Blower or open design

[Rambusted]

What is more effective as far as cooling? I realize blowers make more noise but don't they keep the case much cooler?

 

[Greenlepricon]

It really depends. For a case with good airflow I think that open fans do better and can stay silent as well. I don't really recommend blowers unless the case is completely closed or there is extremely bad airflow. From what I've seen they generally make more noise and usually aren't as effective at cooling unless this is the case.

 

[tviceman]

Yeah you have it right. Blowers expel almost all of the heat generated by the GPU outside the case. They won't work as effectively as cooling the GPU, and are louder at cooling a GPU to the same temps as open air coolers, but virtually none of the heat will be left over, sparing your other components from the added heat that open air coolers add. If you have a small case or generally have high room temperatures where your computer operates, blowers are highly recommended. If you have a case that has excellent air flow and plenty of space for the air to move through the open air coolers are probably fine. Also, having an aftermarket heatsink and fan on your CPU helps mitigate the heat dumped back into the case by open air coolers.

One final thing is that reference Nvidia cards have superior cooling solutions vs. AMD's, at least insofar as noise levels are concerned. So if you are considering going with a card that uses a blower-style cooling solution, and you value quiet operation, then among the current crop of cards Nvidia wins out in that department.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

In theory blower designs would work great when talking about a crossfire setup where each card is right on top of each other as it is hard to get much airflow in between the GPUs.

They wouldn't dump their heat on top of each other in this case.

 

[vibratingdonkey]

i like the blower design since i prefer matx machines but they seem to have gotten worse over time. my 9800gtx was quieter than a 460gtx at 30% fan speed. the replacement 260gtx i got from rma is louder and from what i can tell the 670's are louder yet. my only guess is that they've cheaped out on the fan bearing design. i've been looking at an evga 670 but im not sure if i want to chance the noise...

of course im only refering to desktop use. when gaming they are noisy but since i use headphones it doesnt matter and they still make less noise than a classic xbox 360.

 

[RussianSensation]

One final thing is that reference Nvidia cards have superior cooling solutions vs. AMD's, at least insofar as noise levels are concerned. So if you are considering going with a card that uses a blower-style cooling solution, and you value quiet operation, then among the current crop of cards Nvidia wins out in that department.

That is true! NV blower fans are superior for sure (minus GTX480, FX5800U)

While I agree with your post overall, after for the first time trying an after-market card, I have concluded that 99% of GPU blowers I tried are terrible in terms of noise levels or cooling ability that we overclockers often seek for that extra free performance. It doesn't matter if it's from NV or AMD. The only card that's an exception to that rule is 8800GTS 320mb/640. Those were extremely quiet cards. Almost any other blower, especially once you start overclocking becomes a loud solution. A lot of people spend extra $ to get good after-market coolers such as NH-D14, Corsair H100, Thermalright Silver Arrow, get PSUs that don't spin fans until 450W (or Fanless ones) to achieve a very powerful and quiet system. Once you get used to a quiet powerful computer (unless you play with headphones), it's difficult to go back.

Below, I am going to present a contrarian view why Blower style designs do not have many real world benefits in a modern PC (barring some exceptions I outline in the end of my analysis).

Modern blower designs, with very few exceptions are loud at full load, and become obnoxious at OCed levels vs. an after-market solution such as Asus DirectCUII.

400W of heat being exhausted into a case being a problem is largely a perpetuated myth in a modern case. The mainthing that actually matters is case airflow not blower vs. after-market heatsink design dumping heat into the system.

Poor Case Airflow with 2 Blower Style GPUs:
GPU Load Temperature = 109*C
CPU Load Temperature = 94*C

Despite full blower design, poor case airflow reveals itself as the most important factor -- The heat from the videocards and CPU is trapped in the case:

Excellent Case Airflow with the same CPU cooler and the same 2 Blower Style GPUs:

GPU Load Temperature = 96*C :thumbsup:
CPU Load Temperature = 63*C:thumbsup:

The only thing that changed is the case.

