// PC GAMER — GAMING
I crammed 20 anime figures inside my gaming PC to see how it affects thermal performance. Yes, you can call me a scientist now
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During all my time at PC Gamer, there has been but one idea that feels a bit like flying too close to the sun. I am, of course, talking about cramming as many anime figurines as I can into my PC and monitoring the impact on performance. Thankfully, I've got the figurines, a Hyte Y40 PC case with tool-free, pop-off panels, and an otherwise engaged editor.
My methodology is straightforward enough: I'm going to gradually add figurines to the inside of my gaming PC, running FurMark 2 to track any thermal fluctuations. Each time I add more figures, I'll run both the 1080p and the 1440p benchmark presets.
First, let's establish the base line: I'm testing on the iBuyPower RDY Y40 Valorant VCTA R003. On the temperate September day I carried out testing, my RTX 4070 Super enjoyed an ambient temperature of about 34°C / 93.2°F. Without even a whiff of anime inside the PC case, temps shot up to 83°C / 181.4°F under a 100% GPU load in Furmark 2. And, let me tell ya, our Jacob really wasn't kidding when he said those iBuyPower fans get loud under load.
The 1080p benchmark returned a score of 11568, and 195 fps. The 1440p benchmark finished with a score of 7812, and 132 fps. With the baseline established, I couldn't help but wonder: is it really all downhill from here? To find out, I installed the first of many Miku Hatsune figurines.
Immediately after sealing up the machine with one 10 cm figure inside, ambient temperature picked up by a couple of degrees before quickly falling back down to 34°C. I noticed a similar temperature fluctuation more or less every time I replaced the glass panel, though generally things didn't stay toasty for long during testing.
This chart shows fluctuations in average frame rate in relation to how many anime figures were placed inside the PC case
This chart shows fluctuations in average frame rate in relation to how many anime figures were placed inside the PC case
This chart shows fluctuations in temperature in relation to how many anime figures were placed inside the PC case
This chart shows fluctuations in temperature in relation to how many anime figures were placed inside the PC case