Sapphire Radeon RX 6700 XT Nitro+ Review 20

Sapphire Radeon RX 6700 XT Nitro+ Review

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W1zzard
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on ,
Manufacturer: Sapphire
Cooler Performance Comparison »

Temperatures

Temperature & Noise Comparison
IdleGaming
GPUNoiseGPUHotspotNoiseRPM
AMD RX 6700 XT46°CFan Stop80°C95°C35.2 dBA1305 RPM
ASUS RX 6700 XT STRIX OC43°CFan Stop60°C73°C36.4 dBA1760 RPM
ASUS RX 6700 XT STRIX OC (Quiet BIOS)44°CFan Stop64°C77°C29.4 dBA1353 RPM
MSI RX 6700 XT Gaming X45°CFan Stop73°C89°C28.9 dBA1535 RPM
PowerColor RX 6700 XT Red Devil43°CFan Stop69°C85°C28.0 dBA1104 RPM
PowerColor RX 6700 XT Red Devil (Quiet BIOS)44°CFan Stop72°C86°C27.9 dBA828 RPM
Sapphire RX 6700 XT Nitro+44°CFan Stop70°C87°C26.9 dBA1168 RPM
Sapphire RX 6700 XT Nitro+ (Quiet BIOS)41°CFan Stop71°C89°C27.2 dBA1160 RPM
XFX RX 6700 XT Merc 31941°CFan Stop69°C85°C25.2 dBA1182 RPM
Testing notes & interpretation
  • GPU temperatures listed here are based on GPU-Z measurements of the on-chip temperature sensor.
  • We report these GPU temperatures under a constant load for ease of comparison, as well as an idle state most end users will experience often. This combination helps dictate cooling needs and provides context for how well the thermal solution performs.
  • Please note that GPU temperature is contingent on a variety of factors. Some, including clock speed, voltage settings, cooler design, and production variances, are beyond the control of the end user. Others, such as ambient temperature, case design, and airflow pathway affecting the GPU, can be mitigated to certain extents.
  • The data in the table above shows results for similar cards, achieved in identical conditions during previous TechPowerUp reviews.

Thermal Analysis

For this test, we first let the card sit idle to reach thermal equilibrium. Next, we start a constant 100% gaming load, recording several important parameters while the test is running. This shows you the thermal behavior of the card and how the fans ramp up as temperatures increase. Once temperatures are stable (no increase for two minutes), we stop the load and record how the card cools down over time.

GPU Clock, Voltage Temperature, Fan Speed over Time


We also ran the same test for the second BIOS:

Second BIOS GPU Clock, Voltage Temperature, Fan Speed over Time


Fan Noise

Noise Testing Details
  • The tested graphics card is installed in an open bench system. The system does not emit any noise on its own as all components are passively cooled.
  • All cards are loaded with the same test: a custom-engineered game-like load in Unreal Engine 4 that always renders the same frame at 60 FPS to minimize variance.
  • To ensure 100% loading of the GPU, the render complexity is set dynamically so that each card operates at peak performance and won't be CPU limited.
  • We're not using Furmark because it creates too high a load that forces the fans to run faster than what is encountered during typical gameplay.
  • Noise results of other cards on this page are measurements of the respective reference design.
  • We let the card heat up and wait until fan speed no longer changes. Depending on the fan-control algorithm, this often takes quite some time.
  • Noise levels measurements are conducted using a 1/2" calibrated measurement microphone that records onto the host PC using a digital audio processing pipeline. The microphone is recalibrated at least once a month.
  • Measurement distance is 50 cm. Our previous noise-level measurements were at 1 m. We reduced the distance to be able to better distinguish acoustics of the very quiet graphics cards.

AMD finally introduced fan stop with their Radeon RX 6000 Series reference designs, so the RX 6700 XT turns off the fans in idle, browsing, and light gaming. Perfect!

Gaming noise levels are superb! With just 27 dBA, the Nitro+ is whisper-quiet even when fully loaded. There's almost no difference between both BIOSes; not for temperatures, not for noise levels. In our measurements, other custom designs are a bit quieter, but the differences are almost negligible, as it'll be impossible to subjectively notice the difference.

Fan Noise Idle
Fan Noise Gaming
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Dec 23rd, 2024 00:59 EST change timezone

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