(Ignore the loose wiring below. I am going to trim and solder the fan and RGB cables, I just wanted to get it up and running first.)
I started off with an MSI 3080 Ventus. It was used when I bought it, and it was abused to heck. After owning it for about 3 years, it needed some TLC. Max memory temps were 102 and hotspot temps were 105, after gaming for several hours. Repadding brought it down, but not for very long. I'm not sure if the pads I had used were bad, or if they just got baked after nearly a year. But, my memory and hotspot eventually started getting above 100C again. This was maybe 6 months to a year later.
Since I had to strip down the card again, I attempted a "mod" I had heard about online. I used some Arctic MX7 thermal paste between the memory chips, before repadding with the best pads I could reasonably afford. I also wanted to try some form of heatsink over the backplate, as it was still getting extremely hot, and I felt I could bring down temps with a larger heatsink. I didn't have any reference material for the heatsink portion of the project, so I probably could have done things better.
When I was looking through my aluminum scrap, I saw that I had an old 100w car amplifier and immediately saw the potential. That would eventually become the backplate, and the overhang piece that I mounted a fascia strip to. I did end up deciding to make it THE backplate, rather than putting it over top of the original backplate. This required putting polymide tape on the back of the GPU and backplate edges. Only in the spots where contact could cause a short, not where there was heat pad contact.
The fascia and the lower fan shroud are made of old, scrap, aluminum "transition trim", that I chopped to size. The fascia and fan shroud are mainly aesthetic, but I felt it would help to keep the "theme" that I had going on. I still don't know if the end result looks nice and coherent, or just scrappy and boring. Do let me know your thoughts.
Anyhow, I made a new fan shroud from the aforementioned aluminum frame and three 92mm thermalright RGB fans. The front section of the shroud is mounted by screwing it to the heatsink, using the existing mounting holes, and a couple zip ties for support. The back side of the shroud is held up with two rigid steel brackets, that bridge between the fan shroud and the back side of the backplate. Pretty simple, but effective in "sandwiching" the GPU together, with decent (but not exessive) pressure.
The backplate mod was VERY impactful on the hotspot temps. It also helped the memory a bit, but not entirely. The card now keeps well within safe margins, but the heatsink really wants a fan on it. It takes a good hour and change for memory temps to max out, due to the large mass of aluminum. The memory does still reach around 96-98 C, it just takes much longer. Hotspot temps are at LEAST 20° lower, even after extended load. Pointing a fan at the heatsink causes the memory temps to rapidly decrease, so I will look into that a bit more.
I was thinking I may chop out a circular section in the backplate and mount a recessed fan / hub. I don't like gluing in fan hubs, but it is probably the cleanest looking option. I do think that a rear exhaust might also help. I have two 80mm fans coming in the mail for that job. We will see how they do. Another option was to take the shroud from an old RX 480 "blower" card. I really didn't want a 6 slot card, though. However, I could effectively slap down that shroud, overtop the backplate / heatsink. I think it would do well to blow air over the heatsink. It was an idea, I just thought it was a bit overkill, and it would look very silly (basically like I had slapped a second GPU on top of this one).
At the far right of the card (opposite the rear PCIe slots)I used the pre-existing piece of steel (built into the far end of the heatsink) as a mounting point for a support. A simple 90° steel bracket, which I had lying around, serves well to support the far end of the card. That's a relief, because I just added like 3lbs and change of aluminum to the card. It really is HEAVY, but the support is still doing a great job. I've used a level on it, several times, and I don't think it's gained any sag over the 3 days it's been attached.
I know this whole mod is a bit silly. Especially when I probably won't be using it for much longer. I'm probably upgrading after the next AMD flagship drops. This is more a passion project, a labor of love. It isn't the first piece of hardware I've modded. I posted my "mini RX 480" on here, a while back. This time I wanted to make something that was a little more polished. I certainly ended up with a more "obviously modded" card, but I don't know if others will like the look. I could see people thinking it looks a bit scrappy, but looks are so subjective that I just don't know.
I made this all from aluminum and steel scrap that I had on hand, and spare parts (minus one of the 92mm RGB fans, and the new heat pads for the backplate). Everything was worked, cut, shaped and polished with hand tools. Aluminum is easy to work, and scary to work with power tools. It's very grippy, so if you do use power tools, know that it has a tendency to grab on and throw the piece or tool. A Dremel would have sped things up, but this is totally manageable with a cheap wood hand saw, maybe a serrated kitchen knife for the finer cuts (totally effective). The paint I used was high temp engine enamel. It probably insulates a bit more than a powder coat, but the before and after paint temps were very similar. I also had it on hand.
I'm not sure if anyone will care, but do let me know what you think. I'm open to any suggestions for improvements (aesthetic or performance). Just let me know what you think. I'm not sure if others will like it, or hate the look. Also, if you have any questions, ask away. I do have some "in progress" pictures, but I always forget to document when I am focused on the project. Thanks for taking the time to check it out. Any feedback is appreciated 👍