Need suggestions on how to accommodate a 3090 in a Silverstone FT02 case with limited to no space.

Ski

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Specs first:

Silverstone FT-02 Fortress Black
Intel 4930k @4.2ghz
MSI GTX 970 Gaming
Corsair H100i
Corsair Vengeance 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz
EVGA 860 Watt power supply

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My biggest concern presently at the moment is my Silverstone FT02 which those who are unfamiliar, has a design build where the mobo is rotated 90 degrees for a cooling system that pushes air from the bottom up top. However, because of that my current 970 at 277mm length is already butting up against my Corsair H100i radiator which is also sitting on top of the three 180mm fans pushing air from the bottom of the case. So because of this I'm gonna have to make some serious modifications in order to accommodate the 3090. Btw I'm using this primarily for work not gaming fyi in case those of you questioning why this gpu.

All speculation aside at the true nature of it's size, it's safe to say the final version will definitely exceed the limits of the space I have in the case so I'm trying to be proactive here and see what my options are but not spend more than necessary. One thing I considered was getting a Noctua NH-D15 giving me the ½ inch clearance needed to fit this bad boy in there and selling my liquid cooler but unfortunately I have the Corsair Vengeance sticks have that a super high clearance, so short of removing the heatsinks that is a no go (and I'm seriously too clumsy to attempt this myself).

Other option were getting another AIO liquid cooler like a Corsair H80i in this setup, however, based off of the users comments I'm not sure if it'll be efficient enough to cool my overlocked 4930k which currently runs like butter with my current setup.

And finally, I've tried looking around if there's a way rig the case in such a way to fit the 3090, my currently H100i, and not have to perform a lot of surgery in the case to do that. Which again, I'm clumsy and I don't have the tools for all that. So was hoping to ask you experts in this matter what I should do cuz I'd really like to keep the cost down to less $100-150 at the very most. With that said, I'm sure some of you guys are creative enough to figure out a novel solution I haven't considered yet. Thanks in advance!
 
Doesn't the 4930k have 40 PCIe lanes? Just move the GPU into the other PCIe slot on the board, and see if that clears the current AIO.

Yeah, either this or if you would still for some reason like to switch to an NH-D15, you should have enough clearance for your memory (64mm) assuming only the top fan is used.

PS I assume that's a Sabertooth x79.
 
Doesn't the 4930k have 40 PCIe lanes? Just move the GPU into the other PCIe slot on the board, and see if that clears the current AIO.

sabertooth.png

So you're suggesting I simply keep the 970 in the PCIEX16 lane 1 and the 3090 in the second slot, correct? I don't know if that would work out since the second pciex slot doesn't indicate on the manual that slot 4 runs at 16/x16 mode. Also, what are you alluding to by the fact the 4930k has 40 lanes, my pc knowledge is a bit rusty in this area? And while I sound doubly ignorant, but isn't recommended to use your primary lane for the main GPU? I should also mention that I'm a 3d artist and I was gonna use the both gpu's: the 970 for 3ds max view-port performance and the 3090 for V-Ray RT rendering, which I did in the past briefly as I experimented with RTX 2080 super for about a month to test it's capabilities, while at the same time using the 970 in the second slot. 3ds Max by the way is iffy when it comes to running primary cards in the second gpu slot from my experience and for performance loss reasons.

If it's possible to use the second lane for the main gpu that would be great, so while you follow-up I'm gonna research this some more, cuz now I'm curious. Don't forget too since we don't know the official dimensions about the width of the 3090, I'm also wondering how many slots it will take up.


Also forgot to add, I'm using the 6th pcie slot lane for an NVME adapter so I don't know if that will also affect my rig setup. So many questions at the moment :p.

Fogot to add I'm using a Sabertooth x79 mobo.
Yeah, either this or if you would still for some reason like to switch to an NH-D15, you should have enough clearance for your memory (64mm) assuming only the top fan is used. As I finish writing this, can you tell me right now if I ca

PS I assume that's a Sabertooth x79.

Yes it's an Sabertooth X79, I neglected to add that in the specs. These are the Corsair Vengeance sticks I'm usin' and as you can see they have these ridiculously high fins which puts the height at 70.1mm which apparently exceeds the 64mm maximum I've read from Noctua. Now I've heard anecdotal comments with individuals indicating simply raising the outside fan a few millimeters is an easy fix, while others simply removed the fan altogether leaving only 1 fan to do the job on the Noctua. But solution 1 might not work since I don't know if it will butt against the case at that point, and the second having one fan removed might get a little hot for my cpu at that point.
 
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As much as I loved this case it had to go!... I would go with the option of getting a single 120mm LC on top and that should be good enough, there was a time where we had no 240mm LC.
Here are images of my old FT02 setup and when I added another GPU SLI setup, again at the time I loved that case and that was one hell of a pain in the ass case to work on.
 

