NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 Fermi

[pantherx12]

wait.... wait a sec, didn't HD 5970 use VAPOR chamber?

Yes it did, it would of been much more expensive to produce a card that uses 8 large diameter heat-pipes, it also would of effected air resistance a lot to use heatpipes in a dual gpu blower style cooler.

5970

5870

Thanks to TPU for the images, have to say I find taking photos of the heat-sinks themselves very handy!

 

[wahdangun]

so why did you say heat pipes was better? when it's clearly vapor chamber can disspell up to 400 wat of heat ??

so what do you think is better for fermi : a heat pipes type cooler or vapor chamber type cooler ?

 

[pantherx12]

so why did you say heat pipes was better? when it's clearly vapor chamber can disspell up to 400 wat of heat ??

Didn't understand what I said above?


more info then.

Producing a big long vapour chamber is easier/cheaper then using heat-pipes.

Heat-pipes also effect air flow so in a dual gpu card that uses one fan and one massive heat-sink its more cost effective to use a vapour chamber.

Even though in theory a heat-pipe heat-sink would be distributing the thermal energy more evenly and efficiently.

 

[Super XP]

I don't think it's a joke. If the gpu is 95 degrees while gaming the outside of the card won't be exactly cool...
Btw, once I nearly burned myself removing a passively cooled FX5500.

I go away for about 2 days and this thread went nuts
There's a few reviews that measured the 480 with 97C

 

[HookeyStreet]

Nice review, thank you o wise one

BUT, I think the price/performance crown is still owned by the red team

 

[wahdangun]

Didn't read what I said above did you?

sorry, i litle confuse when you said

"Heat-pipes are better then vapour chambers : ]

a heatpipe makes 360 degree contact through every fin it passes through , ontop of that multiple heat-pipes mean more 360 degree contact points You can also run the heat-pipes through the centre of a fin so either side of the fin gets equal amounts of thermal energy etc

Vs the one contact point the vapour chambers offer."

but if heat pipes was better why fermi still reach 95 degree when load? it's really sure the cooler cannot take that load of heat at once and become "heat soaked"

EDIT: even HD 5970 can still have more overcloke head room than fermi

 

[pantherx12]

Because the GPU used by Nvidia outputs much much more heat then any other gpu produced.


Hell its the hottest piece of consumer level silicon you can get I think

( don't quote me on that as I could be very wrong on that point)

 

[btarunr]

so why did you say heat pipes was better? when it's clearly vapor chamber can disspell up to 400 wat of heat ??

so what do you think is better for fermi : a heat pipes type cooler or vapor chamber type cooler ?

Of course the vapor chamber thingy. It's keeping the GPU cooler than what Fermi's cooler manages. Don't look at the "means", look at the "ends". If NVIDIA's cooler was really great, it would have kept the GPU at sub-70C in Furmark. It doesn't.

 

[pantherx12]

Of course the vapor chamber thingy. It's keeping the GPU cooler than what Fermi's cooler manages. Don't look at the "means", look at the "ends". If NVIDIA's cooler was really great, it would have kept the GPU at sub-70C in Furmark. It doesn't.

You're highlighting how little you know about cooling here BTA, the cooler is EASILY the best stock ( I.E from nv and ati) cooler I've seen for a single GPU card.

Its the GPU at fault here not the heatsink.


Just scroll up and look at the 5870 cooler, the 480 cooler is beautiful in comparison XD

 

[btarunr]

You're highlighting how little you know about cooling here BTA, the cooler is EASILY the best stock ( I.E from nv and ati) cooler I've seen for a single GPU card.

Its the GPU at fault here not the heatsink.


Just scroll up and look at the 5870 cooler, the 480 cooler is beautiful in comparison XD

You're highlighting illogicality.

People don't care how complex their cooler is, or how much of a task the GPU is laying on it. People care about temperatures and fan-noise levels. If this was a good GPU cooler, it would have kept the GPU cool. Like sub-70C cool, not >90C with normal gaming (not Furmark, but normal gaming).

The cooler can look like Chuck Norris, but with those temperatures and noise levels the consumer ends up with, it's all moot.

