GPUs can be mounted in any way as long as your case supports the orientation, and you have a long enough PCIe Riser cable. The most common orientations are horizontal, in which the GPU straightway plugs into the PCIe slot. It is the most common orientation and does not require any extra PCIe riser cables, making it an economic choice. But, vertically mounting your graphics card looks the best, and you can see the fans in action. But, this requires a PCIe riser cable. Although riser cables are not costly, are they worth the money? And, is vertically mounting a graphics card good for its thermal performance? Let us find out.
Is Horizontally Mounting a Graphics Card Good?
Horizontally mounting a graphics card is the default orientation. Companies optimize thermal solutions assuming users would horizontally mount their cards. Open-air graphics cards take cold air in from the bottom, which is assumed to be a space with sufficient airflow. The hot air is then dissipated through the two sides with exposed heatsinks. This is why a very expensive card would have exposed heatsinks too, and manufacturers cannot seal them off for a cleaner look.
Some blower-style cards, like most GTX 10 series Founder’s Edition models, dissipate their heat through the rear into the surroundings. This does not heat the interior of the case. But, blower-style designs have their set of caveats and are not as optimal as open-air designs.
Thus, horizontally mounting a graphics card will allow the card to run at 100% efficiency.
Is Vertically Mounting a Graphics Card Bad?
In theory, vertically mounting a graphics card cannot be “bad” as long as the card gets enough air for proper ventilation. Also, graphics card sag is very minimal when you vertically mount it. And, the looks of your build are greatly improved thanks to the awesome designs some recent cards are coming with. So, what can go wrong? The graphics card is fine, but your case can cause some serious issues.
Most cases do not have wide enough in-built vertical mounts for proper airflow. This starves the card off-air, thereby limiting its thermal performance. However, if you have a low-power card which is around 200mm long, you will be fine with any 2 slots in-built vertical mount. Here are some differences created with an MSI Ventus 2x GTX 1650 inside an Antec P120 Crystal.
The vertical mount does not create a lot of difference, instead, it ended up lowering the temperatures as compared to the horizontal mount. Thus, vertically mounting a card is fine until you have enough airflow to compensate for your card.
If you do not have enough space to allow for optimal airflow in and out of your card, vertical mount kits are an option. These kits take up the horizontal PCIe slots, thus optimal airflow is ensured.