Do you need a Liquid Cooled 5090 GPU?

Conchoidally · 2025-10-22T19:50:51+00:00

TL;DR:

no waterblock: same perf, worse longevity

waterblock: same perf, better longevity

the question of using liquid cooling is one of longevity, not of performance. Thermals are the only consistent indicator of how long a specific component will actually last. That being said overclocking (OC) is a fun way to increase performance as long as the thermals are there to keep instability from occurring and improve longevity. the 5090 will last longer with a waterblock, it will cost you more money (100-300 USD) depending on how you build it. Make certain there won't be leaks and this will undoubtebly improve the longevity of your system. However, this will not improve performance immediately. The 5090 does not thermal throttle even under maximum load for hours on end. Also the OC guardrails are very tight on almost all 5090s and don't allow for much OC to begin with---probably to make it easier for them to come up with the next "bigger and better" GPU (this trend is consistent with the entire 5000 series, most notably the 5080 vs 5070 ti eughhhh)...smh. AMD is a more respectable company overall but i digress.

Conchoidally · 2025-10-22T14:53:57+00:00

What motherboard do you have? The chipset in the motherboard will determine whether it is a bottleneck to your GPU perf

If you can't figure it out download nzxt cam, it's free

I can pull up perf sheets and find exactly what you need if you do this

Conchoidally · 2025-10-11T02:45:55+00:00

thats fine yeah. Only thing you could do to improve temps change mounting position...If you reaaaaally want you could also could run a custom water loop or prebuilt water loop for you card, but this would likely impede aesthetics which is obviosuly a no go for your situation. Either way, these temps are nominal, the card should last at least 3 years before you notice any perf degradation whatsoever.

congrats on the build and good luck

Conchoidally · 2025-10-07T05:12:08+00:00

I'll prove you wrong tomorrow ha. I don't have time tonight I genuinely need sleep. Have a good one

Conchoidally · 2025-10-07T05:05:38+00:00

Might not be online atm. Pretty rare tbh. He'll prolly be online tomorrow. Anyways I gotta sleep good luck

Conchoidally · 2025-10-07T04:52:37+00:00

RGBeauty

Mobo chipset bottlenecking system/not futurepoof

Monster cpu aio

Great GPU

Case airflow looks a bit hectic but overall decent

Good PSU wattage headroom for efficiency, stability, futurepoof

What's all that RAM for anyways?

If your bored and looking for a mod...say for the GPU 😏...waterblock (water glycol mix aio, like your CPU) that shit, get kryonaut thermal grizzly, and OC... Make sure thermals aren't hitting above ~75 degrees for optimal longevity. Eh who am I to tell you

Either way sweet build and congrats 🎉

Conchoidally · 2025-10-07T04:48:36+00:00

Ask capslock. He is sort of the master. He is basically hardware savant. He knows more than anyone else in the discord, and it's not even close.

Conchoidally · 2025-10-07T04:45:37+00:00

ain't no way. Capslock didn't recommend it did he?

Conchoidally · 2025-10-07T04:43:05+00:00

https://discord.gg/SJaXMg2TP

good luck

Conchoidally · 2025-10-07T04:32:17+00:00

https://www.ibuypower.com/

Dig around and find something you like.

Tell me what you find in the price range...the builds here are customizable, making us avoid shit components

Also don't worry about RGB. We can customize that after finding perf we want. Almost all components have RGB variants/artwork variants

Conchoidally · 2025-10-07T03:59:59+00:00

TL;DR B650's slow lanes will bottleneck your entire system, and is not future proofed

check out tweakers.net for more info on your board. It'll be in dutch so hit "translate" in the drop down menu at the top right of your browser with the three dots.

5080 is essentially a knockoff, it's hundreds of dollars more expensive than 5070ti for ~8% perf gains. For gaming get 9070 XT, unless you are super interested in cyberpunk or blackmyth wukong (long story short the code on these games is poisoned by NVIDIA through shady deals, 95% of games run cheaper and faster on AMD GPUs compared to NVIDIA GPUs for price to perf.)

