Modder TrashBench has successfully modified Nvidia GTX 1070, 1060, and 1080 Ti GPUs by attaching CPU coolers directly to the GPU dies. Using an angle grinder, the modder cut stock cooler finstacks to expose metal plates for mounting single and dual-tower coolers.
Testing shows significant gains, with a dual-tower cooler on a GTX 1070 running 20°C cooler and consuming 15W less power than stock. A modified GTX 1060 saw a 9% FPS boost in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, while the 1080 Ti reached a stable 2,152 MHz overclock.
These results highlight the thermal limits of stock cooling on cards ranging from 120W to 250W TDP. By keeping the 1080 Ti hotspot at just 42°C, TrashBench continues a history of extreme cooling mods, including previous work on the GTX 960 and RTX 3080.