Source

A lot of gamers still believe there is a tangible benefit to a blower style GPU for case temperatures but this is mostly a myth. After having used blower GPUs exclusively for 9+ years, I finally changed my case and when I upgraded to an after-market card, the effect on my case/CPU temperatures is not even 1*C at full load, while the reduction in noise levels is incredible. At full overclock, my videocard sounds quieter at 99% load than all the NV and AMD blowers I've ever had at stock GPU speeds ((other than perhaps the exceptional 8800GTS 320 blower). That 8800GTS 320mb card cannot compare to modern GPUs that consume a lot more power, especially in overclocked states.

With a modern case (2x120mm front intake fans) + 1x230mm top exhaust fan and 1x 120mm rear exhaust fan, there are not many valid reasons to go with a blower style fan. It's generally more mental in the user's mind as a modern case with good airflow will have no problem dealing with even 400W of heat (GTX670 SLI Asus DCUII should be not a problem for example). A tower heatsink on top of the CPU will also expel the heat either through the top or through the rear of the case, dealing with the CPU heat.

There is really no huge trade-off for system temperatures when one foregoes after-market heatsink on a modern GPU in favour of the blower design as is often believed -- actually the blower design is generally inferior in both aspects in a modern case with good airflow:

1) It does not generally reduce system temperatures (this may be true in a very cramped small case);
2) It sounds substantially louder than a non-reference dual or triple fan design;
3) Since after-market GPU coolers are a lot more powerful in dealing with excess heat begin with, the videocard will still remain cooler despite dumping most of the heat into the case.

Here is another similar analysis, using a P67 platform with a Core i7 2600 CPU and a modern Cooler Master case.

HD7970 Reference Blower System Heatscan at full load:

MSI HD7970 Lightning at full load ~ 210-220W are dumped straight into a modern case:

Therefore, I recommend getting a modern case to alleviate any heat concerns from top-of-the-line PC components. Following this upgrade, there is no real temperature benefit from a blower fan style GPU.

Once you own a quiet card such as this Asus DirectCUII 670 (Noise Level testing), it's hard to ever go back to a blower design, especially for single GPU setups.

There are a few exceptions where the blower design is still advantageous:

1) You desire a reference PCB for waterblocks;
2) Reference cards with blower designs are usually cheaper (good way to save $);
3) If you use headphones, then the added noise levels of a blower design may not matter (but the ability of a blower fan to dissipate heat as effectively will still be affected);
4) Need to squeeze in 3-4 GPUs on air cooling;
5) Have very tight room between your PCIe slots for 2 or more GPUs (Asus Gene boards).
6) You have an outdated case with very poor airflow that would not be able to dissipate 200W of heat.

 

[blackened23]

What is more effective as far as cooling? I realize blowers make more noise but don't they keep the case much cooler?

Aftermarket cooling pros:

-more effective at cooling
-less noisy at load
-"look" better
-overclock better, on average

Aftermarket cons:

-slightly more expensive
-not a good choice for tri or quad sli
-have to ensure great case airflow if using 2 or more cards


Reference design pros:
- better for tri/quad sli
-most economical choice, all other things equal

Reference cons:
-louder on average
-worse overclockers on average


I have MSI lightning 680s and would not trade them for anything. I think for overclocks, aftermarket cards are fantastic unless you're doing something crazy like tri or quad sli. I think for most people, aftermarket cards are the best if a budget allows - I would have a hard time going back to a ref card!

 

[IlllI]

very informative post RS

 

[Termie]

Ouch, Puget Systems is making that Antec P183 look like trash compared to the Silverstone Fortress.

But the truth is that most people use cases much, much more like the P183, which doesn't actually have terrible airflow. Assuming one is not going to be buying a new $180 case to go along with their new video card, their dual-card setup will look much more like the first graphic shown above.

The catch is, of course, that Puget appears to be testing 480 SLI, which was unlike any other SLI system ever dreamed up - the 480 had a hard time keeping itself cool even in a single-card setup.

Plus, given that Puget doesn't show an open-air 480 SLI setup tested, we aren't really getting at the main question, which is how would such a cooler compare.