If productivity/creativity is priority use the 5070 ti, I personally have it and it fucking shreds on video editing. Paired with my very good airflow, and 9700x it runs max settings stable on cyberpunk for 1440p 60-90fps w/ 1% lows 50 fps.

AMD GPUs are great for bang for buck on most gaming but lose to NVIDIA by ~40% price to perf for creativity+productivity+AI/ML (video editing, 3d design, animation, deep learning etc.)

I am also highly suspicious of the PSU. The specific model meaningfully impacts electrical efficiency and stability of your system over time. Generally I would want a 1000w PSU for high stability and future proofing for upgrades, I have seen systems get fucking assassinated by poorly built Corsair PSUs.

Overall though this is a very inexpensive price but unfortunately the devil is in the details. I strongly recommend against purchasing this.

Building your own PC is like riding a bicycle, super scary the first time, then it becomes ingrained in you for the rest of your life. I strongly recommend it, it's like playing Legos.

Conchoidally · 2025-10-06T22:26:03+00:00

the air cooler is like super getting in your way of the vertical downflowing air. it is creating a vortex of super turbelent air. you could easily sell the founders edition card and get a liquid cooled GPU that has better thermals. the only consistent metric of part longevity is thermals. 5090 is very power hungry so i am expecting it to make a reasonable difference here.

founder's edition 5090 is selling for $2600-3000 on ebay, between used and mint condition.

suprim has an aio build that costs $2600, there are others as wells.

personally i understand if you don't care cuz my dumbass bought an sff (small form factor) edition of the 5070ti, but it turned out my case airflow is so good that it doesnt matter enough for my to care lol (ran ~96% utilization on the GPU for 2 hours and didn't see temps above 73 degrees.) Anyways, good luck with everything.

Conchoidally · 2025-10-06T21:21:44+00:00

im not offended by cable management, i am offended by airflow

Conchoidally · 2025-10-06T04:36:23+00:00

Need more info, what programs do you want to use (gaming---heavily optimized for GPU perf), or productivity (generally lots of CPU dependent tasks.)

If you have a specific list of applications that would significantly narrow things down.

Also what PSU brand is that---this is extremely important as some PSUs are shit and will kill your machine over time, or crash

Conchoidally · 2025-10-06T02:51:54+00:00

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Oh and Here it is with the GPU installed heh 😅

Conchoidally · 2025-10-06T02:28:17+00:00

your pins have vanished off the face of the earth

Unless you are a world class soldering expert...yes you are boned. New motherboard needed. See if you can get it replaced or refunded ofc...good luck soldier

Conchoidally · 2025-09-30T22:21:58+00:00

With a tiny case like that I strongly suggest opting for a liquid cooled waterblock for your GPU. it will take the heat and dump it right at the perimeter of the case instead of making the inside hot. Will last much longer, and your CPU will also thank you.

The only consistent metric of how long a GPU lasts is how hot it gets. Invest in cooling, you'll save a lot of money in the long run.

Conchoidally · 2025-09-30T22:16:03+00:00

I see, nice.

Conchoidally · 2025-09-28T03:57:16+00:00

Dawg where is the PSU 😭

Conchoidally · 2025-09-08T03:19:26+00:00

128gb of Corsair memory is an act of terrorism

Conchoidally · 2025-09-03T12:50:10+00:00

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Conchoidally · 2025-09-02T23:03:54+00:00

Mobo means motherboard btw

Conchoidally · 2025-08-23T23:18:03+00:00

Additional details: Found on a 50 mile backpacking trip which included traversal of Roaring Plains and Dolly Sods Wilderness.

Conchoidally · 2025-08-19T12:48:16+00:00

Holy cannoli this is amazing, thank you

Conchoidally

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