[section_title title=”GPU Performance”]
GPU Performance
For GPU thermals we use the Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0. This powerful tool is a GPU-intensive benchmark that hammers graphics cards to their very limits and can not only be effectively used to determine the stability of a GPU under extremely stressful conditions, but also check the systems cooling potential under maximum heat output.
Given the size restrictions imposed by the Lian Li PC-Q21A, we are somewhat limited by the choice of GPU. With a maximum GPU length of 170mm, we found the perfect match to be the AMD R9 NANO. Not just because at 154mm (165 inc power lead) it’s diminutive as its name implies, but because this capable little card GPU clock frequencies can jump around a little. To combat this the NANO is given a Power Limit increase of +50 which stabilizes the core speed at 1000MHz, but thermal throttling will still occur if the card temperature reaches 85C+. The PC-Q21A does in fact do a pretty good job of cooling the NANO with a Delta of 52C (76C Max). This can be attributed to the NANO being very close to the case floor, but also because there is nothing really to impede the flow of cool air to the NANO.
Why didn’t you reverse the PSU so it’s fan was facing the CPU fan? That would allow the PSU to exhaust hot air from the CPU area and probably dramatically lower your CPU temps. Also I’m pretty sure you can fit a slim 120mm fan below the R9 Nano. It would be blowing directly into the graphics card, but some cool external air would get into the case to give the PSU and CPU fans cooler air to suck in. Also it’d create positive pressure in the case to prevent dust coming in and to push some hot air out.