Asus cards such as the Prime GeForce RTX 5070 allow easy removal of the shroud with the fans, without removing the heatsink itself. This opens room for experimentation with cooling.We will find out how much you can gain by replacing stock fans with a pair of 120mm Arctic P12 Pro A-RGB fans. We will measure operating characteristics from 20 to 100% fan speed and see how much the card’s noise level drops at identical temperatures.
Final thoughts
Finally, there is a comparison graph summarizing how the card’s noise level changed at identical temperatures after replacing the original Axial-Tech fans. I remind you that this was a sample with lower-quality fans, where one fan exhibited noticeable rattling and even at minimum speed the sound level meter showed 32 dBA. I also tested a second unit, which performed better in terms of noise, but even there the minimum was around 31 dBA.
How the noise level shifts at identical temperatures can be seen in the graph below. The horizontal axis shows cooler noise, while the vertical axis shows the GPU temperature.
The graph shows the relationship between noise level and the average GPU temperature sensor value across the entire measured interval. The peak value from the average GPU temperature sensor is almost always 1–2 °C higher.
Almost every test brings some kind of surprise. With the Arctic P12 Pro, it was the relatively high speed already at the lower boundary where measurements begin, i.e. at 20% fan performance. Most 120mm fans spin at around 300–500 rpm at 20% PWM, but the P12 Pro fans already run at 880 rpm, higher than all other 120mm fans I have tested so far. Measurements thus start at a higher airflow than with other fans in the comparison; in terms of noise, we are still below what I can measure with the sound level meter. The light-blue curve therefore starts at around 75 °C, but temperatures are 9 °C lower than with the other fans in the comparison.
This is also due to the wide operating speed range. And at the maximum speed of 3000 rpm, the P12 Pro fans finally manage to push temperatures lower than the stock Asus Axial-Tech fans originally installed on the card. Across the entire rpm range, noise at identical temperatures is lower than with all tested 92mm fans. So if you have no issues with space in the case and under the card, 120mm fans like the Arctic P12 Pro are a fairly obvious choice.
Finally, the images below show frequency spectrum graphs at fan speeds corresponding to noise levels of 33 dBA, 36 dBA, 40 dBA measured by the sound level meter, and in the last graph at maximum fan speed.
Arctic P12 Pro A-RGB, frequency spectrum at 33 dBA, 36 dBA, 40 dBA, and maximum fan speed
English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš
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Thats a realy interesting build! Great job! I would like to use this for my newest build. Are the files available? Oh, and would you please provide the final dimensions of the card after installation of the kit? width, hight, length. Or better, by how much inceses the cards width and hight? I can fit 151mm width cards to my case.
Thanks for the compliment. Yes, Adam designed a really nice fan mount. But if I’m not mistaken, the issue was that it couldn’t be exported directly from the software he used? I vaguely remember something like that being mentioned somewhere. At the same time, he did promise that he could provide the files. Personally, I don’t have any further details on this and can’t promise anything, but it’s possible that Adam will see this comment and share the 3D model files himself. It’s a bit up in the air—we’ll see. Adam no longer works for HWCooling, so it mainly depends on when (and if) he finds the time for it. 🙂
A few years ago I managed to get a cheap Acer-branded OEM RTX 3080 and did a similar deshroud mod. I had fond memories of that card, was quite a fun mod to do (I did also make a custom copper backplace for it and managed to re-use the decorative Geforce logo). I didn’t do much controlled testing, but subjectively, with a slight undervolt and overclock, the card under full load was no louder than the rest of the components in the case.
Picture for reference:
https://i.imgur.com/IHUrmV4.jpeg
Thank you for the info and for sharing the photos. The result looks great. The cooler shroud looks very presentable, and I can easily imagine that a lot of effort went into its production. 🙂
This cannot be real ! I bought a Asus Prime 5070 and was looking for a benchmark about 3x92mm Arctic vs 3x92mm Noctua vs 2x120mm Arctic pro vs 2x120mm Noctua vs stock in terms of noise-normalized performance. Lo and behold exactly this has been extensively tested by hwcooling ! I so thankful ! I’ll go for 2x120mm Arctic pro.
BTW for those looking for 3d print files there are very similar prints at makerworld.com
like this one https://makerworld.com/fr/models/1792416-asus-prime-5080-deshroud-5070-5070ti-kit?from=search
or this one (should be compatible, not specifically mentioned to be 5070 compatible) https://makerworld.com/fr/models/1161117-asus-prime-rtx-5070-ti-5080-deshroud-bracket?from=search#profileId-1167385
but if anyone finds the exact files for this review please answer me.
Thanks for the comment. You definitely won’t make a mistake with the Arctic P12 Pro fans. If the shroud or fan mount is well sealed against the heatsink fins, the results should be very attractive. 🙂