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Hot weather gaming?

DevPete

DevPete

DevPete

Associate
Joined
20 May 2012
Posts
55
I'm thinking about upgrading my graphics card, but I'm not sure whether it'll be usable in the warmer months. My room gets pretty hot during the summer (30+C). If I got a high end graphics card then it would be like having a small electric heater in the room :eek:. I could easily end up with 500+W once you add in the monitor etc.

How do people deal with this when they have high end graphics cards? Case temperatures may also be an issue, but I think I would over heat before the computer :D
I currently have a 3 fan Gigabyte 1660 Super, which is a fantastic card. The fans stop completely when I'm not gaming and tends to be ok when going flat out, although it does kick out quite a bit of heat. I think the 1660's are more efficient than the more modern cards or is there a way to make the modern ones more efficient (more performance per watt), e.g. by underclocking etc.?
 
Split air con personally….

If that’s not an option, fan in the room for your personal comfort and the best case air flow you can manage.
 
Air conditioning isn't really an option. I do have a portable unit, but it's a real pain to open the window etc. and it's very noisy.
 
DevPete said:
I think the 1660's are more efficient than the more modern cards or is there a way to make the modern ones more efficient (more performance per watt), e.g. by underclocking etc.?
Click to expand...

4070/4080/4090 are more efficient than a 1660 Super (link), but you can use v-sync (scroll down to the bottom for v-sync results, here), or undervolt to make any card better.

From a 1660 Super, I'd say get a 4070 with an overbuilt cooler (this might give you an idea which).
 
Use a large fan by an open window to pull cool air in overnight, to cool the room as much as possible, then shut the window during the day. Play older games and limit their frame rate; really old games use barely more power than idle on a modern PC. If that's not enough, then just stop gaming; there's plenty of other stuff to do.
 
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Brackish said:
Sit in your pants on a cotton towel with a fan on the go. Or get a mesh chair to aid airflow around your body.
As above is a better suggestion lol
Click to expand...

Basically what i did last year when we had 38c heat wave. PC didn't overheat though lol
 
CapitalOne said:
Split air con personally….
Click to expand...
This, but it's expensive.

I was able to get by with a $230 6000BTU window unit for ~2 years. It was kind of loud, and removing / reinstalling before and after tropical storms and a hurricane was a bit janky, but it kept me cool with over 900w of PC + sim rig equipment running.

When we upgraded to impact windows, we were told we couldn't modify the new windows at all if we wanted the insurance discount. So now we have a minisplit in the room instead. It's very quiet and effective, but the old window unit also kept me comfortable for a fraction of the cost.
 
Tetras said:
4070/4080/4090 are more efficient than a 1660 Super (link), but you can use v-sync (scroll down to the bottom for v-sync results, here), or undervolt to make any card better.

From a 1660 Super, I'd say get a 4070 with an overbuilt cooler (this might give you an idea which).
Click to expand...
Great reply . I thought I had seen something that suggested that the newer ones were less efficient, but I did think that was strange.

Looking at the data, I'm tempted to go for the 4080.

I usually use V-sync and limit framerates with my 1660. It works well and with the newer cards I can probably keep the fan speeds low even with the latest games.
 
DevPete said:
I'm thinking about upgrading my graphics card, but I'm not sure whether it'll be usable in the warmer months. My room gets pretty hot during the summer (30+C). If I got a high end graphics card then it would be like having a small electric heater in the room :eek:. I could easily end up with 500+W once you add in the monitor etc.

How do people deal with this when they have high end graphics cards? Case temperatures may also be an issue, but I think I would over heat before the computer :D
I currently have a 3 fan Gigabyte 1660 Super, which is a fantastic card. The fans stop completely when I'm not gaming and tends to be ok when going flat out, although it does kick out quite a bit of heat. I think the 1660's are more efficient than the more modern cards or is there a way to make the modern ones more efficient (more performance per watt), e.g. by underclocking etc.?
Click to expand...

Room fan pointing directly at the open window. Moves he warm air out the window like fans do in your case. Ok ok it'll be replaced by warm air again from the PC, but it keeps things manageable
 
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