Morning,
I’ve got a custom-built closed-loop cooling system in my rig, originally designed to cool both the CPU and GPU. A while back, I upgraded the GPU but didn’t want to install a water block and void the warranty, so I bypassed the GPU connections and kept it on air.
More recently, I upgraded to a 4090—which I’m really happy with and hoping will last me the next 2–3 years. Naturally, it runs hotter than any GPU I’ve had before, so I’ve been experimenting with undervolting. I’ve got it stable at 925mV, but surprisingly, the temps haven’t dropped significantly. That’s led me to take a closer look at the thermal dynamics inside my case.
For reference, my setup is:
Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic XL
360mm radiator with 3 fans bottom-mounted as intake
360mm radiator with 3 fans top-mounted as exhaust
No additional fans
Side intake area is occupied by a distro plate
Rest of the rig is in my signature
Now, I could be off here, but my thinking is: once the system reaches operating temperature, the bottom intake fans pull cool air through the lower radiator, which heats the air slightly as it absorbs heat. That warmed air is then blown directly onto the GPU, potentially contributing to higher gaming temps and explaining the minimal impact of undervolting.
This has me wondering—would I be better off ditching the custom loop in favor of a high-quality AIO? I’d mount intake fans on the bottom and side (replacing the distro plate), with the AIO and its fans top-mounted as exhaust. While this might result in slightly higher CPU temps, I’ve got plenty of thermal headroom there (currently maxing out at 60°C under load), it could improve overall airflow and reduce GPU temps.
Looking forward to hearing other ideas and thoughts.
I’ve got a custom-built closed-loop cooling system in my rig, originally designed to cool both the CPU and GPU. A while back, I upgraded the GPU but didn’t want to install a water block and void the warranty, so I bypassed the GPU connections and kept it on air.
More recently, I upgraded to a 4090—which I’m really happy with and hoping will last me the next 2–3 years. Naturally, it runs hotter than any GPU I’ve had before, so I’ve been experimenting with undervolting. I’ve got it stable at 925mV, but surprisingly, the temps haven’t dropped significantly. That’s led me to take a closer look at the thermal dynamics inside my case.
For reference, my setup is:
Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic XL
360mm radiator with 3 fans bottom-mounted as intake
360mm radiator with 3 fans top-mounted as exhaust
No additional fans
Side intake area is occupied by a distro plate
Rest of the rig is in my signature
Now, I could be off here, but my thinking is: once the system reaches operating temperature, the bottom intake fans pull cool air through the lower radiator, which heats the air slightly as it absorbs heat. That warmed air is then blown directly onto the GPU, potentially contributing to higher gaming temps and explaining the minimal impact of undervolting.
This has me wondering—would I be better off ditching the custom loop in favor of a high-quality AIO? I’d mount intake fans on the bottom and side (replacing the distro plate), with the AIO and its fans top-mounted as exhaust. While this might result in slightly higher CPU temps, I’ve got plenty of thermal headroom there (currently maxing out at 60°C under load), it could improve overall airflow and reduce GPU temps.
Looking forward to hearing other ideas and thoughts.