"I know a possible solution might be to remove the liquid cooler for the i9 and attach a liquid cooling radiator for the GPU in the top fan area, but I'm then not sure if my i9 would be sufficiently cooled." The R8 radiator box will only accommodate a 120mm radiator, not a 240mm like sold with the evga hybrid.  You would need to remove it and cut an extension in the upper chassis to make that work with a hybrid model. 9900k requires the AIO in the R8m
Hi everyone,  I have had an Aurora R8 with an i9 processor for three years, and it still feels state-of-the-art in so many ways. My GPU is an Nvidia GTX 1080, which works great for most games. However, I've been hoping for months to upgrade the GPU to a 3080 or better, so that I can make the move to 4K PC gaming. The problem is, as many of you know, the length of the R8 chassis is too short for most of the 3080/3090 cards. It seems that cards less than 11" in length would fit without requiring modifications, such as using a super-thin fan, and/or cutting the metal triangle wedge that prevents the case from closing due to the thickness of many of the 3080 models. Even with those modifications, most of the 3080/3080 Ti/3090 cards out there won't seem to fit. My dilemma is the following: I'm finally getting close on the EVGA queues for 3080 and 3090 and I may have the opportunity to buy one in the not-too-distant future. The only EVGA cards that would seem to fit easily are the XC3 (with hybrid all-in-one liquid cooler) or XC3 Hydro Copper, which are 10.35 inches in length.  Another complication: I already have a liquid cooler for my i9, and the R8 case isn't designed to accommodate liquid coolers for both the CPU and the GPU. Alienware confirms this in a reply to a comment in their video here: [URL] I had been wondering if you could install a second radiator for the GPU in the front fan section, but EVGA says that the cooler should be located above the graphics card to avoid issues, so that probably wouldn't be a reliable solution. I don't want to move the R8 into another case. And my R8 has way too much life left  in it for me to abandon it .Even if there is a workaround for a second liquid cooler, I had been reluctant to go the route of custom liquid cooling (which is required for the EVGA Hydro Copper series) and demands more expertise and skill than I honestly have. I'm very close to giving up the idea altogether of getting an RTX 3080 or higher card for this system. It's a shame as I thought this would be upgradeable for years to come, but I guess the designers didn't anticipate long graphics cards so soon. Maybe if a 3080 Founders Edition card becomes available, possibly it would fit, but I'm wondering if I should just forget about it, try cloud gaming instead. I know I could go to the 3070 or lower but it doesn't provide as much performance for 4K gaming as the 3080 and above.I know a possible solution might be to remove the liquid cooler for the i9 and attach a liquid cooling radiator for the GPU in the top fan area, but I'm then not sure if my i9 would be sufficiently cooled. But before I abandon the idea completely, I am posting this in case anyone has other ideas for possible solutions. Thanks very much!
Aurora R8 and EVGA 3080/3090 Cards--About to Give Up Hope