GPU Heating the Side panel

[FireFox]

Hi everyone.

Last night for some reason i touched the side panel ( Tempered Glass ) of my Computer's case and i noticed that right in the area where the GPU ( Evga 1080 FTW ) is it was warm, till a few days ago i was using a 1080ti FTW3 which i assume it was heating the side panel too but i can't confirm it, however this happens just when playing games, it takes 40 minutes to the panel to heats up, now my question is does a GPU generates that much heat?

 

[newtekie1]

does a GPU generates that much heat?

Yep.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Some GPUs generate up to 90'c. I would be surprised if the case still felt ice cold after 20mins of gaming.

 

[Caring1]

Tempered glass doesn't like large temperature fluctuations and can spontaneously shatter, not that I think it will happen on a computer case.
Perhaps try a vertical GPU mount.

 

[FireFox]

Some GPUs generate up to 90'c. I would be surprised if the case still felt ice cold after 20mins of gaming.

After 1 hour playing games temp inside the case was 28c and the air that was coming from the rear was cold.

Perhaps try a vertical GPU mount

That's a good idea.

 

[joemama]

High end GPUs all produce a lot of heat, most of the power it draws turns into waste heat. Although the GPU could go up to 70~80C, the temperature of the hot air exhaust is actually way lower, it may still feel hot to your hand.

 

[EarthDog]

Yep.

lol, yep.

No reason to mount it vertically or touch it.

 

[tabascosauz]

It's normal, but it's not something people usually appreciate due to the spaciousness and width of most ATX towers. Most coolers on the market are of an "open" type, and dissipate their exhaust out the sides of the cooler - either directly at the motherboard, or directly at the side panel. That heat doesn't just disappear. But the temperature of the air is nowhere near the temps on silicon or even the fins.

In SFF cases, that side panel really heats up, and it takes much less than half an hour to do it. Still not a concern, except as to how to extract that hot exhaust from the case quickly enough.

In a vented case like the SM580 or NR200, vertical mounting is a good way around the issue and to get the exhaust out the case in a more natural fashion without creating a "hot pocket" between the GPU and side panel. However, you have a solid tempered glass panel and would be asking the air-cooled GPU to intake air from a solid panel...

 

[Flanker]

I wouldn't worry about it. My whole case becomes uncomfortably hot to the touch when folding.

 

[c12038]

swap the front fans to extraction and rear fans to blow in the case you will deffo notice a difference.

6 fans blowing in all you are doing is forcing hot air around in the case with very little extraction of hot air with the 2 rear fans.

 

[kayjay010101]

Some GPUs generate up to 90'c. I would be surprised if the case still felt ice cold after 20mins of gaming.

FYI, you measure heat generation in Watts, not Celcius. Celcius (and fahrenheit & kelvin) just measure an object's temperature, it does not measure how much heat it is putting out. A really poor cooler can make a GPU be 100C, that does not mean it produces more heat than another GPU at 80C; since the latter might have a better cooler and takes more of the heat away. For example, GPU A sips 150W but is passively cooled (no fans) and sits at 100C under load. Meanwhile, GPU B sips 250W but sits at 80C under load since it has a better cooling solution. So measuring in terms of temperature isn't indicative of how much heat is being generated, only of how much residual heat there is where you measure.

After 1 hour playing games temp inside the case was 28c and the air that was coming from the rear was cold.


That's a good idea.

28C ambient inside the case is absolutely normal, depending on your room temperature. But unless your room is freezing that's 100% OK.
Vertical GPU mount isn't necessary but you can do that if you want. Just make sure the fans have room to breathe since most vertical mounts push the fans right into the side panel and choke the GPU.

swap the front fans to extraction and rear fans to blow in the case you will deffo notice a difference.

6 fans blowing in all you are doing is forcing hot air around in the case with very little extraction of hot air with the 2 rear fans.

What does extraction and blow mean in this case? Extract = exhaust, blow = intake? In that case, you've got it backwards. Front to back is the most common setup, as in front intake and rear exhaust. But yes, ideally you should have at least some fans exhausting air to create an airflow path. Go with all intake and you're relying on cracks in the case to push out the heat which is not very efficient. Go with all exhaust and you rely on cracks in the case to "suck in" cold air which is even worse.

