MSI Prepping GeForce RTX 3090 HydroGen Graphics Card

[Peter_Brosdahl]

Image: MSI



It seems that MSI is reviving one of its older series, as the GeForce RTX 3090 HydroGen has been spotted at the EEC. The HydroGen models featured a factory-installed, all-copper water block. It predates the newer Sea Hawk EK X models made in collaboration with EK Water Blocks. The last time MSI used this branding was with the GeForce GTX 580 HydroGen. Specifications and pricing are unknown at this time, but it will be interesting to see whether MSI uses the reference design or a custom PCB since Ampere has been shown to have higher overlocks with both better cooling and increased power delivery.



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[LazyGamer]

After owning a 1080Ti with an AIO, I'll say that it's one of the best ways to get the most out of a GPU while also keeping noise in check... but given how these are usually set up, I think I'd rather have something built for a custom loop like this next. Granted I'd prefer a 3080Ti just for the sake of cost, if any of these were more than theoretically available at MSRP.

Biggest annoyance with the AIO on the 1080Ti (used the Corsair product at the time) was that the blower on the card was still tied to GPU temp but that there was no organic means of tying pump speed and radiator fan speed to GPU temp as well. This meant that as the GPU loaded up and became heat soaked, the louder blower would spin up more, while the radiator fan and pump couldn't spin down when the extra cooling wasn't needed.

This all resulted in the solution being louder than it needed to be, even with a pair of Noctua's (push / pull) sandwiched around the radiator.

 

[Peter_Brosdahl]

Yeah, I've been waffling with the idea of switching to GPU liquid cooling since I got a 1080Ti too. I've now had 3 gens of Strix cards(1080 Ti, 2080 Ti, 3090) and I've seen how their cooling gets a little more strained as power goes up. With the 3090, in a well-ventilated case, at stock, or slightly underclocked, it does just fine. However, once the core is overclocked and nothing on the memory, it pretty much has to be cranked fully to keep below 80c. The good news is I've seen it go over 2115 Mhz. Ironically, I've done some mining with it, it can keep under 60c at 70% with +366 Mhz on the memory. The downside to all of this is that I've seen it kind of needs that extra overclock for really demanding games in 4K. It can mean the difference of holding over 60 FPS when RT and other things are all maxed at the same time(even with DLSS). Less demanding games are a breeze though.

Still haven't done it but I really like how with this gen there are now full block solutions.I've seen a pretty affordable blisky one and EK for my Strix 3090. I've been pretty disappointed by the majority of custom models offered by card manufacturers thus far because they're using the reference PCB and it's a known fact that the 3090 is a power-hungry beast that will clock higher with more power so those custom PCB models are really where the bigger potential is. I was speaking with @David_Schroth about it and he thinks it's because their blocks won't suffice for the increased power/heat. I tend to agree which also points to using one of those full block solutions as the better choice.

Thanks for the info about tracking temps and tying pump speed and fan speed to the GPU temp. Since I haven't done this yet it's something worth noting. I'm thinking I'll go so far as to use a reservoir and 360, or larger radiator if I ever actually commit. At this point, I'm looking at around $1000 for it all so I'm just not sure if I will.