Japanese OEM Tosses Out GTX TITAN X Heatsink for AIO Liquid Cooler

[zo0lykas]

I 100% agree. Noctua needs a new color besides poop.

 

[15th Warlock]

Japanese OEM gaming PC builder Sycom addressed the biggest shortcoming of reference NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X - heat (which runs into a thermal throttle too often), and the resulting noise (rivaling that of a Radeon R9 290X reference)

While I agree the NVTTM cooler may have reached the end of the line, I wonder if you have actually been able to hear the card at full load to make such a statement.

I own an XFX 290X that came with the reference cooler and once it hit 94 degrees the noise levels were much higher in both intensity and pitch when compared to what I get from my Titan-X, even at full load.

Not only that but even after heavy benchmarking and gaming, the throttling isn't nearly as bad as what I got from my 290X before I installed an AIO cooler to it. In fact, I've never seen the Titan-X throttle lower than the advertised base clock (1127MHz for this model in particular) whereas my 290X would go often go into the 700MHz range after heavy gaming.

But don't take my word for it:

Much like GTX Titan X’s power profile, GTX Titan X’s noise profile almost perfectly mirrors the GTX 780 Ti. With the card hitting 51.3dB(A) under Crysis 3 and 52.4dB(A) under FurMark, it is respectively only 0.4dB and 0.1dB off from the GTX 780 Ti. From a practical perspective what this means is that the GTX Titan X isn’t quite the hushed card that was the GTX 980 – nor with a 250W TDP would we expect it to be – but for its chart-topping gaming performance it delivers some very impressive acoustics. The Titan cooler continues to serve NVIDIA well, allowing them to dissipate 250W in a blower without making a lot of noise in the process.

Overall then, from a power/temp/noise perspective the GTX Titan X is every bit as impressive as the original GTX Titan and its GTX 780 Ti sibling. Thanks to the Maxwell architecture and Titan cooler, NVIDIA has been able to deliver a 50% increase in gaming performance over the GTX 780 Ti without an increase in power consumption or noise, leading to NVIDIA once again delivering a flagship video card that can top the performance charts without unnecessarily sacrificing power consumption or noise.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9059/the-nvidia-geforce-gtx-titan-x-review/16

Noise levels aren't nearly as close to those of the reference 290X card (dB scale is logarithmic)

The following table summarizes the situation a little differently. First, we ascertain fan speed in a closed case. That value is then dialed in manually on an open test bench. This way, we get around the fact that you just can’t measure a graphics card on its own in a closed case with the rest of the system running.

Open Case (Test Bench)Open Case (Fixed RPM, Case Simulation)Closed Case (Full System)
Idle31.2 dB(A)N/AN/A
Gaming Loop44.2 db(A)44.5 dB(A)39.7 dB(A)
Apart from the fact that GeForce Titan X can’t hold its maximum GPU Boost frequency over prolonged periods of time, Nvidia’s reference cooler is still the benchmark that all other direct heat exhaust (DHE) coolers are measured against.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-gtx-titan-x-gm200-maxwell,4091-6.html

From the review posted here at TPU:

Compare it to this:

As for the heavy throttling, this was just a very short run, but the card never goes under 1127MHz base clock while under load:

And yes, like I said, GM200 screams for a water cooling setup, but the reference cooler isn't as bad as some people think, I hope this clears that up

 

[Captain_Tom]

Am I the only one who is confused why no one is complaining about how load the $1000 Titan X is? A $550 card launches and beats a $1000 card by a solid 10%+. But it is loud...Oh no!

Then the Titan X launches and is just about as loud and yet everyone acts like it is business as usual to have that kind of noise in a $1000 card.

 

[Breit]

Am I the only one who is confused why no one is complaining about how load the $1000 Titan X is? A $550 card launches and beats a $1000 card by a solid 10%+. But it is loud...Oh no!

Then the Titan X launches and is just about as loud and yet everyone acts like it is business as usual to have that kind of noise in a $1000 card.

For me the noise of the stock cooler doesn't matter at all. I would never use such a card (nor any other card which requires cooling) without a decent waterblock on it.

 

[15th Warlock]

Am I the only one who is confused why no one is complaining about how load the $1000 Titan X is? A $550 card launches and beats a $1000 card by a solid 10%+. But it is loud...Oh no!

Then the Titan X launches and is just about as loud and yet everyone acts like it is business as usual to have that kind of noise in a $1000 card.

So, did you even read my post above? You do realize the dB scale is logarithmic right? We are talking about an order of magnitude louder than Titan-X

Why spread such miss information?

 

[peche]

Certainly looks home made.

I'd be much more concerned about finding a case with space for 4 separate 120mm radiators and tubing before I worried about the SLI bridge.

Well ... there is always a getto mod to solve the porblems!! as they did with this video card "mod"

Maybe move this to the Ghetto Mods section.

It sure looks like one.

agreed

 

[the54thvoid]

Am I the only one who is confused why no one is complaining about how load the $1000 Titan X is? A $550 card launches and beats a $1000 card by a solid 10%+. But it is loud...Oh no!

Then the Titan X launches and is just about as loud and yet everyone acts like it is business as usual to have that kind of noise in a $1000 card.

The (UK) release price of the 295x2 was £1200. It's since been forced by market pressures to a £600 price point.
Comparing the current price of a product that released £300 more than Titan X release price is a school boy error. In logical terms, the release price should be compared.
However, the general review consensus is that although far louder than the very quiet 980, Titan X isn't anywhere near as bad as 290X levels.
Regardless, as 15thWarlock suggests it really requires water to shine.

The 295x2 is a fantastic card but the fact it's been forced to near 980 pricing demonstrates the market pressures that have (unfortunately) kept Nvidia's offerings at their inflated price point.
Hopefully the 390x rectifies this.