It’s no secret that adequate cooling is the most crucial aspect of a gaming PC. You could have the greatest hardware available, but if the temperatures rise too high, the system will underperform. GPU cooling has never been more crucial than now, with GPUs becoming more powerful with each new iteration.
You’re in the thick of a battle in your favorite online game, you’ve got your enemy in sight, and you’re about to pull the trigger when your FPS dips and lag sets in.
By the time the smoke clears and your FPS returns, you’ve been defeated, all because your graphics card became overheated and began chugging along.
It’s no secret that adequate cooling is the most crucial aspect of a gaming PC. You could have the greatest hardware available, but if the temperatures rise too high, the system will underperform.
GPU cooling has never been more crucial than now, with GPUs becoming more powerful with each new iteration.
Today, we’ll look at why excellent cooling for your graphics card is so crucial, as well as what options you have.
The value of graphics card cooling
As we mentioned at the beginning of the essay, efficient cooling is the most significant factor in gaming PC performance. This is particularly true for your graphics card, which serves as the heart of your gaming experience.
You could buy the most recent AORUS GeForce RTX 3080 XTREME 10G and install it in your gaming system, but if the cooling isn’t enough, you won’t be getting the most out of the card. Hotter graphics cards result in decreased frame rates in games.
Depending on the brand of GPU, multiple cooling systems are pre-installed on graphics cards. It is also common knowledge that some cooling solutions are superior to others.
With many GPUs shipping with a factory overclock, it is critical to keep the card’s temperatures as low as possible. This is especially important if you intend to manually overclock your graphics card.
What should I know about cooling my GPU using air?
Air cooling is the most prevalent type of cooling for graphics cards. In its most basic version, this entailed merely blowing cool air across the GPU to keep it cool.
Open Air Coolers and Blowers are the two most frequent types of air cooling for graphics cards. Both strategies accomplish the same purpose, although they do so in slightly different ways.
The open-air cooler is the more frequent of the two. This usually entails installing numerous fans on the GPU that take in cold air and pass it across the heatsink. The warm air is diffused into the interior of the case after the cool air is pushed across the heatsink.
Your case fans will subsequently be responsible for extracting this warm air from your case so that it does not raise internal temperatures. Because of its numerous fan configuration, open-air coolers provide excellent cooling.
A blower is another sort of air cooler. It draws cool air onto the graphics card via a fan, just like an open-air cooler, but unlike an open-air cooler, blowers have a plastic enclosure that covers the GPU.
This permits cold air to circulate the heatsink as well as other areas of the card. The warm air is subsequently expelled from the GPU’s rear and the casing. This prevents heated air from passing through the case’s inside.
The noise produced by blower-type coolers is a minor disadvantage. Blowers and open-air coolers are known to be noisier. They also have fewer fans connected to the cooler.
Is it beneficial to use water cooling to keep a graphics card cool?
Aside from air cooling, liquid cooling can be used to keep your graphics card cool. Liquid cooling, as opposed to standard air coolers, works by pumping liquid via a radiator and then transferring the cooled liquid over the GPU to keep it cool. Liquid coolers repeat this procedure indefinitely to keep your card cool.
There are benefits to employing liquid cooling over air cooling. When you choose to liquid cool your graphics, you often gain additional cooling performance, which is useful when you want to overclock your GPU.
When you overclock your graphics card, the temperature of the card rises. Liquid cooling allows you to resist these higher temperatures while also fine-tuning your cooling arrangement.
There are two choices for liquid cooling your graphics card: AIO coolers and bespoke water blocks.
AIO coolers are the most convenient way to liquid cool your graphics card. They are typically pre-assembled and installed by the graphics card manufacturer, such as the AORUS GeForce RTX 3080 XTREME WATERFORCE 10G, and all you have to do is install the card and radiator.
AIO coolers are amazing for their simplicity and high performance, but you are frequently limited to the options available when selecting an AIO cooler.
Water blocks, on the other hand, offer a plethora of customization choices and are intended to fit within a bespoke loop arrangement.
This option is intended for more experienced users because you must understand how water loops work and have prior experience designing them.
The advantage of a water block is that you can either buy a card with one already installed, as is the AORUS GeForce RTX 3080 XTREME WATERFOCE WB 10G, or you may install one yourself. As previously stated, this gives you a lot of options, but you’ll need to have a lot of expertise in designing gaming systems with custom water loops.
What factors should I consider when selecting a cooling solution for my graphics card?
When it comes to cooling your graphics card, there are a few alternatives open to you, which might make deciding which road to pursue seem a little difficult. The reality is that, at the end of the day, you just need to consider your requirements.
Are you just looking for something simple that works well? If this is the case, you should probably opt for a GPU that has strong air cooling.
If you opt to pursue the air-cooling route, make sure to conduct some research on the various graphics cards available. Even if they appear comparable, their cooling performance can differ.
If you want to get your hands dirty with your graphics card and experiment with overclocking, a liquid cooling option is a way to go. AIO coolers will often perform everything you need them to do, however, if you already have a custom water loop built, you should consider obtaining a water block.
Aside from your necessities, you must also consider your budget. If you choose liquid cooling, you should be aware that it will be more expensive than air coolers. So consider your budget and whether the price versus performance is worthwhile to you.
Final thought
Finally, always keep the size of your computer case in mind. Ultimately, your GPU must fit inside the enclosure.
Check that you have enough radiator support for your liquid cooling system, or if you choose air cooling, that you have enough room for the graphics card you wish to buy.