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As much as I loved this case it had to go!... I would go with the option of getting a single 120mm LC on top and that should be good enough, there was a time where we had no 240mm LC.
Here are images of my old FT02 setup and when I added another GPU SLI setup, again at the time I loved that case and that was one hell of a pain in the ass case to work on.

What was the cpu and temps of your rig at the time on full load if you can remember? And also, did you have to make any modifications to set up the radiator to fit on the top?
 
What was the cpu and temps of your rig at the time on full load if you can remember? And also, did you have to make any modifications to set up the radiator to fit on the top?
CPU @ full load was between 45c - 50c at most, inside the case was within 31.9c - 32.5c... No, I didn't have to make any modifications to put the radiator at the top.
The case was nice for its time, but it had a few flaws in the design. You had to choose your hardware carefully in size and cable management was a pain in the ass, but it was done.
 
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Yeah that is a nice case, but with video cards getting bigger and bigger your going to struggle to make it work.
with today's hardware and gadgets I personally don't know how one can hang on to the FT02.
 
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CPU @ full load was between 45c - 50c at most, inside the case was within 31.9c - 32.5c... No, I didn't have to make any modifications to put the radiator at the top.
The case was nice for its time, but it had a few flaws in the design. You had to choose your hardware carefully in size and cable management was a pain in the ass, but it was done.

with today's hardware and gadgets I personally don't know how one can hang on to the FT02.

It's easy when you're constantly living from paycheck and you're about to drop $1400 on a overpriced video card ;) for work performance.
 
It's easy when you're constantly living from paycheck and you're about to drop $1400 on a overpriced video card ;) for work performance.
You do know most of us in the country live from paycheck to paycheck and No it's not easy especially when you have a family to feed, clothes and shelter but one can manage when you set your mind.
$1500 for the new 3000 GPU Series as rumors say - if it's at 24GB! Yes, I will buy it!... You know how? Many of us wait for Tax Return or Sell your stuff collecting dust -> Your garbage is another person's treasure.

Tax Return, Craigslist, Letgo, Offerup, Mercari - All my upgrades have been purchased this way it make take a while but is not hard.
 
You do know most of us in the country live from paycheck to paycheck and No it's not easy especially when you have a family to feed, clothes and shelter but one can manage when you set your mind.
$1500 for the new 3000 GPU Series as rumors say - if it's at 24GB! Yes, I will buy it!... You know how? Many of us wait for Tax Return or Sell your stuff collecting dust -> Your garbage is another person's treasure.

Tax Return, Craigslist, Letgo, Offerup, Mercari - All my upgrades have been purchased this way it make take a while but is not hard.

Easy home slice, I was being humorous, but since I got your attention I have one final question and I can't test it out at the moment since I only have one gpu card. If I put the 3090 in the second pciex slot and the 970 in the first, can I simply install the drivers and automatically use the 3090 in the second slot as my primary boot gpu? Or do I have to modify my bios settings or something in Windows?
 
Easy home slice, I was being humorous, but since I got your attention I have one final question and I can't test it out at the moment since I only have one gpu card. If I put the 3090 in the second pciex slot and the 970 in the first, can I simply install the drivers and automatically use the 3090 in the second slot as my primary boot gpu? Or do I have to modify my bios settings or something in Windows?
You got my attention with that question... 3090 is going to be a fucking beast of a GPU.
- CUDA Cores: 5248
- Boost Clock:1695
- Memory: 24GB G6X
- Memory Clock: 19.5 Gbps
- Memory Bus: 384-Bit
- Bandwidth: 935 GB/s
- TGP: 350W

Why in the world would anyone want to use a 970 or any other lower GPU?! - When you have a very powerful GPU. The PC world is focused further on single GPUs over SLI or multiple GPUs, not saying that you want SLI.

- Now on the other, I believe you can depends on your motherboard I guess in the BIOS, I really don't know how to and it seems to be a bit complicated if you can't through the BIOS.
 
You got my attention with that question... 3090 is going to be a fucking beast of a GPU.
- CUDA Cores: 5248
- Boost Clock:1695
- Memory: 24GB G6X
- Memory Clock: 19.5 Gbps
- Memory Bus: 384-Bit
- Bandwidth: 935 GB/s
- TGP: 350W

Why in the world would anyone want to use a 970 or any other lower GPU?! - When you have a very powerful GPU. The PC world is focused further on single GPUs over SLI or multiple GPUs, not saying that you want SLI.

- Now on the other, I believe you can depends on your motherboard I guess in the BIOS, I really don't know how to and it seems to be a bit complicated if you can't through the BIOS.

