GeForce RTX 4080 Mod Drastically Reduces Footprint To Fit Inside An SFF Gaming PC
This generation of graphics cards calls for some insanely powerful behemoths, like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080. With great power, usually comes great heat, too. That will mean beefy coolers that are typically large will be the modus operandi - especially since the RTX 4080 shares a lot of designs with the RTX 4090. If you can't fit it, you'll have to mod it! That's exactly what TechTaxi on Reddit recently found out: sometimes you just need to take that extra step for niche results.
This generation also has an interesting juxtaposition: increased interest in Mini-ITX small form factor cases, and powerful hardware. What's a gamer to do? Well, there are two things. The first is to find the smallest RTX 4080 possible, which is currently the ASUS ProArt model. That's the direction I went with the Falcon Northwest Tiki, and that was impressive enough.
This generation also has an interesting juxtaposition: increased interest in Mini-ITX small form factor cases, and powerful hardware. What's a gamer to do? Well, there are two things. The first is to find the smallest RTX 4080 possible, which is currently the ASUS ProArt model. That's the direction I went with the Falcon Northwest Tiki, and that was impressive enough.
If you need something even smaller, you'll have to mod it. TechTaxi wasn't happy with the 2.5 slot design of the Asus ProArt, so he modded his own "Gainward 4080 Ghost GS" RTX 4080 as a dual slot card. This is made possible since the actual PCB and GPU aren't particularly large, something water cooling enthusiasts are already familiar with. By matching up coolers and GPUs that are mostly similar in design, modding is certainly a possible route to achieve a smaller footprint. This also opens up the question for GPU manufactures, which could design smaller coolers if more demand existed amongst small-form factor enthusiasts.
One interesting note about the typical RTX 4080 air coolers is that they're typically overkill and meant for the RTX 4090's 450W TDP. This means that you can get away with using a slightly less beefy cooler, while greatly increasing your ability to fit it in small cases. Mini-ITX cases are great for their small footprint, but many do come with cooling challenges with more powerful hardware.
This particular cooler is originally an RTX 4070, but TechTaxi states that thermals are still acceptable with the RTX 4080. Temperatures seem to average around "70.51" degrees Celsius during gaming, just slightly above the original RTX 4080 cooler. For anyone that has played games on a tiny computer next to your monitor, you'll instantly see the allure of having a powerful RTX 4080 in there to compete with towering cases. With mods like these, this is possible - and hopefully GPU makers can also be inspired!
This particular cooler is originally an RTX 4070, but TechTaxi states that thermals are still acceptable with the RTX 4080. Temperatures seem to average around "70.51" degrees Celsius during gaming, just slightly above the original RTX 4080 cooler. For anyone that has played games on a tiny computer next to your monitor, you'll instantly see the allure of having a powerful RTX 4080 in there to compete with towering cases. With mods like these, this is possible - and hopefully GPU makers can also be inspired!
