What is your cooling solution(s)?

Now that I have one coming sometime in the near future, I’m looking up different cooling solutions. I have paid extra for a delidded i9 as well as liquid metal and thermal pads, and was wondering if there’s anything else to consider and add.

Undervolting? External fans?

 

Delidded the CPU, used a third party taller IHS, modified it for a larger die (was 7700k originally), liquid metal on all contact surfaces. Thermal pads adjusted.

GPU thermal pads adjusted for perfect core contact, liquid metal used for contact.

Custom made cooling pad with high pressure 140mm fans temperature controlled off the exhaust temperatures.

 

How loud is the cooling pad? Is it still tolerable without headphones?

 

No louder than the computer! Plus as I said it scales with temperature, it's basically off at idle.

 

A little bit of everything
https://imgur.com/a/pH5ki1e

 

Sorry if this is too late to be useful, but in the off-chance that I could still offer some helpful advice:

I can't emphasize enough the importance of a cooling pad--even if it's just an unmodified stock model, right out of the box. I didn't really understand the necessity of a proper stand at first, despite thinking I had really done my due diligence and research on this matter. So, this post is just an attempt to double down on some wisdom you're likely already familiar with.

Allowing the native cooling system to function at optimal efficiency requires elevation and a unrestricted airflow. You'll often see suggestions as simple as setting bottle caps under the back feet, which is a night/day difference versus the chassis sitting flat on a desk; whatever you do, it is critical to ensure that there is at least some gap between the resting surface and the bottom of the laptop. Imagine the internal mechanisms as needing to breathe (like, a LOT ), and don't let them suffocate

If you're lucky, you may be able to purchase a customized cooling pad from a fellow NBR member. I remember reading this line and not really taking it seriously ...but honestly, I wish I had...

I think the Cooler Master Notepal U3 Plus is probably the best bang for the buck, by far. It's been a couple years now since my purchase, but I did fairly exhaustive market research at the time, and I doubt much has changed since. It's cheap, light, reliable, well-designed, solidly-constructed, and is a great platform for further modification/improvement as your time/money allows. Actually, it's virtually the only cooling pad that checks all those boxes (again, could be out-of-date here, but I doubt it--and the Notepal U3 Plus was already quite old at the time of my purchase).

Either way, I definitely encourage something with a backplate that's as open/permeable as possible, and thus fully conducive to airflow under the chassis; don't make the mistake of being seduced by a "modern" design that sacrifices functional engineering principles for fashion or novelty.

Apologies for the lengthy and likely-irrelevant reply