 

[pantherx12]

*edit*

I removed all the handy information.

Instead I'll just stare blankly into space.

 

[R_1]

I think that some epoxy glue, used as in HD5870 cooler, may bring few degrees of the GPU temp down.

 

[btarunr]

"If this was a good GPU cooler"

So you are implying its a bad GPU cooler?

Yes, absolutely.

Stick it on a 5870 ( you'd have to make a IHS for the 5870) and see how wrong you are.

It won't fit, your point is moot.

Its not a BAD cooler, its a HOT gpu.

How can you not understand that?

It is a bad cooler because it's not designed to keep that "HOT gpu" at acceptable temperatures. Hemlock's cooler is keeping TWO GPUs , 4 billion transistors, a PCI-E switch, two sets of vGPU, vMem, and uncore VRM circuits cooler than what this cooler manages.

 

[Steevo]

Go search around and see. Heatpipes have a efficiency at maximum of about 50-60W each, in a vertical installation, in ideal conditions, above this and they start to lose their cooling ability.

For example a Noctura NH-D14 is one of the best coolers out, 12,000 square cm of surface area, 12 heatpipes, two fans, and still only moves 200 is watts of heat at 70C

All those specs and compared to a more thermally efficient cheaper waterblock it sucks.

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

I think they did the heat pipes right, but the overall cooler size wrong. For a gpu that hot they just need more metal for those pipes to dump into.

 

[R_1]

Yep, more surface area is needed.

 

[pantherx12]

Not much extra they could of added to be honest

Bigger fan perhaps.

Nvidia should of done what ATI done and made the cards long to allow more space for bigger heatsinks.

Again its not the heatsink its the card/gpu design.

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

Not much extra they could of added to be honest

http://tpucdn.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_480_Fermi/images/cooler4_small.jpg

Bigger fan perhaps.

If the gave up on venting out the back they could have spread the cooler out along the entire length of the card and used dual top fans like many aftermarket coolers.

 

[Steevo]

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2480&page=5

I don't know how much clear it can get. 14.1C above ambient room temps with 10 heat pipes, in perfect conditions, at 150W load.

So double it assuming it still maintains perfect efficiency despite heatpipes losing efficiency at higher temps, I know that heat loading ability becomes greater due to larger differential.

28.2 higher than ambient, at 300W load in perfect conditions so mount your GPU upside down to maintain correct orientation for the heatpipes, keep it in open air, at max fan RPM.


My max GPU temp was 42C under water. So I still win.

 

[R_1]

Not much extra they could of added to be honest

...

They can, if additional back plate is added and connected to the main heat-sink with a heat-pipe.

 

[pantherx12]

So what your suggesting is that the 480 should be another 75$ more expensive then guys?

To get the cooling it needs?

In my opinion its already to expensive XD

 

[Fourstaff]

Nvidia is keeping load temps high so that they can keep your coffee warm and cook pot noodles. Nuff said.

 

[Steevo]

So 6 heatpipes for the front, two for the back, two fans one on front on on back, a extra heatsink in the back. Now we have gone from 50Db and 96C to 40Db and 80C and cost a extra $100, not allow SLI due to the extras.


Great sign me up, it wasn't a winner before, but will all that extra bling how can anyone refuse!

 

[pantherx12]

So 6 heatpipes for the front, two for the back, two fans one on front on on back, a extra heatsink in the back. Now we have gone from 50Db and 96C to 40Db and 80C and cost a extra $100, not allow SLI due to the extras.


Great sign me up, it wasn't a winner before, but will all that extra bling how can anyone refuse!

Glad your getting it

 

[Mike89]

Good review. Still has 1280x1024 comparsions. Since I'm still a 19" LCD monitor user (and plan to be for quite some time still), I look for reviews that haven't forgotten about me.

This card I'm not really impressed with. Power demands, heat issues and noise issues put this card over the top for me, I don't care how good it is. It's just not something I want to deal with. Since I still game at 1280x1024, my GTX 280 has plenty of teeth left, so I'm not too worried about my gaming situation right now. When that time comes, I will seriously consider switching to ATI unless nvidia comes up with something better than this (for the reasons I stated).