Friday, May 21st 2010

EVGA Upgrades GeForce GTX 470 Reference Design

At a time when every NVIDIA board partner is designing catchy non-reference design graphics cards based on the GeForce GTX 470, EVGA applied its wisdom on simply bettering the NVIDIA reference design to make the card look not only better, but also work cooler. Dubbed the EVGA GeForce GTX 470 SuperClocked+, the card has two new features, the High Flow bracket, and a back-plate. The High Flow bracket is merely a bracket with more opening than the reference design one, which allows better ventilation.

The back-plate works as a heatspreader over components on the reverse-side of the PCB, especially drawing heat from the area behind the GPU, it is highly perforated and attracts convectional air-flow. Aside from cooling, the back-plate adds to the card's aesthetics. With SC clock speeds of 625/1250/850 (3402) MHz (core/shader/memory), the EVGA GTX 470 SC+ is priced at $375 on the company's online store.
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39 Comments on EVGA Upgrades GeForce GTX 470 Reference Design

#26
Pickles24
It's all for nothing, -30c on water. Now that's a mod.
Posted on Reply
#27
t77snapshot
Well it's about time some one did this! I was always temped to cut the grills out of the pci plate, but didn't want to kill the cards warranty.

Posted on Reply
#28
lemode
Musselsthe backplate is the big improvement, not the vents.
yeah i like the backplate...can't justify getting rid of my 5850's though...not that i really want to.
Posted on Reply
#29
Mussels
Freshwater Moderator
lemodeyeah i like the backplate...can't justify getting rid of my 5850's though...not that i really want to.
who would?

*strokes his new shiny 5870 lovingly*
Posted on Reply
#30
Cold Storm
Battosai
Musselswho would?

*strokes his new shiny 5870 lovingly*
I could?

* As I gaze into my case seeing the goodness of tri-fire. *

Nah, I had to do it.. lol.. I can't wait to see some tests between the normal and this.. Superclock+ will kill in benches but I wonder in temps.
Posted on Reply
#31
erixx
Mussels: HUH? Isn't both "venting holes" and "backplate" the same?

(I am about to get my DREMMEL NOW!!!!!!!! and just start removing metal!!!!! COME ON LADYBOYS:)
Posted on Reply
#32
erixx
I have just made a photo and not uploaded it... because after seeing my REAL-world computer back, I understand there is no need to make changes and this EVGA backplate is just marketing.

The reference backplate is about as much venting as you can get....
Posted on Reply
#33
cscgo
erixxI have just made a photo and not uploaded it... because after seeing my REAL-world computer back, I understand there is no need to make changes and this EVGA backplate is just marketing.

The reference backplate is about as much venting as you can get....
Yeah, I cutout the entire vented area of my new GTX470 to make it even more open than EVGA's design. Before and after benchmark tests showed zero temperature difference. Since the backplate actually reduces the airflow over the PCB (which acts as a heatsink itself) I have trouble understanding how this could improve cooling. Pretty disappointed that EVGA is touting this as a 7 degree C improvement. They're either unethical or incompetent....not sure which.
Posted on Reply
#34
phanbuey
cscgoYeah, I cutout the entire vented area of my new GTX470 to make it even more open than EVGA's design. Before and after benchmark tests showed zero temperature difference. Since the backplate actually reduces the airflow over the PCB (which acts as a heatsink itself) I have trouble understanding how this could improve cooling. Pretty disappointed that EVGA is touting this as a 7 degree C improvement. They're either unethical or incompetent....not sure which.
backplates usually increase sink mount pressure... because you dont risk bending the pcb... that and some better thermal paste and you have easy 7c.

they did this with the GTX295 and it did work a bit
Posted on Reply
#35
cscgo
phanbueybackplates usually increase sink mount pressure... because you dont risk bending the pcb... that and some better thermal paste and you have easy 7c.

they did this with the GTX295 and it did work a bit
The second GTX295 had two backplates, but I think that was more to cool the memory. I do agree that stiffening the PCB should increase the mounting pressure and decrease PCBwarpage.

The thermal paste part is not all that possible. nVidia uses Shin-Etsu 7762 thermal paste, which isn't horrible stuff. If you look at the one-dimensional heat transfer equation (bear with me....I'm an engineer) you'll see that with a big lidded die, improvements to thermal paste conductivity don't make a huge difference. Since the temperature loss is proportional to area, higher-conductivity grease has a much bigger bang for your buck with higher themal density. The 20% improvement in conductivity that you might get with some exotic and expensive grease won't give you more than 1C here. You can argue that by reducing the thickness of grease that you can get improved temps, which you can, but they are only on the order of 1C unless you originally a ridiculous grease thickness and almost no pressure on your heatsink.

I have to admit though that the backplate would look nice in my system though :)
Posted on Reply
#36
phanbuey
cscgoThe second GTX295 had two backplates, but I think that was more to cool the memory. I do agree that stiffening the PCB should increase the mounting pressure and decrease PCBwarpage.

The thermal paste part is not all that possible. nVidia uses Shin-Etsu 7762 thermal paste, which isn't horrible stuff. If you look at the one-dimensional heat transfer equation (bear with me....I'm an engineer) you'll see that with a big lidded die, improvements to thermal paste conductivity don't make a huge difference. Since the temperature loss is proportional to area, higher-conductivity grease has a much bigger bang for your buck with higher themal density. The 20% improvement in conductivity that you might get with some exotic and expensive grease won't give you more than 1C here. You can argue that by reducing the thickness of grease that you can get improved temps, which you can, but they are only on the order of 1C unless you originally a ridiculous grease thickness and almost no pressure on your heatsink.

I have to admit though that the backplate would look nice in my system though :)
huh... good to know. Although I still habitually replace my gfx card paste out of habit :laugh:
Posted on Reply
#39
largon
Looks fancy but it's just the same old vanilla reference GTX470 with a backplate and new retention bracket. Someone should make a proper non-ref PCB for the card.
Posted on Reply
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