 

[EarthDog]

I wouldn't worry about it. My whole case becomes uncomfortably hot to the touch when folding.

lol, that's a problem, don't you think? You've only got a locked 8400 and a 1080.... my gpu alone eclipses that mark by far and my chassis isn't 'hot to the touch' when folding.

 

[Flanker]

lol, that's a problem, don't you think? You've only got a locked 8400 and a 1080.... my gpu alone eclipses that mark by far and my chassis isn't 'hot to the touch' when folding.

Yeah I was a pretty worried but the sensors show GPU below 80c, CPU below 60c, and everything else looks fine. Maybe I'm just sensitive

 

[EarthDog]

Yeah I was a pretty worried but the sensors show GPU below 80c, CPU below 60c, and everything else looks fine. Maybe I'm just sensitive

....or maybe you just need better airflow, lol...

My son has a Mini ITX case with a 980 and a 7900X in it... she's warm to the touch... but it isn't close to 'uncomfortably hot'.

 

[Flanker]

....or maybe you just need better airflow, lol...

My son has a Mini ITX case with a 980 and a 7900X in it... she's warm to the touch... but it isn't close to 'uncomfortably hot'.

I agree. But I'm not spending more money on my PC until something is broken, otherwise my wife will have me hanging outside of the windows of our apartment and say I can get all the airflow I need that way.

 

[EarthDog]

I can see how $20 in fans can ruin a marriage... ... GL!

 

[Flanker]

I can see how $20 in fans can ruin a marriage... ... GL!

In my case (haha stupid pun), I don't see any other fan slot. So if I had it my way, I would get a new case and some stupidly huge heatsinks and slap even more fans on them. And probably upgrade everything else while I'm at it...

 

[FireFox]

What does extraction and blow mean in this case? Extract = exhaust, blow = intake? In that case, you've got it backwards.

I am sure that's what he meant.

6 fans blowing in all you are doing is forcing hot air around in the case with very little extraction of hot air with the 2 rear fans.

Actually 2 rear and 3 top exhaust

Anyway the Side panel is warm because the GPU is blowing the heat towards the panel.

 

[Bill_Bright]

does a GPU generates that much heat?

It is important to note that GPUs are often the most power hungry devices in our systems - often significantly more so than CPUs. And whenever there is power consumption, there is wasted energy - wasted in the form of heat. With all else being equal, with more energy consumed, there's more waste and thus more heat.

Tempered glass doesn't like large temperature fluctuations and can spontaneously shatter

Ummm, while this is technically true, it is misleading. All glass formulations dislike "rapid" changes in temperature. But all glass can tolerate large changes in temperature just fine. From extreme cold to extreme heat. That is one reason why tempered glass is used in oven doors, boiler inspection plates, car windows, refrigerator doors, and elsewhere. Even cookware (for the stovetop and inside the oven) is often made of tempered glass. Heck, there are even glass top stoves made of tempered glass that can tolerate rapid changes. Tempered glass is not just just about being stronger than regular window glass.

In any event, there's not going to be any "rapid" changes encountered by a computer case side panel.

And yes, tempered glass shatters. And that's a good thing because it shatters into tiny, relatively safe pieces instead of sending shards of deadly glass across the room.

Spontaneously? No. Not unless the glass is extremely hot and you throw ice cold water on it. Or you hit it hard with a heavy hammer.

After 1 hour playing games temp inside the case was 28c and the air that was coming from the rear was cold.

28°C is nice and cool.

In SFF cases, that side panel really heats up

And actually, that side panel is acting like a heatsink - a good thing.

swap the front fans to extraction and rear fans to blow in the case you will deffo notice a difference.

I personally would not recommend this. You generally want "front to back" flow through the case. The problem is power supplies - they exhaust out the back. You don't want part of the flow going one way and part going the other as they will work against each other and heat may build up inside. IF the case supports a sealed chamber for the PSU then fine. But if that is the case, front-to-back or back-to-front should not make any significant difference.