More on my cheap GPU experience.
I got a Tesla K40m. This card is meant to be used in workstations and datacenters. It doesn't have a fan. Instead, it has a massive heat sink. It's assumed that there is enough airflow to keep the thing cool.
I'm using the card in an external enclosure. In theory, I could have gotten required airflow but I decided to go alternative way.
Initially I used a fan that is attached on the side of the card.
It did keep the card cool, but was very loud. The noise was too loud to do any work.
I had a broken Titan card and decided to use a fan from there.
I replaced the heat sink, glued the fan. The result worked, but still was loud.
To mitigate the issue, i got a fan controller. It slowed down the fan when the card was cool.
It could have been a good option for a data center, but not for an office desk.
My next idea was to try liquid cooling. I got a GPU mounting bracket from NZXT and Corsair fan from e-bay.
The end result looks great and is quiet enough.
My noise baseline is the fridge. My laptop and the GPU enclosure are quieter than the fridge.
@benis it works. Temps are reach 70°C. I would go with a bigger radiator - 140mm or even one that hosts 2 or 3 fans. My current radiator is for a 120mm fan.
