26 June 2022

The power curve of the RTX 3070... and improving system energy use.

Literally what happens...


Summer is here and temperatures are on the way up. I live in a hot climate, meaning that an average daily temperature from May to September is in the mid-thirties degrees celsius, if not higher. I don't have AC in the computer room and, even if I did, it doesn't make much sense to purposely heat up the room only to spend more money on cooling that extra heat to a comfortable level.

This situation is why I care so much about airflow in cases because in a hot environment it really matters how much quantity of already warm air you must pass through the case in order to cool components that are, relatively, less hot (though still hotter) than that air compared to the scenario in a cooler climate.

But there is something else you can do to improve component temperatures that will help in not only this situation, but also as a general principle. Let's do a quick dive into whether undervolting, underclocking, and power limiting your components (specifically the graphics card) is worth trading performance for...