I’m a 3d artist and I’m gonna use the 970 to drive 3ds Max viewport performance while using the 3090 for RT rendering. My uses are non gaming related hence the unique nature of my questions
 
I’m a 3d artist and I’m gonna use the 970 to drive 3ds Max viewport performance while using the 3090 for RT rendering. My uses are non gaming related hence the unique nature of my questions
Again with a 3090, you won't need the 970 or any other GPU... Let it go.
 
im a 3d artist so using it for 3ds max while gonna use the second GPU for RT rendering.
What use is the 970 for 3Dmax? Why can't you just use the 3090? I am not familiar how 3dmax work so just wondering. I would assume the 3099 would demolish the 970 when it comes to rendering.
 
What use is the 970 for 3Dmax? Why can't you just use the 3090? I am not familiar how 3dmax work so just wondering. I would assume the 3099 would demolish the 970 when it comes to rendering.

The way 3ds max and V-Ray works is that when you use the GPU to render geometry, it's basically using 100% of graphics card. So because of that if I'm only using one card like the 3090 for example, it creates a bottleneck and 3ds max becomes sluggish and extremely slow while I'm working, and can quite frequently can crash. So having a second GPU (970 in my case) installed, I can assign the 970 to focus primarily on 3ds max thereby allowing the 3090 to focus primarily on V-Ray. Hope that makes sense.
 
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The way 3ds max and V-Ray works is that when you use the GPU to render geometry, it's basically using 100% of graphics card. So because of that if I"m only using one card like the 3090 for example, it creates a bottleneck and using 3ds max becomes sluggish and extremely slow while I'm working, and can sometimes completely. So having a second GPU (970 in my case) installed, I can assign the 970 to focus primarily on 3ds max thereby allowing the 3090 to focus primarily on V-Ray. Hope that makes sense.
Ah cool. Thanks for the explanation.
 
The way 3ds max and V-Ray works is that when you use the GPU to render geometry, it's basically using 100% of graphics card. So because of that if I'm only using one card like the 3090 for example, it creates a bottleneck and 3ds max becomes sluggish and extremely slow while I'm working, and can quite frequently can crash. So having a second GPU (970 in my case) installed, I can assign the 970 to focus primarily on 3ds max thereby allowing the 3090 to focus primarily on V-Ray. Hope that makes sense.
I don't mean to sound rude in any way, but you seemed to be very stubborn, I'm telling you, and yet you continue with the 970 or a 2nd GPU for (3DS Max and V-Ray) a 3090! will handle all that and then some more.
I mean depending on your (System Specifications) a 1080Ti / 1080Ti Hybrid FTW3 / RTX 2080Ti / TITAN RTX all these GPU models can do the job... Just looking at your system spec's I'm extremely surprised that you can even run (3DS Max / V-Ray) with smooth rendering with that old (( 970 4GB GPU that's definitely your bottleneck )) and probably the cause of your frequent crashing when using the software, unless your O.C 4930k is causing the crash?
 
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Ah cool. Thanks for the explanation.
What he's trying to explain to you in which I'm giving him the answer to his question, there's been systems that can handle that. Again depending on your system specifications and clearly you can see his system specification is struggling (970) with that software even if he isn't using all its resources...
 
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Well at 12.3", gonna have to retire the case no matter what. Thanks for your input anyways fellas.
 
Well at 12.3", gonna have to retire the case no matter what. Thanks for your input anyways fellas.
Having the same case, I can say that the ASUS 3090 TUF would likely fit, coming in at 11,81" there is just a hair of space between the card and the fan according to my calculations. So it might not be as grave as you think, maybe other 3090 will fit better but since chance of getting an FE version is slim to none, but you can keep the mighty FT02B if yo chose wisely and get the Noctua D15 instead (9900K works very good @ 60 c load).
With that said though, your system WILL bottleneck a 3090 - you need at least 9700K performance (Intel 8 core or AMD 16 core) to get most out of it, if you are cash strapped, I would pick up a 3080 and use the rest for an upgrade to second hand 9900K and Z390 MB - or AMD equivalent since 11th Gen is on its way along with Zen 3 - What exciting times we live in :D
 
Having the same case, I can say that the ASUS 3090 TUF would likely fit, coming in at 11,81" there is just a hair of space between the card and the fan according to my calculations. So it might not be as grave as you think, maybe other 3090 will fit better but since chance of getting an FE version is slim to none, but you can keep the mighty FT02B if yo chose wisely and get the Noctua D15 instead (9900K works very good @ 60 c load).
With that said though, your system WILL bottleneck a 3090 - you need at least 9700K performance (Intel 8 core or AMD 16 core) to get most out of it, if you are cash strapped, I would pick up a 3080 and use the rest for an upgrade to second hand 9900K and Z390 MB - or AMD equivalent since 11th Gen is on its way along with Zen 3 - What exciting times we live in :D

Hey thanks for the follow-up. I ended up getting an H80i v2 which fits pretty snug towards the top. In regards to the bottleneck, I intend to upgrade to a threadripper down the line anyways so it won't be an issue. Plus, the 17.88% hit won't be that noticeable for my 3d modeling and rendering uses, the exponential boost I'll be getting from upgrading the 970 will overcompensate brother :).
 
