Keeping your graphics card’s GPU, VRAM, and VRM temperatures in check is very important for the performance and prolonging the lifespan of your graphics card. Physically, you cannot do much to decrease the graphics card temperature because you cannot change the cooler of most graphics cards available on the market. On some high-end or flagship graphics cards, you may go for custom cooling by installing a water block, but few users can do this because of its complexity, and it is very costly, too. Changing or replacing the thermal paste is beneficial only when the factory-applied thermal paste is of substandard quality; otherwise, if the factory-applied thermal paste is good enough, then replacing it with an expensive thermal paste from good brands like Arctic, Thermal Grizzly, etc. won’t make any significant difference in GPU temperatures.
Improving the PC Case airflow may also help decrease the graphics card temperature. Still, there are a few limitations here, and in some cases, you may not see any significant improvement. If your PC Case has a bad airflow design (by having tempered glass or a solid front panel), then the airflow is restricted to a great extent. Moreover, PC Case fan performance (airflow and air pressure) and placement are critical in improving PC Case airflow. So, if you are not satisfied with your graphics card or GPU temperature, then using a PCI Slot Fan Cooler is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to lower your graphics card temperature.
A PCI Slot Fan Cooler is a very simple device that consists of a PCI Fan Holder Bracket/Frame, Two or Three Fans, Fan Clips, and a 3-pin or 4-pin PWM connector for power and fan speed control. The device sits on the PCI expansion slot, and the fans blow air upward to the components above it, mainly to the graphics card. The airflow from dual or triple fans is quite strong because the distance between the graphics card and PCI Slot Cooler is less. Using a PCIe Slot Fan Cooler, you can decrease the graphics card or GPU temperature to up to 10 degrees Celsius or more, depending on the GPU and Graphics Card Model.
PCI Slot Fan Cooler Advantages and Drawbacks
Advantages
Additional Cooling – A PCI Slot Fan Cooler provides additional cooling and direct airflow to the graphics card. If you have a PC Case with inadequate airflow or a graphics card with a bad cooler, then using a PCI Slot Fan Cooler will help you significantly lower the graphics card temperature. Moreover, it may also help cool motherboard components, including the chipset, in addition to cooling the graphics card.
Emergency Measure – If one of your graphics card’s fans has stopped spinning or is spinning slowly, you can use a PCI Slot Fan Cooler as an emergency measure to cool your graphics card and keep temperatures under control. After replacing the faulty fan, you can remove the PCI Slot Fan Cooler.
Cheap and Cost-Effective – PCI Slot Fan Coolers are inexpensive, and the fans may last a long time. Moreover, you can replace the stock fans of the PCI Slot Cooler with better ones to increase cooling performance and reduce noise.
Easy Installation – PCI Slot Fan Coolers are very easy to install. The fan mounting and installation process takes no more than 10 minutes.
Modification with Aftermarket Fans – If you are not satisfied with the performance of the fans that come with the PCI Slot Cooler, you can use good aftermarket fans.
Universal Design – PCI Slot Fan Coolers can be used for any graphics card, whether a high-end or flagship graphics card, budget graphics card, or mainstream graphics card.
Disadvantages
Noise (fans and vibrations) – A PCI Slot Fan Cooler can add extra noise to your PC because of the noise generated by the Fans. A PCI Slot Fan Cooler comes with two or three fans, and the extra fans result in additional noise to your PC. Moreover, the vibrations due to the fans can also add extra noise to your PC setup.
Sag – PCI Slot Fan Coolers, especially with triple fans, sag at one end without support. This may not look good and can result in vibrations. To fix this, you can add vertical GPU brace support at the end of the last fan.
Aesthetics – The PCI Slot Fan Cooler takes up extra space in your PC Case and may not look good, especially if you have a fancy PC with many RGB LED-lit components.
PCI Slot gets Occupied – PCI Slot Fan Coolers can take one or two PCI or expansion slots in your PC. This can be an issue for users who want to add a PCI or PCIe card, such as a sound card, TV tuner card, PCIe RAID card, PCIe M.2 Expansion Card etc.
Cable Management Issues – You may face cable management issues because the PCI Slot Fan cooler takes up some space in your PC Case.
Dust Accumulation – Dust accumulation will be more on your graphics card when using a PCI slot fan cooler.
Good PCI Slot Fan Coolers
Below are some very good PCI Slot Fan Coolers for any graphics card, whether from Nvidia or AMD.
SCCCF PCI Slot Fan Cooler
[PWM Fan Control, Good Cooling and Build Quality, Dual-ball Bearings Fans]
A triple fan PCI Slot Fan Cooler or VGA Cooler from SCCCF, a Chinese brand. The cooler comes with three 92mm fans with dual ball bearings. The maximum speed of the fans is 2800 RPM and generates Airflow of 52.17 CFM and Air Pressure of 3.22 mmH2O. The maximum fan noise level is 35.8 dBA, which is slightly higher. However, the fans are quiet and barely audible at lower or medium speeds. The fans use a 4-pin PWM connector for connectivity, and the fans’ speed varies depending on the PWM signal generated by the motherboard. You can plug the 4-pin PWM cable on the System Fan (sys-fan) or CPU Fan (cpu_fan) PWM Fan header, depending on how you want the fan speed to be controlled.
