In short: PC manufacturers have long tried to find the most optimal cooling configurations for their components, shuffling fans, cables, etc. to find the best configurations. One YouTube channel decided to try something different: moving the components themselves. This involved moving the GPU next to the side intake of a case, which resulted in a 17 degree temperature drop.
The experiment was conducted by TrashBench, which used an Asus ROG Strix RTX 3080 in a dual-chamber case. Cooling was provided via three side intake fans, a rear exhaust and a top-mounted 360mm CPU AIO.
The idea was to change the placement of components without moving the case fans. PCIe riser cables were used to allow the graphics card to be removed from its usual slot on the motherboard.
The tests included looping 3DMark Time Spy alongside 7-Zip running on 12 CPU threads. All fans remained at fixed speeds, each configuration was tested for ten minutes, and temperatures were averaged over the last five minutes.
The first location of the GPU was on the bottom of the case, so the bottom mesh had to be removed as it touched the card’s fans. GPU temperatures barely changed, but the CPU and motherboard VRM dropped by about 4°C and 7°C, respectively. With traditional vertical mounting, GPU temperatures deteriorated slightly while everything else improved slightly.
However, placing the card directly on the side inlet made all the difference. GPU core temperatures dropped 16.7°C, hotspot dropped 19.3°C, and VRAM cooled 14°C. The motherboard VRMs also dropped by around 8°C, while the CPU only warmed up by 1.1°C.
Moving the card behind the intake fans to the rear chamber improved bearing temperatures, but could not keep up with the previous arrangement.
Next came the CPU. Relocating the cooler would have introduced another variable, so TrashBench placed the GPU back in its usual position and swapped the cooler fans from exhaust to intake. The CPU temperature dropped by around 6 °C, but the graphics card suffered from the warm exhaust air from the cooler.
By combining the intake cooler with the GPU next to the side intake, both components are improved over the original. This resulted in a 3.3°C reduction in CPU temperature and a 14°C cooler GPU hotspot, sacrificing some GPU cooling for better overall balance.
TrashBench acknowledges that the experiment was not strictly scientific and that different cases, fans and fan positions will likely alter the results. But as the broadcaster points out, it shows that the regular PC layout may not be the best.
TrashBench runs many such experiments. Last year, two CPU tower coolers were connected to an RTX 2060, reducing temperatures by 31°C.
