Does ATI's power draw/heat issue worry you?

[Zak33]

Hi guys,

When you sit down to peruse new video cards in the next few weeks, which HUNDREDS of you will do, DO you think about power draw, heat etc?

Or just performance per quid?

[Funkstar]

I haven't seriously followed the graphics market for a long long time so I might be out of touch.

Why specifically ATI in this thread? Aren't the Nvidia cards just as power hungry?

[this_is_gav]

Power draw is a consideration, yes (specifically at idle).

Heat, not at all. Not even on the new ones.

Worry is too strong a word. On a performance card, or a performance per pound card, neither is something I'd really take into account, unless it's something like a 9800GX2 (ie ludicrous). Going from a GTX280 to a HD4870 won't make any difference to me. There's not enough of a difference in draw for me to consider.

For an HTPC I want as little power as possible while being able to decode HD as advertised.

[Lowe]

Yes - it's an issue for me, primarily the idle draw.

At the moment I've just upgraded to a 22" monitor and whilst my 8800GTS is doing me proud, I know that realistically it's about at its limit with the game (primarily ArmA) that I play.

However, the machine is also used for about 10 hours a day sitting there whilst my OH runs her internet business on it. This is where my concerns kick in - if it's sat there doing nothing and still monstering my 'leccy bill then I'm not going to be amused. The heat issue isn't great either at idle since that's got to go somewhere and I'm sure the case probably isn't as good as it could be in that respect.

At the moment I'm leaning towards a GTX260 because it's a bit more efficient on the juice, and it's better for ArmA. It's also a lot less grief to install since all the drivers and overclocking tools are in place. However, the ATi is a lot cheaper... and that can't be discounted, but since gfx cards tend to last a year or two, then if the ATi is chewing leccy all the time just idling, in my situation it would probably work out more expensive!

[McMav]

Heat issue doesnt worry me as its easily fixed with a quick profile creation and file edit. Power draw again is not an issue at idle as I tend to use it for gaming only and ATI power usage is lower than the 280 at full load.

However with the new physx stuff coming from nvidia next week I think this could be more of an issue and like Lowe I just got a 22" monitor (he copied me ) and a 8800gts and also play arma so the 260 seems like it could be the better option aswell. God I wish it was easier to decide

[Zhaoman]

excessive amounts of heat is the main concern for me (I don't want a GPU to compromise the life of my mobo), along with noise; power draw comes slightly behind. The new ATi cards suffer from heat, while the new nVidia ones suffer from noise (from what I've heard) so I'm waiting for models with after-market heatsinks (the Toxic looks very good but is a bit too expensive for a HD4850). Idle power draw is not an issue for me because I'm only home at the weekends and nobody else in the house uses my computer.

[Fraz]

Idle power is definitely important to me. I chose an Nvidia card over a HD4870 mainly for this reason. My computer is on nearly 24/7, and the ~50 extra watts of idle power made me turn my nose up at a HD4870 and choose a GTX 260 instead.

Since power and heat are clearly linked, having a lower idle power means less heat and noise also.

[Fraz]

However, the ATi is a lot cheaper...

I thought the difference was about £20?

[shaithis]

Yeah, about 20 quid between the GTX260 and the 4870, plus the GTX260 has almost double the RAM.

I am also a 24/7 person, so the ATI issue would need to be sorted before I would consider them.

[NovaSphere]

I went from Nvidia to ATI and back to Nvidia, it seemed the ATI was a good bang for buck but I simply seen to many people having problems with the new cards from ATI, to much heat production, fans not going well...
I'm going for the GTX260 again x)

[kalniel]

Hi guys,

When you sit down to peruse new video cards in the next few weeks, which HUNDREDS of you will do, DO you think about power draw, heat etc?

Or just performance per quid?

Power draw and heat management are very important to me, but ATI's situation doesn't worry me in the slightest - I've every confidence the idle situation will improve soon (and I'm not sure how much it's actually affecting average draw) and there are two things I look at regarding heat:
1) How much is it going to heat up the rest of my computer?
2) How stable is a graphics card at it's heat levels?

#1 is fine when you chuck it out the back of the case - I currently have a 'hot' 1950xt and it works brilliantly with my case airflow scheme.

#2 I'm with ATI all the way - they are building the most amazingly heat resiliant chips these days. nVidia also did a great job back in the days of the 6800GT but reading all the stuff about their defects I don't trust the modern chips unless they're under a whopping cooler - which the new ones are. But then they don't fit in my case, so I can't buy them.

[Zhaoman]

The main concern I have is the 80C card heating up the components around it, especially on the motherboard. I wouldn't want the rest of my PC to be nice and cool only for the GPU to fry the capacitors around it. We need properly built solutions that dump the heat out such as the Vortexx Neo instead of solutions that just blow the heat downwards only to be sucked back up again by the same fan.

[aidanjt]

The main concern I have is the 80C card heating up the components around it, especially on the motherboard. I wouldn't want the rest of my PC to be nice and cool only for the GPU to fry the capacitors around it. We need properly built solutions that dump the heat out such as the Vortexx Neo instead of solutions that just blow the heat downwards only to be sucked back up again by the same fan.

Eh?.. How would it be heating the components around the card if it's retaining 80C worth of heat? As for the 4850 stock cooler, it blows hot air outwards (not down) which will cause the exhuast fans around the CPU area to suck it up, sure there may be *some* recirculation, but it isn't serious, and it will get vented.

[Pob255]

For me personally heat and cooling solution on a card have been issues that effect my buying for a long while now, ever since my old ati 9700pro, which used a stock cooler and cooked it's own memory.

Personally I think the nvidia stock coolers are better than the ati stock coolers.

PS Lowe I'm not surprised your 8800gts is starting to struggle now, it's the old g80 320mb version, anything around the 8800gt or above will cope better.
For lower power & cost, you might want to consider the 9800gtx+ or even a 8800gt/9800gt (it's the same card rereleased )

[Zhaoman]

I'm not even talking about the HD4850 fan, it's too puny to offer a quiet, cool solution. I was talking about the fans such as the Zalmans that the Toxic card uses. It seems to pull the air downwards, only for it to rise and get sucked in by the same fan again. A cooler such as the ones on the GTX and 4870 cards are needed, but they are all not adequate enough to cool heavy overclocks without becoming loud. That's why I mentioned the Vortexx Neo as a similar solution that does it "the right way" by providing quiet cooling that ejects the heat out of the case.

As for heating up the motherboard, the heatsinks on the HD4850 may be retaining the heat but it will certainly influence the temperatures of components on the mobo around it. Seeing as the temps of the mobo elsewhere will be no more than 50C, the circuitry around the 80C card will surely be feeling the strain.

edit: in reply to aidanjt's post

[this_is_gav]

The main concern I have is the 80C card heating up the components around it, especially on the motherboard.

Simple test. Can you place you hand close to the card without having to move it? It's cool enough to not really affect anything else then. You might lose a MHz or 10 in the most critical of overclocks, and that'll be about it.

I've never bought into this thing about case temps affecting things too much. My load CPU temp has risen ~2-4c due to the ambient heat difference between February (when I built it) and now. My idle hasn't changed at all. Sticking a HD4850 in the case, dumping around 50c heat by the time it's leaving the heatsink (and obviously quickly cooling further by the time it's touched anything else) isn't going to tip any scales in my opinion. If it is affecting your CPU or motherboard temps I think you ought to rethink your cooling arrangement.