GoKawiilYouTuber TrashBench finds GPU placement near side-intake fans cuts RTX 3080 temps 17°C
Channel TrashBench tested alternate component layouts in a dual-chamber PC case using an Asus ROG Strix RTX 3080, moving the GPU via PCIe riser cables to various positions while keeping case fans fixed. Placing the card directly against the side-intake fans produced the biggest gains: GPU core temperatures fell 16.7°C, hotspot dropped 19.3°C, VRAM cooled 14°C, and motherboard VRMs dropped about 8°C, with only a 1.1°C rise in CPU temperature.