The PCI Slot Fan Cooler comes with grills for fans to protect the fan blades. You can also remove one fan and convert this into a dual-fan PCI Slot Fan Cooler if you have a compact or dual-fan graphics card. When using all three fans, the cooler does sag a bit at one end, and to fix this, you can add a small vertical graphics card brace support or holder.
| SCCCF PCI Slot Fan Cooler Specifications | |
| No. of Fans | 3 |
| Fan Size | 92mm |
| Fan Width | 25mm |
| Fan Speed | 2800 RPM (Max.) |
| Fan Connector | 4-pin PWM |
| Noise Level | 35.8 dBA |
| PCI Slot Width | Single |
GELID PCI Slot Fan Holder
[Slim Fans, Quiet, Compact]
A slim dual-fan PCI Slot Fan Holder or Cooler from GELID. GELID Solutions is a well-reputed brand from Hong Kong that offers quality PC Cooling and Thermal solutions (CPU Cooler, Memory Cooler, SSD Cooler, Case Fans, Thermal Paste, Thermal Pads etc.). The GELID PCI Slot Fan Holder has two slim 120mm fans (15.8mm thick) and UV blue translucent fan blades. The fans have a maximum speed of 1500 RPM and use a 3-pin connector. The fans are quiet during operation and are quiet even at maximum speed.
The PCI Slot Cooler has a two-slot design, which means it uses two expansion slots on your PC Case for installation. A 3-pin Y-Cable comes bundled with the cooler. You can connect the 3-pin connector to the motherboard’s 3-pin system fan header for dynamic speed control based on the chassis temperature.
| GELID PCI Slot Fan Holder Specifications | |
| No. of Fans | 2 |
| Fan Size | 120mm |
| Fan Width | 15.8mm |
| Fan Speed | 1500 RPM |
| Fan Connector | 3-pin |
| Noise Level | NS |
| PCI Slot Width | Dual |
Similar PCI Fan Slot Coolers
There are some similar PCI fan slot coolers that you can check out.
- Wathai PCI Fan Slot Cooler with Triple 92mm Fans
- AsiaHorse ARGB LED PCI Fan Slot Cooler with Triple 80mm Fans
- GDSTIME PCI Fan Slot Cooler with Triple 92mm Fans
How to Fix Sag in PCI Slot Fan Coolers
All PCI fan slot coolers (especially triple fans) suffer from sag because of the lack of support at the opposite end of the PCI slot bracket. The sag may cause vibrations and rattles, and it looks terrible when viewing your PC. To fix the sag in PCI Slot Fan Coolers, you can use a mini vertical graphics card holder with adjustable height, as shown below. This GPU mini brace support comes with a magnet at the bottom and anti-slip pads at the top and bottom. It is made of aluminum alloy, and the adjustable height ranges from 26mm to 50mm. You can use this GPU support bracket to support the PCI Slot Fan Cooler.
Buy Mini Graphics Card Support Holder
Graphics Card Backplate Cooler
As the name indicates, a graphics card backplate cooler is used to cool the backplate of a graphics card. Graphics Card Backplate Cooler comprises a slim aluminum fins heatsink and two slim 70mm fans (15mm thick) with dual ball bearings. The fan speed ranges between 1500 to 2800 RPM and has a maximum noise level rating of 20 dBA only. The backplate cooler uses a 4-pin PWM connector for power and dynamic fan speed control. A 1.2mm thermal pad and two elastic latches come bundled with the backplate cooler. The elastic latches or strings keep the backplate cooler from moving and keep it firmly held to the graphics card backplate.
The main use of this backplate cooler is to lower the temperature of the video memory (VRAM) and VRM (voltage regulator module) components that are in contact with the metal backplate using thermal pads. The backplate can get very hot on some graphics cards, especially high-end or flagship ones, due to VRAM and VRM overheating. Using a graphics card backplate cooler, you can expect up to 20 degrees Celsius (or more) decrease in VRAM or VRM temperatures. This GPU backplate cooler is explicitly designed for RTX 3090, RTX 3080, and RTX 3070 but can be compatible with RTX 40 series and other graphics cards with flat metal backplates.
Note: Graphics Card Backplate Cooler should only be used on graphics cards with flat metal backplates.
Buy Graphics Card Backplate Cooler
Final Words
Well, PCI slot fan coolers do work and are quite effective in lowering your graphics card temperature. They do not cause any issues or interfere with other components on your PC, and you don’t have to make any physical modifications or changes to your graphics card. You can easily remove it when you don’t want it or can replace the stock fans with better ones. If you have any queries, then let me know in the comment section below.
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