3D-printed chimney drops Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU temperature by almost 20 degrees

Overclocker and renowned PC enthusiast der8auer has posted a new video showcasing a modded CPU liquid cooler that replaces the radiator fans with a 3D-printed chimney system for heat dissipation. Now, having a massive 110cm chimney coming out of your AIO cooler and PC case isn't exactly practical, but it's a definite showcase for how traditional cooling methods that have existed for hundreds of years, or longer, can still be effective. Surprisingly so.

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Placing the custom chimney on an AIO cooler's radiator (with the fans removed) actually saw the attached Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU's temperature drop by 19 degrees, going from 90°C down to 71°C. The 3D-printed chimney used here is large, as it was designed to replicate what you'd find on a house with a fireplace, where lower-density air inside the chimney creates negative pressure to effectively expel the warm air.

der8auer ran a few different chimney height tests, using fog to show the difference in cooling. Without enough space to create the mix of negative and positive pressure, the 10 cm chimney wasn't able to move enough air to lower the coolant temperature, so it's a case of needing a large chimney for the stacked cooling to take effect and deliver impressive results.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Question #1

Did der8auer remove the radiator fans entirely when fitting the 3D-printed chimney?

Yes. The article states der8auer replaced the AIO radiator's fans with a 3D-printed chimney, and specifically notes the custom chimney was placed on the radiator with the fans removed.

Answered

Question #2

Why is the 3D-printed chimney solution described as impractical for typical PC builds?

It is impractical because the setup requires a very large chimney, der8auer used a massive 110 cm chimney, to create the necessary negative and positive pressure, which you are not going to swap in place of radiator fans on a typical PC. Short chimneys (for example 10 cm) failed to move enough air, so the technique only works with a large, protruding chimney rather than a normal compact PC cooling solution.

Answered

Question #3

Could an existing house fireplace chimney be used to cool PC components according to the article?

The article suggests it could be possible in principle: der8auer’s 110 cm 3D-printed chimney lowered a Ryzen 7 9800X3D’s temperature by 19 °C, and he explicitly floated the idea of installing a custom PC into a fireplace and using an existing large chimney to cool components without fans. However, the piece emphasizes this is impractical and that you need a sufficiently large chimney height and airflow for the chimney effect to work, since short chimneys (for example 10 cm) did not move enough air to lower temperatures.

Answered

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As mentioned earlier, it's a solution that isn't practical, as you're not really going to swap out fans for a massive chimney. That said, it's the sort of fun experiment that we'd love to see taken to the next level: installing a custom-built PC into a fireplace, using an existing large chimney to cool the components without any fans.