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Hey thanks for the follow-up. I ended up getting an H80i v2 which fits pretty snug towards the top. In regards to the bottleneck, I intend to upgrade to a threadripper down the line anyways so it won't be an issue. Plus, the 17.88% hit won't be that noticeable for my 3d modeling and rendering uses, the exponential boost I'll be getting from upgrading the 970 will overcompensate brother :).

On a different note, that's cool to know the 9900k is backwards compatible to the LGA 2011, thanks for that!
Cool, I will keep that in mind, should I want to go over to watercooling :) have been looking, but when I saw Noctua D15 I though "what the heck" and it works, but just fyi 9900K is only compatible with Z370 and Z390 chipset motherboards and not socket 2011 unfortunaltely - but Threadripper sounds like a solid pathway for you with what you do - also check out Pudgets take on the whole 3080 or 3090 for use in kind of the same area as you: https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/a...-3080-10GB-RTX-3090-24GB-Review-Roundup-1899/
 
Cool, I will keep that in mind, should I want to go over to watercooling :) have been looking, but when I saw Noctua D15 I though "what the heck" and it works, but just fyi 9900K is only compatible with Z370 and Z390 chipset motherboards and not socket 2011 unfortunaltely - but Threadripper sounds like a solid pathway for you with what you do - also check out Pudgets take on the whole 3080 or 3090 for use in kind of the same area as you: https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/a...-3080-10GB-RTX-3090-24GB-Review-Roundup-1899/

Yea I realized my mistake when I impulsively didn't look up the compatibility specs. Also, I need all the RAM I can get because I routinely push beyond 32 GB when doing archviz projects. Hell, even with two 3090's I would routinely exceed 48 as well. My workflow needs are that demanding unbelievably.
 
I managed to get an MSI RTX 3070 Trio X into my FT02... I didn't realise how long this card was until I tried to install it after having my system setup up in open air for a few weeks...
Had to remove the middle fan... now it fits plus an inch to spare

323 mm/12.7 inches, Triple-slot
 
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I had to remove the middle bottom AP183 180mm fan at the bottom to fit my MSI RTX 3070 Trio, but then decided to place it on top the right bottom fan, with gaff tape holding it place :)
Not ideal but it still increases airflow, and poistive air pressure, and together with my old Sycthe S-flex 120mm on the top right at 600rpm, also gaff taped against the power supply keeps the Samsung 970 evo plus NVMe drive idling at 48 degrees now


x76ChUf.jpg
 
I had to remove the middle bottom AP183 180mm fan at the bottom to fit my MSI RTX 3070 Trio, but then decided to place it on top the right bottom fan, with gaff tape holding it place :)
Not ideal but it still increases airflow, and poistive air pressure, and together with my old Sycthe S-flex 120mm on the top right at 600rpm, also gaff taped against the power supply keeps the Samsung 970 evo plus NVMe drive idling at 48 degrees now


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:facepalm: Damn!... Talk about not letting go of the FT02! To go through all that unnecessary trouble, you definitely love the FT02. I put my FT02 away in storage about 10-11 years ago! - I'm about to throw it away in the dumpster like I did the 14 year old TJ07 case.
 
Just got done with this build this weekend. I still have a couple small things to do but it works really well. I love this case and I'm glad I took the time to plan it out. Also, QDC's make this so much easier..

IMG_20210119_122858.jpg
 
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:facepalm: Damn!... Talk about not letting go of the FT02! To go through all that unnecessary trouble, you definitely love the FT02. I put my FT02 away in storage about 10-11 years ago! - I'm about to throw it away in the dumpster like I did the 14 year old TJ07 case.
I have a fto2 that had 1080tid in sli and a 1060ti as a physix card. Replaced with a 3090 strix now. I removed the fan brackets. And attached them with velcro. Custom magnetic filter on the outside of the case, makes cleaning easy now as the side panel doesn't have to come off.

I've ran the 3090 in both slots same performance either way. All my slots are x16

gamers nexus recently re reviewed these fans against the new noctua big fan and these still performed. He also recently re reviewed this case and it was the second best case every tested narrowly loosing to ... a silverstone case. That was with all the bays in, which can easily be removed and will flow even better. Add in the revised PWM fans which i have now, and it also runs quiter low rpm is 600, and they now will spin at the same rpm as the best 120 mm fan and these are 180mm.






shame you threw out the TJ07 case, they are worth a small fortune now.







 
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