An overclocking expert has broken a world record by cooling an Intel Arc B580 graphics card with frozen car antifreeze instead of liquid nitrogen.
A surprising new record has been set in the world of overclocking. An overclocker known as “TrashBench” managed to break a world record using an Intel Arc B580 graphics card. What makes this achievement special is the cooling method used. Instead of relying on expensive and complex systems like liquid nitrogen, TrashBench chose a much simpler approach — a pond pump and car antifreeze cooled in a freezer.
A surprising method: Overclock record broken with a pond pump and antifreeze
TrashBench 3D-printed a custom part to mount a special water block — the most complex part of the entire process. He then cooled car antifreeze containing 50% glycol in a freezer. Since antifreeze can remain liquid down to -25°C, the coolant reached -17°C during testing. The chilled liquid was circulated through flexible tubes and an open-loop cooler, successfully bringing the GPU temperature below freezing.
Thanks to this unconventional cooling method, the Intel graphics card reached an incredible temperature of -17°C, which significantly boosted its performance. The GPU achieved a score of 16,631 in the 3DMark Time Spy benchmark — setting a world record in the B580 category. This result represents a 12% performance increase compared to a standard B580 card.
Thanks to the extreme cooling, the GPU clock speed reached 3,316 MHz, which is 446 MHz (16.4%) higher than the default 2,850 MHz frequency.
The increased performance also translated into real-world gaming tests. With sub-zero cooling, the card achieved 69 FPS in Monster Hunter Wilds, 174 FPS in Forza Horizon 5, and 120 FPS in Cyberpunk 2077. These figures represent an average 16% FPS boost compared to the standard air-cooled version of the card.
However, it was noted that the coolant gradually warmed up during testing, meaning the GPU might not have reached its full potential.
TrashBench also tested the card using air cooling only (Air OC). With air-cooled overclocking, the GPU reached 3,200 MHz, achieving 60 FPS in Monster Hunter Wilds and 119 FPS in Cyberpunk 2077.
These results show that while the antifreeze-based extreme cooling didn’t produce a dramatic improvement over standard air overclocking, it still delivered higher overall performance and demonstrated the creative potential of unconventional cooling methods.
