Alternative cooling for Zotac RTX 2060

[Tomaz]

Hi,
I'm looking into changing factory cooling for my Zotac RTX 2060 since it makes way too much noise, I am simply looking for a quieter solution. Now my question is, what are my options? I've been googling for an entire day for aftermarket coolers and fans and couldn't find one that would fit this graphics card. Could I just install some CPU cooler on it or should the entire surface of the card be vented? Could I simply change the fans for a quieter ones? (the factory ones are 87mm, with CTC of 42 mm with 3 screws). By removing the protective frame, I have more space on the cooler so I could put up a couple of larger fans, would that work? Are there any dangers I'm getting into by doing this?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hi,
I'm looking into changing factory cooling for my Zotac RTX 2060 since it makes way too much noise, I am simply looking for a quieter solution. Now my question is, what are my options? I've been googling for an entire day for aftermarket coolers and fans and couldn't find one that would fit this graphics card. Could I just install some CPU cooler on it or should the entire surface of the card be vented? Could I simply change the fans for a quieter ones? (the factory ones are 87mm, with CTC of 42 mm with 3 screws). By removing the protective frame, I have more space on the cooler so I could put up a couple of larger fans, would that work? Are there any dangers I'm getting into by doing this?

Just adjust the fan speeds?

You can’t amend the cooler on a 2060

 

[Tomaz]

Just adjusting the fan speeds won't work, since my GPU reaches 80 degrees on full load with fans at 100%, so that's out of the question.
And what do you mean I can't change the cooler on 2060? Surely there is some solution, by either changing the fans or the cooler and going for some custom solution?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Just adjusting the fan speeds won't work, since my GPU reaches 80 degrees on full load with fans at 100%, so that's out of the question.
And what do you mean I can't change the cooler on 2060? Surely there is some solution, by either changing the fans or the cooler and going for some custom solution?

1. Thee there are no aftermarket coolers for the 2060, only for high tier models such as 3080

2. you would void your warranty if you were to change anything physically on the card

I don’t understand what you mean by “the card reaches 80c with fans on 100%”, is there something else you were expecting? There’s no need to run the fans at 100%, it’s obviously going to be loud!

 

[TonyCarter]

What is your whole config? Could it be a general airflow issue due to a small/quiet case, or maybe something else in there is creating lots of heat?

 

[Tomaz]

1. Thee there are no aftermarket coolers for the 2060, only for high tier models such as 3080

2. you would void your warranty if you were to change anything physically on the card

I don’t understand what you mean by “the card reaches 80c with fans on 100%”, is there something else you were expecting? There’s no need to run the fans at 100%, it’s obviously going to be loud!

I understand the warranty issue. As far as fans go, I was saying that my card, when it is under load, reaches 80c and hence fans go 100% speed (about 2000 RPM I believe) and they are very loud at that speed, and obviously there is no need to run fans at 100%, but if I don't, my card will burn Also, there is no need to run fans at 100% by using Word and Excel and not playing games, but that also is not the solution I'm after. I'm trying to figure out how can I quiet down my fans (without handicapping my card or similar - I want to use its full power).

TonyCarter: no my case is fine, I have 34c when my graphic card is at 100%, so that isn't an issue. I think it's normal that it reaches 80c anyway, it's not alarming. But I can't stand the sound of fans while playing games, it's just too much and I want to bring it down.

Like even if I'd have to super glue some silent fans on the cooler I would do it, whatever, but I'm searching for some more "standard" solution, if it exists. This is why I started this thread, to see if someone has done it and how or if someone has some ideas on how to do it.

 

[SpyderTracks]

and obviously there is no need to run fans at 100%, but if I don't, my card will burn

But what makes you say that? What temp do they run at at normal speeds? 80c is cool, there’s a lot more headroom on the card.

I'm trying to figure out how can I quiet down my fans (without handicapping my card or similar - I want to use its full power).

that’s what I’m asking, what makes you think it’s overheating? So far it all seems normal?

