video card fan air flow pull air up into them or push it out?

chugzilla · February 2023

ok another question. our video cards i have the 3070 do the fans pull air up into them or push it out? i have never put my hand there to check it out and the reason I'm asking is would it be better to turn the Noctua pulling air from the top of the GFX card and pushing it out the top? then it can not only cool the CPU but maybe help with the GFX card? i have noticed it sets lower than the rear exhaust by about an inch so it's just a thought i had because you can have it going either direction. out the back or top and i have seen pictures with it pushing air out the top exhaust and it looks like it lines up exact. I'm not sure if that being lined up with either fan in either direction even matters. or if changing the direction would help just wanted to hear someone's opinion that either has tried this or thought about it also with any air coolers you can change the direction-orientation of.

[Edited the thread to add issue detail]

GotBanned · February 2023

The fans on your GPU pull air in and push it through the fins of the GPU heatsink.

Every case is different, so there's no absolute rule that will apply with every configuration. Usually cool air is introduced into the case from the front and bottom, while hot air is being exhausted from the top and rear. It's very beneficial to be able to exhaust the hot air from the case so that there's plenty of cool air to, well, cool your components.

Swapping the additional(?) top fan from push (exhaust) to pull (intake) can make a difference. But without testing I don't know how much and is it for better or worse. Few centigrades at most. I'd suppose that CPU temps might be a bit lower but at the cost of increased GPU temps.

The easiest way to lower your GPU temps is to undervolt it via MSI Afterburner and reapply thermal paste and check the thermal pads.

chugzilla · February 2023

well I'll have to watch videos on that ...can i use the thermal paste from the Noctua ? and what kind of thermal pads are the best? and my pc is only 6 months old with a 3070 the hottest it gets is 53 is that good or bad? and i do have the MSI afterburner program installed but haven't used it yet....and what i meant is the Noctua air cooler can be used either way pushing air out the back or the top i currently have it going out the back but thought that if maybe i change its direction to out the top it may help cool the GFX card by pulling any hot air that escapes out the top of the card if any does? and i also have 2 exhaust fans on the top of my 5000 case but there is no way to mount fans on the bottom to pull air in unless i modify it somehow.

GotBanned · February 2023

If you PC is that new and your 3070 is that low when playing demanding games, I don't think you need to worry about repasting or replacing thermal pads. Your temps are good as it is.

You can give MSI Afterburner a try. Undervolting should lower your GPU temps and power usage, but at the same time you should be able to overclock your VRAM quite a bit (around +800MHz seems to be common if I remember) for even more performance.

Can't really say anything certain about the orientation of the cooler. But it would be interesting to know what kind of difference, if any, turning a cooler has to CPU and GPU temps. But if you go ahead and turn your cooler 90 degrees, maybe flipping rear exhaust to intake would also help to lower CPU temps?

chugzilla · February 2023

well i most definitely am not sure what games are considered demanding i play RDR2 and Days Gone and Terminator Resistance that's about it and i have Shadow of the Tomb Raider and the new Ghostbusters Afterlife and poppy playtime chapter 1 and 2 and the new project playtime for my granddaughter and nothing goes past 53 on the highest in game settings they offer. and i play on an acer predator 1080p 27 in monitor set at 240hz. and yeah, maybe one day I'll get ambitious and turn the cooler and test it that way and adjust the rear fan and see if it changes anything. i was also thinking of removing the hdd bays as a few users have for better air flow to the card from the front fans and i also was thinking about putting an intake fan between the GFX card and power supply to help. I've seen that also in pictures.