Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Passive Cooling Mod

How-to
By published

Final Thoughts

Our small battery of tests shows again that completely passive cooling configurations in the 60 to 75W category are only possible after a handful of compromises. Choose one of two options: either install a set of low-RPM fans to create a little airflow inside your case, or allow the GPU to hit its temperature limit in a passively-cooled enclosure and live with the reduced performance. Leaning on a fail-safe isn't really ideal though, so we don't love that idea.

Realistically, the upper limit for completely fanless operation remains around 40W, where almost all of the card's power is dissipated as waste heat. In that situation, the best option is to manually set a power target of 50%. Otherwise you're going to see protection mechanisms kick in and force the power limit anyway.

Given the circumstances presented, we must recommend at least some air circulation in your case for a project like this one. With that in mind, when we think back to our original passively-cooled GeForce GTX 650, not much has changed in the past three years. After all, we aren't picking cards that use dramatically less power. What they do, however, is deliver significantly better frame rates, improving the performance to power ratio versus three years ago. The frustration of coming up short on a completely passive solution is dampened somewhat by the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti's excellent response to a humble, low-RPM fan.


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Igor Wallossek
16 Comments Comment from the forums
  • bloodroses
    That giant cooler is so funny looking on that little card. :)
    Reply
  • FormatC
    The smallest guys have the biggest cars ;)
    Reply
  • sephirotic
    Full passive is pointless, semi passive is the way to go.
    Reply
  • AndrewJacksonZA
    Thank you for the really nice article Igor. It was an unexpected surprise and a pleasure to read. :-) Very interesting to read.
    Reply
  • Poozle
    you know setting the fans to even minimal (20-30%) where you cant detect an audible difference would be safer and nearly as quiet... but I digress
    Reply
  • FormatC
    The problem is, that the marketing is telling us that it works. I ordered an original passive card directly from a manufacturer and will check it in a short follow-up. Without any airflow in the case this must fail ;)
    Reply
  • AndrewJacksonZA
    19136703 said:
    That giant cooler is so funny looking on that little card. :)
    It immediately reminded me of Sapphire's R9 Fury Tri-X:


    Reply
  • FormatC
    Same principle, but the used cooler is 4 years old.
    It seems that Sapphire copied the idea ;)
    Reply
  • thor220
    It looks like the large tail of that Cooler isn't even doing anything. No point in making a passive cooler that big if it can't transfer the heat.

    I would much rather see a passive water cooled setup with no fans, only the pump.
    Reply
  • TJ Hooker
    19139141 said:
    It looks like the large tail of that Cooler isn't even doing anything. No point in making a passive cooler that big if it can't transfer the heat.
    What makes you say that? The heat pipes extend the length of the cooler, even the fins at the end should be absorbing and dissipating some of the heat.
    Reply