My buddy recently decided he wanted to watercool his Asus GTX1070. There’s only two real choices: the NZXT G12 bracket (which replace the stock cooler) and the Corsair HG10 N980. The HG10 isn’t actually made for the 10 series, but is apparently easily modified to clear the VRM caps using some power tools. The G12 claims full compatibility with 1070 series cards, so he went with that. He also picked up a Corsair H75 which is fully compatible with the G12 bracket.
After taking the stock cooler off, it was immediately clear that the VRM caps were going to interfere with the curved standoffs the G12 uses to mount to the card.
Nothing a little grinding can’t fix! With a file, some thin washers, and about 15 minutes, it’s easy to modify the G12 to fit this specific card. The main issue here is the flanged lip visible on the bracket below. It hits the top of the VRM caps.
We started by grinding the lip off using a metal file. This only took about 3 minutes; the brackets are relatively soft.
A bit of black sharpie afterward covered it up well enough (these two brackets aren’t visible once the cover is in place).
We also added some very thin washers between the bracket and the topside of the PCB to add the slight extra bit of offset needed to clear the caps. They’re no more than 0.5mm thick.
After making these two changes, everything fit just like it should. We added a thin ring of foam between the white bracket and the H75 to make up for the width the thin washers add, but I think you could get away without doing this.
That’s it! Note that when you’re putting this bracket on, with or without this mod, you should only tighten the thumbscrews until you see the card flex ever so slightly. Once you see this, back each thumbscrew off by about 1 full turn. The cooler does not need to be pressed tightly against the die; over-tightening the cooler will put unnecessary strain on the PCB and components and can lead to premature failure of the card due to thermal cycling. It’s also possible to crack or damage the GPU die.
A few more pictures of the final product:
After everything was done how did it work out? Any vrm cooling issues or anything at all? Anything you would do differently. I’m about to do something very similar to my 1070 and I want to know how much it’s worth it
So far it’s worked quite well, no issues thus far. VRM cooling hasn’t been an issue, idle/loads temps are great.
you are my hero
do you have a screen capture of the temperatures with this watercooler? (msi afterburner, for example)
great post and thanks!
good job, read your review and gave it a go. i used the corsair h55 and its apparently a different however yet similar mounting mechanism. wont snap in place via twist, i need the cap, that works. next problem likely comes from the 1st, poor contact with the die after using .5mm washers. before i buy a new cooler im going to buy a copper gpu/cpu shim. i did notice the fan is basically on the opposite site and is not cooling the vrm’s. they are under a heat shield but i think they will be fine as they were never making stock contact. To top it all off the h55 has short tubes and barley fits the one spot on my case so im going to grind off the nzxt logo which should loosen the cables a bit. Did you have any of these issues? Thanks for any tips
The first time the cooler was installed, there were some temp issues. After reseating the cooler block and making sure the screws were tight (but not tight enough to bow the card) the temps were much better.
It seems like the biggest issue with these cards is that the VRM placements change frequently between gen and model. It bothers me slightly that the fan for the VRMs isn’t blowing on them, but, then again, they have their own heatsinks and the PC itself has good airflow.
update, got the shims and thermal pads today, installed and it works like a charm. this shims were machine cut, used a metal file to lightly smooth out the edges that make contact with the aio. shims were 20x20x1.2, i also us LM between each layer, aio in push/pull. thermal pads in place. yes thankfull for the heatshield. idle is at 37c from 54c passive and 47 with 50% fan speed, load in battelfield 1 is apx. 58-60 at ultra 144 fps before 70-73c, similar results in fortnite. set new personal records in benchmarks but nothing as good as the new low temps. i think the h55 is doing its job but a better cooler would yeild more effective results but i used what i had…
the shims have one polished side, so use that on the die…
also used klapton electrical tape around the area that sourounds the die to prevent from any spills… hopefully the theory sticks. kappa
What did you mean when you wrote “added foam”.
I needed a bit of material between the bracket and the cooler to offset the height added by using the washers. This wouldn’t have been needed if I had thinner washers, but could only find ones that were too thick. You’ll know you need to do this if the temps aren’t as low as you’d expect (this shows that the cooler block isn’t making good contact with the GPU die).
yet another update, got the gelid pwm adapter in the mail today already had a 4 pin dual splitter so now the pump and fan are on the gpu pcb. additionally i bent some accrylic, drilled some holes and mounted a 120mm fan to it and its angled at 45 degrees right on the vrm. temps are now at 52 c in fortnight on max settings 144z 1080p from 72, bat 1 is also 52. fan curve has been reduced from full speed to 20% over C. its cooler, quieter and much more of a custom feel. Thanks to Jay Greco for the courage to try this and put this out there for us to follow. Thumbs up!
Hi, I also think about putting a fan on top of the vrm, but with an h105.
Later I will tell you if you should change that h55.
your comments were very useful too, thanks!
(sorry for my English, I’m using Google translator since I’m Argentine)
Hi, i have the exact same card and ordered G12. Is it possible to rotate the curved standoff 90º, so they dont interfere with the VRM caps? Or do i need to grind it down?
Also, is the washer really neccesary?
I hope you see my questions, im getting G12 and x62 today.
If you are able to rotate it you wouldn’t need the washers. I can’t remember why I didn’t do that, it might be because the bracket won’t clear the PCIe slot if it extends down too far. This could be a good solution if it doesn’t interfere with it and the spacing is truly square.
Give it a shot and report back!
I tried to rotate them, but its not possible. The screw holes on the G12 bracket does not align, when you rotate the standoffs.
I ended up grinding the standoff and using two washers for all 4 screws on one side. It makes good contact and im staying below 50ºC 100% load on the GPU with Kraken x62 on silent mode.
Thank you so much for sharing this! Without this, i wouldnt have been able to mount the G12 bracket to my Asus 1070 Dual.
No problem! Glad you found it useful and took the time to share your attempt/solutions with everyone!
I got another question, i hope im not bothering you too much 🙂
Did you use the foams included in the G12 kit? I used them as instructed, and my PCB is bend up a slightly making me worried.
I dont know if you can do without the foams.
what size washers did you use
i dont think it will work, might have to drill additional holes in the bracket itself and not the mounting mechanism, the holes on the bracket align with the pcb mounting mechanism. i used 1.2mm washers and a 1.2mm copper shim found on amazon, i found that to be the optimal clearance for the capacitors. with that in mind, you do not, i repeat do not need to over tighten the thumb screws on the pump.
the gpu will sag, look for a gpu bracket on ebay/amazon etc etc. the foam pads dont help with sag just clearance for the pcb and nzxt bracket. i only used one and its fine. im going to order a bracket myself of make one from acrylic. as of now is fine , my pc sits behind 1 of my four monitors and its not a “eye soar.”