Wednesday, January 14th 2015
NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X To Feature Tweakable Idle Fan-off Mode
Taking advantage of the low TDP of GeForce GTX 970 and GTX 980, several NVIDIA add-in card (AIC) partners such as ASUS, MSI, and Palit, innovated their VGA cooling solutions to feature idle fan-off. Such a feature lets the card turn its fans completely off, when the GPU is idling, or is below a temperature threshold, making the card completely silent when not gaming. NVIDIA plans to standardize this with its next-generation GeForce GTX TITAN X graphics card.
Given that its TITAN family of super high-end graphics cards never get to be custom-designed by AICs, NVIDIA has decided to standardize an idle fan-off feature of its own. Unlike AICs, who have used specialized fan-controller chips that take auxiliary temperature input to decide when to turn the fan off, NVIDIA's approach will be more driver-based. Future drivers accompanying the GTX TITAN X will offer a new feature, which when enabled, lets you choose between a non-linear fan curve that keeps the fan off; and one that runs it at low speeds. This should let the driver power the fan of a GTX TITAN X completely off, until it reaches a temperature threshold, and only then begin to ramp up speeds. It could help not just idle (desktop), but also light-gaming scenarios (think League of Legends).
Since it's a driver-based feature, third-party GPU software developers (eg: EVGA, MSI, etc.), will be able to create apps that let users toggle this feature, such as setting a fan-cutoff threshold that's appropriate to your environment, letting the fan spin at low speeds no matter the temperature. You'll get to choose if you want complete silence, or lower idle temperatures. This would end up being more flexible than the implementations AICs made with their GTX 900 series products.
Given that its TITAN family of super high-end graphics cards never get to be custom-designed by AICs, NVIDIA has decided to standardize an idle fan-off feature of its own. Unlike AICs, who have used specialized fan-controller chips that take auxiliary temperature input to decide when to turn the fan off, NVIDIA's approach will be more driver-based. Future drivers accompanying the GTX TITAN X will offer a new feature, which when enabled, lets you choose between a non-linear fan curve that keeps the fan off; and one that runs it at low speeds. This should let the driver power the fan of a GTX TITAN X completely off, until it reaches a temperature threshold, and only then begin to ramp up speeds. It could help not just idle (desktop), but also light-gaming scenarios (think League of Legends).
Since it's a driver-based feature, third-party GPU software developers (eg: EVGA, MSI, etc.), will be able to create apps that let users toggle this feature, such as setting a fan-cutoff threshold that's appropriate to your environment, letting the fan spin at low speeds no matter the temperature. You'll get to choose if you want complete silence, or lower idle temperatures. This would end up being more flexible than the implementations AICs made with their GTX 900 series products.
43 Comments on NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X To Feature Tweakable Idle Fan-off Mode
Then of course you have people who fire up a game without Vsync and get 9001FPS, and the card is suddenly at 100C before the fan kicks in.
I do agree people can be a little over zealous in their pursuit of silence, but to me its a matter of trade offs. I would rather have a quieter system.
To whomever was saying they would rather have 10% fan speed, I would be worried that the fan can spin down that low. Some fans click or don't run properly when below a certain voltage.
Seeing how effective Maxwell chips generally are, it only needs to be quieter then the loudest fan in the rest of the system at idle.
Now, if all the fans in the system were stop'n'go, it would make much more sense.
For me, personally, silence in my rig is one of main concerns. That is exactly the reason why i chose MSI's 980 over Gigabyte's windforce cooling solution. That is also the reason I chose EVGA Supernova G2 PSU over others. I like the feature of fan=off when not in stress. I like quietness of my rig when I dont use it for playing games. So even though I have 5 case fans, most of them will be stopped by my MoBo when I dont need them to spin. So does both fans in GPU and one in PSU. After that, the only audible noise in my rig are 2 HDDs (that will spin down eventually as well), so nobody will convince me that slow-spinning fan is unaudible.
But again - its best to have an option to go either way, right?
Good for NV to implement it in their next (pointless and overpriced) Titan ;]
If it works and is something they are intensely focused on making NOT go wrong, then this could be a great feature.
I can't wait to hear what branding they give it.
nVidia Fanworks featuring nVidia Rotationworks technology? nVidia NoRotation technology? nVidia SilentFan technology? nVidia ZeRotation Technology?
"nVidia Coolworks featuring nVidia's ZeRotation Technology and nVidia's own Fanworks custom control button." Yes. That'll be it.
It won't be of any use to me though, what I could use is MOAR leaks about this new Titan, I've been completely satisfied with my purchase and I look forward to replace them with new tech :toast: