn on anyways. My 2xD5 (series) water cooling loop runs to the huge floor-standing 9x140 MORA radiator so there really is 0 airflow in my case but the water blocks really take care of it all. The radiator sits next to a floor-standing HEPA filter/fan's intake (intake is roughly the same size as the radiator) so it does get plenty of airflow for cooling when under load, FWIW.

I do this for my allergies since cases tend to be dust accumulation and redistribution factories, but also because I like a dead silent computer.

So with looking at the new AMD x570 mobos; the Asus crosshair viii formula seems like a prime contender for me with the pre-installed block on the VRM's. The other option is the C8Hero since EK makes a monoblock for it. I'm looking for a mobo that either comes with blocks or has kits available from EK, watercool.de, etc. No, I'm not looking at $1k Aqua boards either.

The x570 chipsets aren't blocked on these Asus boards though... just the VRM's. With only one or two exceptions, they all have fans on the x570 chips but it seems most people either can't hear them running or they never turn on because most only need passive cooling anyways... uh, how passive are we talking here? A case without fans or any other fans on the CPU? That's my first question: can I go fanless on the x570 or will that mean its little chipset fan kicks into full spin all the time?

The second question I have is similar but with the VRM's: many reviews say "passive cooling" on the VRM's is enough. Are the water blocks on the Crosshair 8 Formula's VRM's really useless? Is "passive" cooling enough for these... or does "passive" mean they are just using the assumed airflow from a CPU HSF cooler? For those who block their CPU's, do you need to still blow air on the VRM's then or can they really just sit in calm air and just convect?

I'm trying to see what I should do to get away with a totally fanless case here: if VRM's can stay cool enough without water blocks AND without a CPU cooling fan, then I don't need to get the Crosshair 8 Formula. OTOH, if I get the Crosshair 8 Formula and block the CPU/GPU/and VRM's, but the x570 chipset can't stay cool enough for the fan to stay off (or barely run), and I end up adding a single 120mm fan to blow across the motherboard... then I might as well blow air across the VRM's as well and not bother blocking them.

What do you water cooling guys think I can get away with here?

 

[thesmokingman]

Vrms blocks are not needed...

Ah there it is, the chipset right? The chipset and it's fan have nothing to do with the vrms. The chipset fan isn't an issue either. If you are one of those that's really that concerned look for the Dark board when its released. It just has a larger heatsink instead of a sink/fan combo.

 

[undertheradar]

Vrms blocks are not needed...

Ah there it is, the chipset right? The chipset and it's fan have nothing to do with the vrms. The chipset fan isn't an issue either. If you are one of those that's really that concerned look for the Dark board when its released. It just has a larger heatsink instead of a sink/fan combo.

I'm okay with these x570's that have fans since nearly everyone says they rarely turn on and if they do they are silent anyways... but without any actual airflow in the case I wonder if that fan wont kick into high gear... or I wonder if the upcoming Crosshair 8 Dark Hero won't overheat without something blowing on that chipset.

VRM coolers's aren't needed even when there's 0 air-flow?

 

[thesmokingman]

I'm okay with these x570's that have fans since nearly everyone says they rarely turn on and if they do they are silent anyways... but without any actual airflow in the case I wonder if that fan wont kick into high gear... or I wonder if the upcoming Crosshair 8 Dark Hero won't overheat without something blowing on that chipset.

VRM coolers's aren't needed even when there's 0 air-flow?

Literally zero airflow? Nothing is intended to have zero airflow. Your nvme drives will not be happy either. The vrms will obviously need some airflow. However if your allergies dictate this direction then yea the Formula or a monoblock on the Strix-E or lower Crosshair boards will fit that bill. Btw the Strix-E is basically a Crosshair with one less phase. The main differences are that the Crosshair boards have a vrm temp sensor in bios and the Strix-E does not. The CH line and the Strix-E all have water temp headers so you should setup a water temp sensor and use that to regulate fan/pump speeds. The main cpu sensor/header cannot be changed to water temp but all the other headers can be switched to be governed by the water temp. PS. I don't even use the main cpu header (disabled in bios), instead I use pump header governed by water temp.


Here's a quick write up on setting these boards up monitoring wise.

https://hardforum.com/threads/build...2-raid-render-monster.1990145/post-1044457505

 

[undertheradar]

Literally zero airflow? Nothing is intended to have zero airflow. Your nvme drives will not be happy either. The vrms will obviously need some airflow. However if your allergies dictate this direction then yea the Formula or a monoblock on the Strix-E or lower Crosshair boards will fit that bill. Btw the Strix-E is basically a Crosshair with one less phase. The main differences are that the Crosshair boards have a vrm temp sensor in bios and the Strix-E does not. The CH line and the Strix-E all have water temp headers so you should setup a water temp sensor and use that to regulate fan/pump speeds. The main cpu sensor/header cannot be changed to water temp but all the other headers can be switched to be governed by the water temp. PS. I don't even use the main cpu header (disabled in bios), instead I use pump header governed by water temp.


Here's a quick write up on setting these boards up monitoring wise.

https://hardforum.com/threads/build...2-raid-render-monster.1990145/post-1044457505

Yup, literally 0 airflow other than whatever radiates or convects. My last two builds have had no case airflow... everything got a water block... but now water blocked chipsets seem to be rare.