I have 34c when my graphic card is at 100%, so that isn't an issue. I think it's normal that it reaches 80c anyway, it's not alarming. But I can't stand the sound of fans while playing games, it's just too much and I want to bring it down.

You don’t need the fans running at 100%. Of course it’s going to be loud. What happens when you run a normal fan profile?

 

[Tomaz]

Spydertracks, let me explain again: when my GPU is 100% under load, and fans spin at 100% speed, the temperature is 80c. Maximum working temperature of this card is 88c according to NVIDIA, after that is shuts down to prevent damage (so no, there is not a lot of headroom). If I were to lower fan speed, the card would burn (because acceptable fan speed for me in order to not disturb me would be probably around 50%, which is not enough to keep the temperature in safe zone when GPU is under load).

 

[SpyderTracks]

Spydertracks, let me explain again: when my GPU is 100% under load, and fans spin at 100% speed, the temperature is 80c. Maximum working temperature of this card is 88c according to NVIDIA, after that is shuts down to prevent damage (so no, there is not a lot of headroom). If I were to lower fan speed, the card would burn (because acceptable fan speed for me in order to not disturb me would be probably around 50%, which is not enough to keep the temperature in safe zone when GPU is under load).

You're misunderstanding how GPU's work with temperatures, it's not like CPU's, they have a target temperature that they are SUPPOSED to run at, even more the case with lower end cards such as the 2060. The target temperature is 84c, that's what it SHOULD be running at.

You don't need to run the fans at 100%, you can reduce the fan curve, the card will happily take care of it's temps as it needs to.

You've got a very budget build I'm afraid, it's not going to run cool or quiet, it's not designed to do that, you'd have to increase the budget an awful lot to get a quiet running system.

The case is extreme entry level and not the best at cooling. If you open the side you will see temps come down significantly.

You have unreasonably high expectations for what you've bought I'm afraid.

 

[Tomaz]

Hmm, OK, never heard of that (the target temperature), google doesn't give me any info on it, so I can't argue about it. Anyways, it's not how the GPU works, some GPUs have this function of "target temperature" where it will adjust its clock and such when temperature gets above it, but again, the GPU handicaps itself in that case, which I said I don't want - I want to use full power of my GPU and have it quiet at the same time.

I agree with you that my build is a very budget one. If I knew before how things will go, I would choose a more expensive one.

Anyways, if someone else did any experimentation of custom cooling of RTX 2060, please do tell me! What I achieved so far was a couple of things. I removed the stock ZOTAC fans (which are really terrible) and put one and then two 120mm fans to see how it goes, as seen here:

And here:

The results are good - with a single fan at 1200 RPM I achieved max. temperature of 83c after 15min of GPU stress test (100% GPU load), and 79c with two 120mm fans. One fan is around 14dB, the other around 17dB (super silent). So I just ordered a couple of smaller ones (92mm, 17dB, high static pressure) which should do the job fine, I just need to construct a frame to hold them. It looks ugly, but it works, and my computer is super silent now. The two fans that I ordered costed me around 25 EUR (two Noctua fans). I'll obviously improve on the frame, this was just an experiment But it's a start. If someone has some suggestion for possible improvements, do tell.

 

[TonyCarter]

What happens when you close your case and all that polystyrene block the airflow again?

Or is this just a MacGyvered test rig?

 

[Tomaz]

What happens when you close your case and all that polystyrene block the airflow again?

Or is this just a MacGyvered test rig?

It's just a temporary thing to do my tests to see how well these fans work I'll find some better solution to hold those fans in place!

 

[Tomaz]

My 92mm Noctua fans came in so I finished the project successfully. I used some silicon to glue them together (as a lot of people some to do) and some zip ties, so I can easily remove them in case of problems.

The results:
After prolonged stress test on the GPU (100% load for 15 minutes), the temperature never went above 69c. Fans ran at 1800 RPM (these are Noctua NF-B9 redux-1600) and are very quiet. Note that the default fans ran at ~2000 RPM and the temperature went up to 80c. So the new fans are way more quiet and way more effective. Now I just need to sort out the cables and I'm done. Mission successful