This is likely the most common cooler design you’ll run across.

In other words, air heated by the GPU never enters the case.

Many small cases that accommodate only a single GPU will have case vents right next to the GPU slot.

A GPU with two fans highlighted.

Lucas Gouveia / How-To Geek |Zachary Hoover/ Shutterstock

Creating an isolated air cooling loop.

The end results are often spectacular, however.

Hybrid Coolers - The Best of Air and Water?

The MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER GPU sitting on a table.

Justin Duino / How-To Geek

You buy these coolers either pre-fitted to a card or as an aftermarket upgrade.

There’s a small radiator already attached, which you’ll mount to a fan vent.

Passive Coolers - Hot But Quiet

Passive coolers are just heatsinks with no active fan cooling.

Digital illustration of graphics card propelled by flames.

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A Corsair Hydro X Series XG7 RGB 4080 SUPRIM/Trio GPU Water Block.

Corsair

EVGA graphics card on white background

EVGA

A ZOTAC GeForce GT 710 passively-cooled graphics card.

Zotac