[SOLVED] Fan placement help

[MaGz562]

Hello THW community,
I just newly installed an rtx 2060, and was getting concerned with it being a bit toasty (rises to 60c idle) As of right now, my computer only uses two system fans, on on rear and one on top, none in front (case is nzxt h210) I was wondering if both fans should be exhaust, intake, or somewhere in between? Just trying to get the most efficient cooling with what I have.
Thanks.

 

[Phaaze88]

Idling in the 60s(C) is not a problem unless the 2060 is seeing 83C and up under load, or maybe the card's default fan curve is annoying(revving up and down constantly).

That said, it looks like the chassis' design is working against it.
Rear PCIe slots? Blocked.
The grille in the psu shroud? The psu itself blocks off a good chunk of the grille. The NZXT cable management bar also blocks air.
So then there's this little space between the psu and the cable bar for air to come up into the gpu, but the psu's cables and the size+shape of the grille's holes act as a strainer for air intake - a drive cage would take it further, if one is down there.

 

[MaGz562]

Idling in the 60s(C) is not a problem unless the 2060 is seeing 83C and up under load, or maybe the card's default fan curve is annoying(revving up and down constantly).

That said, it looks like the chassis' design is working against it.
Rear PCIe slots? Blocked.
The grille in the psu shroud? The psu itself blocks off a good chunk of the grille. The NZXT cable management bar also blocks air.
So then there's this little space between the psu and the cable bar for air to come up into the gpu, but the psu's cables and the size+shape of the grille's holes act as a strainer for air intake - a drive cage would take it further, if one is down there.

Hi there,
I understand my chassis is not ideal for a large gpu like the one I’m currently using. And yes, the gpu does reach about 85c when gaming. Do you suggest that I convert the top fan of my case to exhaust? Currently it is intake but I feel like since I now know there is a little air for the gpu fans in the bottom, the fan should be exhausting that hot air produced?
Kindly appreciated.

 

[Phaaze88]

The top fan should be exhaust.
While the gpu air intake is a weak point for that chassis, that card is going to be dumping its waste heat in the PC, except if you have one of those turbo/blower models.
So both top and rear exhaust will aid in getting the gpu's heat out faster.

 

[MaGz562]

The top fan should be exhaust.
While the gpu air intake is a weak point for that chassis, that card is going to be dumping its waste heat in the PC, except if you have one of those turbo/blower models.
So both top and rear exhaust will aid in getting the gpu's heat out faster.

I appreciate it,
One last question, my gpu fans reach 100% and the temp ranges from 79-86 in games that are somewhat gpu intensive. Should I be worried about this longterm? Or is the gpu just doing it’s job (my old 1050 ti was not noisy at all, and of course had terrible performance but did not rise in temps too much)

 

[Phaaze88]

Yes and no.
The hardware is designed to dial down to help protect itself. If thermals get really bad, it'll look to shutting the PC off on you, but it has to sit at the critical limit(85C) or keep climbing for a set amount of time for that to trigger.
So as long as that's not happening, it's still safe in a sense; throttling down clocks and voltage is working to keep the temperatures in check.

At the same time, you're not likely to get the most out of the card.
The Gpu Boost algorithm built into the cards has several preset auto OC curves(the reason the cards can boost far higher than their advertised base) but they're based on how often the power limit is reached and operating temperature.
Running elevated temperatures like that sees weaker boost curves through Gpu Boost.


Depending on the model of the 1050Ti and 2060 in question:
1050Ti: in the realm of 75 - 150w
2060: in the realm of 160 - 250w
Faster cards also mean more work for the cpu, so it could be working harder and using a little more power. You may have gone up in power use by an amount that wasn't insignificant.

 

[MaGz562]

Yes and no.
The hardware is designed to dial down to help protect itself. If thermals get really bad, it'll look to shutting the PC off on you, but it has to sit at the critical limit(85C) or keep climbing for a set amount of time for that to trigger.
So as long as that's not happening, it's still safe in a sense; throttling down clocks and voltage is working to keep the temperatures in check.

At the same time, you're not likely to get the most out of the card.
The Gpu Boost algorithm built into the cards has several preset auto OC curves(the reason the cards can boost far higher than their advertised base) but they're based on how often the power limit is reached and operating temperature.
Running elevated temperatures like that sees weaker boost curves through Gpu Boost.


Depending on the model of the 1050Ti and 2060 in question:
1050Ti: in the realm of 75 - 150w
2060: in the realm of 160 - 250w
Faster cards also mean more work for the cpu, so it could be working harder and using a little more power. You may have gone up in power use by an amount that wasn't insignificant.

Would you suggest I do anything about this situation? Perhaps install more fans or something in graphics settings?

 

[Phaaze88]

More fans isn't going to do much due to the hard chokepoints mentioned earlier.
Spending nothing, the most you can do is lower the gpu's power limit a little bit via Msi Afterburner, or Precision X(EVGA cards).
If you're willing to spend, then a brand new chassis that doesn't choke the gpu - or any future gpu upgrades - as hard.

 

[MaGz562]

More fans isn't going to do much due to the hard chokepoints mentioned earlier.
Spending nothing, the most you can do is lower the gpu's power limit a little bit via Msi Afterburner, or Precision X(EVGA cards).
If you're willing to spend, then a brand new chassis that doesn't choke the gpu - or any future gpu upgrades - as hard.

I appreciate the help once again. After tweaking with afterburner and the area around the gpu for more stable cooling, I now get around 42c idle (as opposed to the 60c) and gaming is around 74-81.