TrashBench’s 11-fan RTX 3080 mod: zipties, server grade fans and thermal putty
An RTX 3080 fitted with 11 fans and an AIO cooler reduced its temperatures by around 33°C. The extensive cooling modification added only 2 FPS at stock clocks and 4 FPS with overclocking.
TrashBench began the test with a stock RTX 3080 running Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 1440p. The card averaged 178 FPS. Setting the original GPU fans to 100% increased performance to 180 FPS while reducing temperatures by around 8°C.
Source: TrashBench
The original fans were then replaced and supplemented with 120 mm Arctic models. TrashBench also tested 15,000 RPM server fans, a backplate fan and a taped airflow channel. The tape increased temperatures, while the small server fans and backplate fan produced little measurable improvement.
The final configuration added an AIO liquid cooler to the backplate. Thermal putty filled the opening between the backplate and water block. This reduced the GPU core temperature from 70°C to 41°C, while the VRAM temperature dropped from 86°C to 52°C. The hotspot temperature fell from 87°C to 59°C.
Source: TrashBench
Despite the lower temperatures, the RTX 3080 averaged 180 FPS without overclocking. This was only 2 FPS faster than the stock result. The card reached 187 FPS after overclocking, compared with 183 FPS using the stock cooler and the same process.
The test shows that additional cooling provides limited performance gains on an RTX 3080 with an existing high-end cooler. The lower temperatures provided more overclocking headroom, but 11 fans, thermal putty (you can see how it was applied above) and an AIO produced only a 4 FPS advantage over the stock overclocked setup.
It is an absolute mess of a modification and likely something no one would want to clean up afterward. But that is exactly what TrashBench mods are for, testing ideas most people would never consider. You can check other mods by this creator here .
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