LtCmdrPAC

Hi all, I wanted to share my journey. I upgraded my Corsair One (old version) with an i7 7700K and GTX1080 ti with a 2TB NVME SSD and a 2080 ti. I am an avid VR gamer and I ran into issues with my overclocked 1080 ti. It was not giving me the performance I needed for eye candy and high resolution VR headsets. I therefore decided, after checking all these forums, to see if I can mod my Corsair One with an aircooled RTX 2080 ti. I initially tried to go through Corsair support, but an upgrade is not supported and they would not send me a 2080 ti from the newer Corsair One systems, nor the hardware to upgrade the AIO and mod a GPU myself. Watercooling was therefore out of the question. I understand that they redesigned the layout in the later versions of the Corsair One so the rad for the GPU might not even fit into the older version side panels. I did the same things like the initial poster. I measured the free space in my Corsair One and then went out to find a GPU that fits. The space, when removing the old GPU and radiator, that remains in the system is quite generous for airflow. And the chimney system with the fan on top will ensure proper cycling of air out of the machine. I checked 2080 tis from Gigabyte, EVGA, Asus and Zotac. I knew that I will not get the top of the line system with higher clock speeds and an extensive headroom for overclocking. I also knew that it needs to be a GPU based off the reference design from NVidia. I finally pulled the trigger on the Zotac Gaming GeForce RTX 2080 ti Twin Fan . I bought it off Amazon to have the option to return it if it does not fit or has horrible performance (aside from the fact that you can not really OC it without hitting max temp or max power). I then went onto removing the old GPU. The caveat is that it is held by 3 Phillips screws on the bottom of the case in a frame. You sill have to remove the foot of the case by popping off the front and rear panel (careful with the front panel due to the cabling for the LED strips) and then remove the 4 Phillips screws (2 on front and two on back at the foot on the front and rear panel) to pop off the bottom. Do not get fooled by the screws you can see inside on the bottom panel when opening the side panels. They only hold the grill in place. You can then remove the three Phillips screws holding the fan shroud to the center frame of the case. You will have to pop off all connectors into the GPU on the top, remove the cable that feeds the top fan (yes, the top fan is driven by the GPU), and disconnect the USB cable from the mainboard that drives the AIO. And disconnect the AIO from the SATA power connector on the front. You will also have to free the GPU from the clamp holding the card's top (one Phillips screw to remove and then swing the mechanism to the side) and slide down the white, rear holder of the card PCI-e connector to free it. You can then slowly move it out, first towards the front of the case, then angle the VGA connector side of the card out and then slide it out and disconnect the PDI-E power connectors. The good thing is that Corsair put a PCI-E connector there with two 8 pin power leads. You will need this for the 2080 ti. I had already upgraded my PSU to the Corsair 600W SF PSU. This is a drop in replacement. All cables fit. I also replaced the NVME SSD while I was at this place, because you can easily access the NVME slot when lifting the PCI-E extension cable. Be careful. The connector is held by 2 Phillips screws. The extension cable is fit snug under the opening in the main chassis. Pull the ribbon cable carefully towards the front of the case before you lift it away. This is the result: https://ibb.co/TbkBz1G I then fitted the 2TB Samsung EVO Plus NVME drive: https://ibb.co/dbMpcQB You can get to the screw holding it in place but use a magnetic tip to not loose the screw in there. You will need a plastic tool (I used an iFixit plastic spudger) to move the new drive into place and then slide it into the connector. Now to the GPU. The ZOTAC card is really a good choice to get the little extra power a 2080 ti gives you (this is another topic if you really need this increase and if it is worth it. I am not getting into this here!). https://ibb.co/nw5Tc79 They are nearly identical in size. The length is the most important because the bottom of the case has a ledge (the one that carries the 3 Phillips screws we had to remove) and longer cards will not fit unless you heavily case mod your Corsair one by dremeling off the ledge. You first connect the two power cables (add the dangling 2 extra PCI-E leads to the 6 PIN you had in place before and suddenly you have 2 8 PIN connectors. You then angle the power cable side (top of card) in first and then drop in the back and then the front. Align the PCI-E riser connector and slide the card in. You might have to move the power cable leads out of the way to get the card flush and the ZOTAC card will sit flush to the bottom ledge:https://ibb.co/MZ6JdcR But it fits in like a glove:https://ibb.co/bb5054n https://ibb.co/pZ2VqFp Secure it by sliding in the white holder at the PCI-E connector at the riser and close the bracket holding the top of the card: https://ibb.co/z6CPkS5 Reconnect the display cables (identify the length and connect accordingly: https://ibb.co/02z0Xfj We will obviously not be able to use the USB-C connector, but I did not need it anyway. https://ibb.co/WV8CVnT For the fan you will need a PWM extension and I had some lying around from a Noctua fan. I connected it to the case fan 1 connector and adjusted the fan curve to an aggressive fan curve, which still gives me a low RPM on the regular desktop but shoves out warm air when under load. You will loose the ability to connect GPU temp and fan curve, but you will just have to play with the settings in the BIOS to get the best result and still keep a quiet system. https://ibb.co/fkLXbS7 I installed Windows and ran some tests (Furmark). The temps are ok. The card will throttle if you overclock (like I said, not the fastest card out there but good enough). I can play VR games and the GPU temp sits usually at 78-82, outside of the temp limit (at 84-88 degrees C). Furmark will bring it to the temp limit. I set the OC in MSI afterburner to 104% power limit and 88 degrees C temp limit. My system is running great and quiet in regular 2D and will speed up all 3 fans under VR or heavy GPU load. But I wear headsets or HMD anyway, so I do not care. SO: is it possible to get a 2080 ti in the Corsair one (old model)? Yes Is it still quiet? Yes Will it be watercooled? No Will it void your warranty? Absolutely YES! Was it worth it for you? Yes (for me). Let me know if you have questions. ::pirate::