Crazed modder straps DIY copper waterpipes to GTX 1060, sets world overclocking records in 12600KF category — card hits 2,202 MHz, takes top six Fire Strike scores

(Image credit: TrashBench)

TrashBench, an overclocking and BIOS tuning enthusiast, has pushed the old favorite Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 to 2,202 MHz using a DIY cooler. The Redditor and TechTuber stuck to the aging GeForce’s stock BIOS and stock voltage, but the home-made copper pipe cooling can only be reasonably described as ‘something else.’ Aesthetics aside, the cooler propelled this card to a stunning five-fold victory in the official 3DMark Fire Strike chart (for systems packing a Core i5-12600KF).

GTX 1060 Overclocked to 2200MHz — Still Runs Cyberpunk in 2025! - YouTube

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With their trusty old Asus GTX 1060 6GB in hand, TrashBench removed the stock cooler and prepared for the GPU refit by crushing an assortment of copper piping lengths, acquired from a home DIY store, for better component contact.

Next, the now adjusted lengths of copper pipe were positioned over strategic areas of the PCB (VRMs, VRAM), and G-clamped in place. A water block and pump were attached to the GPU, and flexible pipes included the copper lengths in a loop – fed by a sizable jerry can of iced water for the reservoir.

With the DIY cooler setup ready to roll, and sensibly attached some distance from the host PC using a lengthy riser cable, TrashBench started work. Fiddling with the curves in MSI Afterburner, they walked the GPU clocks up, while monitoring temperatures. “I ended up with a pretty clean 2,202 MHz on the core stable enough for a full Firestrike run, and a score good enough to crack into the global Top 5 for GTX 1060s and a 12600kf,” noted TrashBench. But we notice they subsequently got six of the top six scores – even better.

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13% faster performance

For context, the stock cooled Asus GeForce GTX 1060 that TrashBench started with achieved an ‘excellent’ 12,675 Fire Strike score just ahead of the modding work. With the new plumbing in place, it maxed out with a score of 14,302. That’s almost a 13% improvement in the overall benchmark score.

TrashBench now has their eye on some fun based on a GTX 1080 Ti, and teased the possibility of adding voltage mods to the tuning mix for this legendary GPU. Stay tuned.

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Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

4 Comments Comment from the forums

Alastair_S1D

Maybe the fastest for a 12600f. But the line, 6 of the top 6 scores? Tell me 3d mark leader board means nothing without telling me the 3d mark leader board means nothing. you could take 100 positions on 3dmark because any score counts. It should be your best score to count.

This score doesn't even break the top 30 on HWbot.
Reply
TrashBench

Alastair_S1D said:
Maybe the fastest for a 12600f. But the line, 6 of the top 6 scores? Tell me 3d mark leader board means nothing without telling me the 3d mark leader board means nothing. you could take 100 positions on 3dmark because any score counts. It should be your best score to count.

This score doesn't even break the top 30 on HWbot.
Placed 84th overall out of 359,000 results, and that’s against full LN2 setups, modded BIOS flashes, and all the other extremes people bring.

Everything here was on stock BIOS and cooling anyone could actually set up at home. So no, it’s not top 30, but for what it is, it’s damn impressive.
Reply
Mindstab Thrull

Personally I'd stick to the 1060 because that's damn impressive compared to the 1080ti they're considering - unless that's for a lower-end CPU, IMO:)
Reply
rwbmachine

I did it with a Kraken adapter kit and the 280 size cooler. I put tiny copper heat sink pieces on the other hot parts with thermal pads and got similar numbers. I used to laugh at it because I thought it was so silly that I did it. I was going to try with a 2070 but couldn't figure out how to get it to attach in the tiny space on the board.
Reply