How much room do I need in my case to don't choke my GPU?

[Ru1Sous4]

I'm trying to understand how much room is enough between GPU and PSU to make the GPU not choking 

 

GPU: ASUS 1070Ti Strix

ITX and ATX cases: NZXT H200i and S340 Elite

I had My 1070Ti on my ATX case and when gaming the GPU was around ~62C and all good. When I move the 1070Ti for my ITX case, since it takes 2.5 slots the fans don’t have ANY room to push air as the pic shows so as expected the temps end up to rise to ~71C in load.

My question is if I replace my 1070Ti for a 1080 or any other card that take only 2 slots, will that GPU have the same temps when used in my ITX case and my ATX case or I will still see my temps a little higher in my ITX case if compared to my ATX case?

TL;DR: 125mm/0.5in of space between the GPU and the PSU will provide the same temps than if I have 250mm/10in between my GPU and my PSU?

 

 

  

[Jurrunio]

that increased space should improve thermals, but going from 1070ti to 1080 is a dumb investment.

[Ru1Sous4]

I agree is not a good investment, just use it as an example. 

I'm just trying to understand if that improvement is the same then just keep using an ATX case or is an improvement, but the GPU will still struggle and will not be perfectly cooled.  

[spudlab]

dude i got a 

Corsair Carbide Series 275R Mid-Tower ATX Gaming Case - White

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Carbide-275R-Mid-Tower-Gaming/dp/B079JSDDTC/ref=sr_1_9?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1533091652&sr=1-9&keywords=corsair+case

all the room youll ever need i get around 40c gaming on skyrim with a 1070ti and 30c idle

 

[spudlab]

also have 3 fans pushing air in case at front and 1 or 2 at the back for better air flow

 

[spudlab]

[spudlab]

this was a photo of my near finished rig haven't taken any recent photos

 

[spudlab]

[Jurrunio]

28 minutes ago, Ru1Sous4 said:

I'm just trying to understand if that improvement is the same then just keep using an ATX case or is an improvement, but the GPU will still struggle and will not be perfectly cooled.  

atx case of course gives the best cooling, but just having a wider gap for the graphics card to breath is good enough.

[Ru1Sous4]

I'm willing to move to ITX but only if the temps on the GPU will stay the same, that's what I'm trying to understand.

We know that have 10in or 20in of a gap between the GPU and PSU will give us the same results. I'm just wondering if having 0.5in will provide the same temps then 10in. I think the best is try a couple of 2slot GPU that I can put my hands on and see if the temps are the same or not in the H200 and the S340 cases. Will be annoying have to build the computer in both systems just for the sake of testing but well...

 

[-rascal-]

1/2 an expansion slot space worth (or less) will choke the GPU.

My recommendation is usually one full expansion slot space beneath the GPU, or more.

 

Why not move over to a mATX rig instead?

Right in between ATX (7 slots) and ITX (2 slots) -- standard mATX is 4 slots.

[Ru1Sous4]

I have a Air 240 but I really like the H200i. Maybe I will just have to buy the H500.

Meanwhile I will install the system on the Air240 and check if I get the same Temps that I get on the S340 just to make sure the 4 slots are enough. ??

[Mick Naughty]

Don’t see why you would need that much space. Depends more on airflow. Some people prefer rgb fan over great performing fans. 

 

[Ru1Sous4]

The best I can put in my H200i is an AIO 240 with push/pull and then a fan on top and other on the back. 
Will I have more airflow if I drop the AIO in the front and use just fans?
Change my PSU for an SFX will give me an extra inch, that's something else I can do to give it more room.

[Mick Naughty]

Don’t see a shorter psu doing much of anything given the case has a psu shroud. 

 

An an aio is gonna imped airflow even with push pull. Then depending on load of the cpu, it’s gonna be warm air. So the card is gonna suffer in every way. But you would just need to test it with different fan speeds and configs. 

 

Not sure what you are going for with sound and temps. My card would always take priority when it comes to cooling, being that is what’s going to effect my gameplay the most. 

[Ru1Sous4]

I didn't have an SFX PSU to test if that will reduce temps, so what I did was just put the PSU out of the case and test the temps lol that way I know if it will be beneficial or not get some more clearance. 

Results were
H200i: 75C / 52%
H200i (no PSU): 70C / 46%
S340 Elite: 62C / 37%

 

C = GPU Temps // % = Fan Speed

So I feel going to an ITX case will end up to create not ideal temps to my GPU and consequently more noise since the fans will be spinning faster.
I wish I had an H400 (mATX case) to see what kind of results I will have. Will the mATX provide me the same temps that I get from an ATX case, or will be something in between...