computer cooling question
 

My son got a Dell desktop that he uses for gaming. He upgraded the graphics card. Now, when he runs graphics-intensive games, the inside of the tower gets hot--both the GPU and the CPU. It seems like the GPU is just venting too much heat into the box.

He wants to get a cooling system for Christmas, but from what I can tell, those just cool the CPU, which might not help the overall problem if most of the heat is coming from the GPU. But possibly if he gets a AIO liquid cooling system and puts the radiator outside of the box, that might remove enough overall heat to help.

Or does he just need a bigger box?

As you can tell, I know very little about this area. Any insights into a solution are appreciated. I am happy to answer questions, send pics, etc. if it would help.

And thank you very much.

Not an expert, but just from what I have experienced he definitely needs a bigger box. I have a large tower with water cooler. My CPU/GPU temps never get out of hand, but my tower sheds enough heat that the room temp goes up 8-10 degrees when playing a heavy load game. A big box that distributes heat is much better than the small towers you usually get from Dell.

Maybe something like this?

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Can you share the model and specs?

Dell - G5 Gaming Desktop (this is the original tower)
Intel Core i7-10700F 2.9 GHz (original CPU--not overclocked or anything)
32GB Memory DDR4 (upgraded from 16 GB)
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti (upgraded from GTX 1660 Ti)
1TB SSD

I like the venting on that better.This is more like what I have.

Just a moment...

I'll ad that I have a 3080ti, so probably close to the same heat levels/ Maybe a bit more.

Not an expert but read the PC/laptop stuff and have built PCs from parts before, so take it FWIW ...

The i7-10700F is not as bad as the i7 12th & 13th gen on heat. I assume it was working fine with the 1660 ti and now the new 3660 ti is causing the problem with excess heat.

The G5 is a "compact" desktop so a bigger box will probably help. Maybe also a bigger fan.

The problem with a bigger box is that Dell uses proprietary motherboards & power supply. This means the placement of the holes where you screw down the original G5 motherboard may not work with the new non-Dell case.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...gaming-desktop


1) I would suggest maybe start off by taking off some of the rear back slot panels/covers (e.g. you take them off to insert new cards).

2) Assume all the desktop and GPU fans are working? If not sure, turn it on with the cover off and you should be able to visually confirm. Also, nothing is blocking the front/back airflow?

3) I've also read some GPU cards of the same model (e.g. 3060 ti) handle heat better than others. So maybe google/read up on that specific GPU card to see if there are any complaints/solutions that others have.

4) Consider applying some thermal paste to the i7-10700F. I do believe the 3060ti is generating most of the heat, but applying paste to the CPU will probably bring down the overall temperature down

5) I don't have any experience with how well external fan solutions work, so no advice there. Maybe get a cheap "fan" and see how it goes

6) Download HWInfo, it will help you monitor the CPU & GPU temperature (e.g. when you try possible solutions)

7) Possibly consider an early birthday present and get him a newer and bigger desktop during Cyber Monday. Probably can eBay the G5 for $200-$250.

Hope this helps some.

You are right that the problems started with the new card. It seems like the issue is that it is just producing too much heat in too small of a space. Which is an issue if Dell makes it hard to get a bigger space . . .

Everything said before pretty much covers it. An AOI cooler would probably lower temps since you're removing the heat generated by the CPU, but it's not going to make a significant impact.

The G5 case just doesn't look like it's built with airflow in mind. I watched a video where a guy upgraded every fan in the case and it had a modest, at best, impact on case temps. Just based on the video I watched i'm not sure there's even room to mount a AIO radiator in the case.

The best, and most expensive route, would be new case+MB+PSU. If going that route, would recommend a NZXT case. All of their cases are great, easy to work with, and they have wide range of price options. They can be difficult to find this time of year though. He shouldn't need anything more than a mid-tower case. A full tower would just be preference, room to work with, ease of access, etc.

Lian Li also makes great cases but I haven't personally worked with them. Your top 2 brands for most builders right now are NZXT and Lian Li though.

Some general tips for cooling. AIO coolers are great and easy to install. They can be very affordable too. There's really no reason not to get one. My current build has one that displays the CPU temp on a LED screen inside the case and the NZXT case I'm using comes with software that tracks temps of everything along with some other info. I'm using the NZXT H5 flow ($80 - mid tower) with a i713700k and a RTX 4080 and my idle temps are usually 28-30 for the CPU and 35-38 for the GPU.

Use pcpartpicker.com to select your parts. It makes life way easier as someone else has already done the research for you on whether your parts are compatible and it will also flag any known issues.

I'm a big fan of Fractal Design cases. I have a Torrent, which is great for air cooling. I think it came with 5x180mm fans. Not cheap though