{
  "id": 17391346,
  "title": "TrashBench repurposes a trash 4-kW air conditioner radiator for his test bench to see how well it can cool a PC — achieves a shocking 28C on an Nvidia RTX 3080",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/31/trashbench-repurposes-a-trash-4-kw-air-conditioner-radiator-for-his",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-31T11:20:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Tom's Hardware",
    "slug": "tom-s-hardware",
    "url": "https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/liquid-cooling/trashbench-repurposes-a-trash-4-kw-air-conditioner-radiator-for-his-test-bench-to-see-how-well-it-can-cool-a-pc-achieves-a-shocking-28c-on-an-nvidia-rtx-3080"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "TrashBench, an Australian hardware examiner known for his inventive tests, has once again demonstrated his prowess by repurposing a discarded 4-kW outdoor radiator-fan unit from a split air-conditioning setup. This time, the radiator served as the basis for a test bench designed to evaluate its cooling capabilities for a PC. By removing most of the unit's components and adding a reservoir, a T-joint converted into a Y-joint, and 3D-printed mounting brackets, TrashBench transformed the radiator into a makeshift test bench.\n\nHis first test involved an Nvidia RTX 3080, a powerful graphics card notorious for its high power consumption and heat output. By hooking up the custom cooling system, TrashBench managed to cool the GPU down to just 28°C, a remarkable 7°C above ambient temperature. This impressive temperature drop of 37°C compared to the card's stock cooler, which maintained the GPU at 65°C during the test.\n\nEven more striking, when TrashBench overclocked the RTX 3080 to a boost clock of 3300 MHz, the GPU's temperature only rose to 33°C, a 16°C improvement over the stock cooler. The cooling efficiency of the radiator and its 4-kW power output proved to be far superior to any stock cooler available.\n\nTrashBench followed up the RTX 3080 test with an even more demanding challenge: keeping a powerful Intel Core i9 14900K CPU cool. Using the same Fujitsu radiator, the CPU temperature dropped by 18°C to 76°C, showcasing the radiator's impressive cooling potential for high-performance processors as well. The graphics card, however, showed no signs of heat reduction, indicating that the radiator had far more headroom than what the hardware could utilize.",
  "summary": "TrashBench repurposes a trash AC radiator for his test bench to see how well it can cool a PC — RTX 3080 didn't run much above ambient temperature",
  "key_points": [
    "Australian hardware examiner repurposes discarded 4-kW air conditioner radiator for test bench",
    "Nvidia RTX 3080 cooled to 28°C, 7°C above ambient temperature",
    "Intel Core i9 14900K CPU temperature dropped by 18°C to 76°C"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}