Will Underclocking Reduce Heat Output While Idle?

[Lacuva]

Hey there,

Haven't been very active on here,so please excuse the chunkyness of this post mostly just browsing but I have an actual question that maybe someone can help me answer! 

 

Some background first:

I live in the state of Maryland, USA.  Summers here can get pretty hot, and recently we've had some serious heat waves where I am.  I run a (reference cooler design) EVGA GTX 660.  At the moment I'm not overclocked.  Right now according to Precision X, just idling at my desktop, my GPU clock is at 324MHz, and I can't see my memory clock.  The temperature is hovering around 26-27 °C (My room is on the lower side because I have my blinds closed.)

 

My question is this;

In my situation, would underclocking my GPU reduce heat output? I'm thinking no because it's already idling low, but correct me if i'm wrong.  And also, what about gaming? If I wanted to try and reduce heat output while gaming, should I just lower some of my graphical settings? Anything you can contribute is greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

[Tedster]

Welcome to the Forum.

 

This probably won't change idle clocks, no.

[Godlygamer23]

You can't take your GPU idle clock any lower without modding the BIOS. In addition, it cannot be lower than ambient temperatures - it's physically impossible.

[APrettyCoolWalrus]

Yay Maryland! I live north of Baltimore!

[VortexS]

Underclocking won't reduce heat in idle state, as you expected. You could try setting a custom fan curve.

[Lacuva]

What about while gaming? Any way to reduce heat output then? The card doesn't throttle and does boost properly, but my room does get warm. Would lowering my in-game setting help?

[Godlygamer23]

Would lowering my in-game setting help?

It could.

[Duskie]

You can't take your GPU idle clock any lower without modding the BIOS. In addition, it cannot be lower than ambient temperatures - it's physically impossible.