Report: graphics cards and thermal characteristics

[burebista]

A somehow novelty approach to video cards performance.
Pretty interesting I may say.

[ayah]

Pretty pictures. Me likey.

[MpG]

Interesting read, although I hope readers realize the Sonata III isn't exactly the best case for SLI configurations in the first place, much less when they don't even install the front fan. I can vouch that the front fan works miracles for keeping a GPU cooler under load.

[Scart]

It would be really interesting to see how different case and cooling setups perform, especially with airflow. As far as dual-GPU's go, I'm sure even having a bottom-mounted PSU would have a significant impact with the extra space below the cards. There's a lot of cool stuff you could do with a thermal imaging camera.

[SKYMTL]

Removing the side panel effectively kills any positive airflow within a case. As such, component temperatures will react VERY differently in a real scenario versus what this site is showing. Certain heatsinks (passive, those on the back of the high end 5800-series, the one on the top of the GTX 480, etc.) are actually made to pick up on in-case airflow for better cooling.

So the temps you are seeing are probably not what a regular user would experience within an enclosure.

[Dr_BenD_over]

Cases with huge side panel vents are probably exempt. Anybody wanna send me some high end cards to test in my TT Shark?

[Bond007]

Might not be totally accurate for what to expect in a decent flowing case, but still an interesting read that compares all cards in a repeatable manner.

[MpG]

It just occurred to me - how the hell did they bench the big cards in that case? The Sonata III's got maybe an inch of clearance past an ATX motherboard, so all the cards that hang over the end shouldn't even have fit...

...then I finally noticed that halfway through the testing photos, part of the internal frame is suddenly missing. I'll have to think about that - my GTX280 is going to need a new home by the end of this summer, I think.

[fishingfanatic]

I think it shows us that we should be ever diligent when it comes to case/component cooilng. The better the air flow and cooling setup, the better the performance and life expectancy. I wonder what a watercooling setup would show?

[_dangtx_]

still, the notable heat put out by the sli setup will influence temps within the case be it flowing or not. someone asked a while ago how long the mobo and other components will last when faced with such a challenge, hopefully within a few months we wont see 'death by fermi' but an april's fool joke