Hi Guys! This is a cross post from SPCR that I thought would be fun to show off. I've managed to quieten my EVGA GTX 680 inside an ITX Node 304 case. Well... perhaps "inside" is the wrong word. Aside from the fact that I can't get my case hood on any more, I've very happy. By far and away the loudest component is the HDD. The GPU cooler is a CPU cooler, an Arctic Freezer 13 pro that a friend gave me for free. So far temperatures are fantastic. At stock the temperature did not exceed 50C on furmark with the fan on the lowest setting the GPU could run it (700 RPM I think). I was able to overclock the GTX 680 to 130% TDP without making the fans spin faster than 800 RPM without going above 60C. Almost inaudible too. CPU cooler is a ThermalRight True Spirit 14 which I did some careful measuring to make sure it could fit in the Node 304. It does. Just. With the HDD spun down the main source of noise is some hissing from the VRMs (?) in the GPU. Curiously before the mod the sounded like high pitched whining from the GPU, and now they sound more like clicking. Before this I tried doing some digging to see if any others put CPU coolers on their GPUs. Not many it turns out since people are limited my slot width most of the time. But since most CPU coolers have a much larger surface area than what's available compared to what you can cram into two slots, it seems a lot more effective if you have the space. Here's some more pictures I like how my computer now contains a more heatsink than computer components. And damn do I love heat pipes.
