In a bold departure from conventional gaming PC design, Billet Labs has unveiled a fanless gaming system powered by an NVIDIA RTX 5080 and AMD Ryzen 9800X3D. This ambitious project stands out not only for its advanced components but also for its unique cooling system, which utilizes a custom water-cooling loop without fans. However, concerns arise regarding the system's ability to sustain performance during extended gaming sessions.
Innovative Cooling Design
The fanless system features a carefully engineered cooling solution with three vertically stacked water-cooling radiators: a 120 × 240mm, a 140 × 280mm, and a 200 × 400mm radiator. The largest radiator is positioned at the base to enhance natural convection. This setup effectively directs heat away from both the CPU and GPU through a series of copper pipes and thick thermal pads that transfer heat to an aluminum plate. Impressively, the system operates silently at idle, with coolant temperatures hovering around 28 degrees Celsius.
Performance Under Load
The RTX 5080 is a high-performance graphics card with a thermal design power (TDP) of 360W, necessitating a stable power supply. Billet Labs successfully ran the entire system on a 600W power supply, which accounted for the CPU’s 120W draw. However, during stress tests like Cinebench, the coolant temperature rose to 39 degrees Celsius, while the CPU reached a concerning 90 degrees. During gaming, the GPU pushed the coolant temperature dangerously close to 56 degrees Celsius.
Although the RTX 5080 did not throttle during these tests, the high temperatures indicate that prolonged gaming sessions could lead to performance issues. This raises crucial questions about the long-term viability of a fanless design in a gaming environment.
Future Potential
Billet Labs recognizes the project's limitations and suggests that further refinements are necessary. Potential enhancements include larger radiators for better heat dissipation, a more powerful pump, or a longer cooling loop to address the thermal challenges faced. The idea of a silent gaming PC is undoubtedly attractive, but the current execution suggests it may not yet meet the needs of serious gaming enthusiasts.
While Billet Labs has presented an intriguing approach to fanless PC design, achieving the right balance between silence and performance remains elusive. Observers will be eager to see how the company tackles these challenges in future iterations of their system.
About the author
MJI Desk
MJI Desk covers consumer tech for MJI News.
