[SOLVED] Thermal throttling on 2070 Super

[shiznit426]

Hi everyone. A couple months ago, I built a PC which my friend almost exactly copied. The only difference between his and mine are the case (he has a Fractal Design Meshify C and I have the shorter Mini version) and the motherboard (MSI B450 Gaming Plus MAX (ATX) vs AsRock X570M Pro4 (mATX)). I know the Pro4 is a shitty board, X570 is overpriced etc etc, but I was forced to receive it as a gift because my dad din't trust me to upgrade the BIOS back when the MSI B450 MAX boards weren't available.
Anyway, here are the important cooling specs:

• CPU: Ryzen 5 3600 @ 1.325V and 4.15GHz
• GPU: Zotac Twin Fan RTX 2070 Super
• Case: Fractal Design Meshify C Mini Dark TG
• Fan setup: 2 Noctua NF-A14 front intake, 1 Noctua NF-A12x25 rear exhaust
• CPU Fan: Noctua NH-D15S

When I run benchmarks for a few minutes and when I play games that don't hit my monitor's refresh rate cap, the GPU throttles at 83-84C on automatic fan settings. My friend with the taller case gets GPU temps about 10C cooler with the same settings in MSI Afterburner (very light overclock, no voltage change). On 100% GPU fan speed, it tops out at 82C, right under the limit. That's better than blatant thermal throttling, but it's also far worse than my friend's situation and unbearably loud.
I have tried turning the PSU around to suck air out of the case since it's super overkill for my build power wise (750W). However, I think this may do nothing but rob the GPU of air to suck in. I haven't tested GPU temps at 100% fan speed with the PSU upside down.
The case fans and CPU fan are on "Silent Mode." The CPU stays slightly under 70C under full CPU-only load. It's an overkill but quiet solution.
The chipset fan is quite loud and annoying, but I don't know of its effects on GPU temps. The surface of the puny chipset "heat sink" feels hot whenever the PC is under load. There's an M.2 SSD under there as well. I don't know if it has a tangible effect on chipset cooling.
Here is a picture of my PC's insides: https://imgur.com/a/piHs6Sl I don't know how you're supposed to put images in a post. The "insert image" button didn't work with the Imgur link.
As you can see, there is very little room for the GPU fans to breathe (about 2cm). I could fit almost 13 US pennies under the highest point. The CPU cooler blocks the top PCIe slot. As I said before, my friend has a nearly identical PC aside from a taller case with more room under the GPU and an ATX B450 motherboard.

Is there anything I can do that won't cost a fortune?

 

[Phaaze88]

Is there anything I can do that won't cost a fortune?

Remove, or cut out the power supply shroud.
It's proximity to the gpu is 100% the issue.

If that's not an option, then it's a new case.

 

[richiestang_78]

Would turning the CPU cooler upwards allow you to place the GPU in the top PCIe? To me it seems like the low clearance is suffocating the card.

 

[shiznit426]

Would turning the CPU cooler upwards allow you to place the GPU in the top PCIe? To me it seems like the low clearance is suffocating the card.

I must have misread what you wrote in January because this is exactly what I did a couple months ago when I decided to tackle this issue again. It turns out that I installed the D15S upside down the first time around. Fortunately I saved that $10 over the standard D15 because otherwise my GPU would still be suffocating without the D15S' superior PCIe clearance. Anyway thanks for the proper solution to my problem even if I didn't take your advice when I should have! My GPU now tops out at 82C at only 60% fan speed or so with the power limit at 111%. Additionally, the fans are quieter at the same power level now (maybe an air pressure issue before, I don't know). I can get it several degrees cooler if I want to bump up the fan speed.