In my opinion, unless you want a huge overclock on your GPU or are very sensitive to load noise, the reference blower designs really make things much simpler. They compensate for poor-to-average airflow (often resulting from sound insulated cases, ironically, which ultimately do more for noise reduction than the VGA cooler), and they lessen the stress on nearby components. Modern GPUs put out A LOT of heat - I would much rather get as much of that out of the case rather than worry about what it's doing to my hard drives, motherboard, etc. While the CPU will be fine with a big tower cooler, these CPU coolers do little to remedy the buildup of heat around other components of the motherboard.

So, to summarize, it's not that straightforward. Depends what your priorities are. I have a blower in my main mATX rig, and a semi-open cooler in my compact HTPC. Yes, the latter is quieter, although I am not all that comfortable with the amount of heat being dumped into the small case with no option for front ventilation.

 

[peonyu]

Yeah you have it right. Blowers expel almost all of the heat generated by the GPU outside the case. They won't work as effectively as cooling the GPU, and are louder at cooling a GPU to the same temps as open air coolers, but virtually none of the heat will be left over, sparing your other components from the added heat that open air coolers add. If you have a small case or generally have high room temperatures where your computer operates, blowers are highly recommended. If you have a case that has excellent air flow and plenty of space for the air to move through the open air coolers are probably fine. Also, having an aftermarket heatsink and fan on your CPU helps mitigate the heat dumped back into the case by open air coolers.

One final thing is that reference Nvidia cards have superior cooling solutions vs. AMD's, at least insofar as noise levels are concerned. So if you are considering going with a card that uses a blower-style cooling solution, and you value quiet operation, then among the current crop of cards Nvidia wins out in that department.

Ive had a Hd4850, a HD6950, a GTX 480, a GTX 580 and now a HD7970 video card...And stock coolers for all of them have been loud and cooling wise, sucked balls. Unless you have actual temperature benchmarks to back up what your saying Ill say you are wrong. The 480 and 580 Ive had in particular were insanely loud cards, louder than the 7970 easily.

 

[RussianSensation]

Ouch, Puget Systems is making that Antec P183 look like trash compared to the Silverstone Fortress. But the truth is that most people use cases much, much more like the P183, which doesn't actually have terrible airflow. Assuming one is not going to be buying a new $180 case to go along with their new video card, their dual-card setup will look much more like the first graphic shown above.

That's because it is. You don't need to buy a $180 case to get good air flow. $115 is all it takes. There are many other good cases for about the same. If you are spending $800-1000 on 2 modern GPUs you shouldn't be saving $ on a good case or be using an Antec 183 or similar. The result is a penalty in GPU temperatures and noise levels with little to no benefits in system temperatures.

The case is the most overlooked aspect in achieving good airflow of a desktop system. The blower design being beneficial applies to cases with poor airflow. Real world data shows that: (1) it the case which is the most important component in lowering your system temperatures (unless you lower ambient room temperatures with A/C, etc.) and that (2) in a modern case with good airflow a blower design has little to no benefit for reducing system temperatures. What a blower design does rather is add a lot of additional noise, increases GPU temperatures and impedes overclocking headroom on videocards due to what is often an insufficient GPU heatsink on blower design videocards. Some designs such as HIS IceQ coolers tried to improve on the blower design successfully. Still, even in cramped cases, the blower design is not conclusively shown to be beneficial. For example, SilverForce11 has a highly overclocked HD7950 PCS+ that runs cool and quiet despite a massive overclock and he has a fairly compact case.

Here is a 3rd example to add to my previous post with real world data:

A pair of HD4870 videocards peaks at 247W x2 = 494W of power.

Here is a review of Antec P182 vs. Azza Solano with a pair of 4870s.

"Our last case was an Antec P182, outfitted with four fans (two front intakes, one top exhaust, and one rear exhaust). It stayed around 46 degrees Celsius, except under load when it spiked to 50 or 51 degrees. The AZZA Solano 1000 peaks at a frosty 38 degrees under load; in the BIOS before booting, it’s normally around 32 degrees. That’s with a pair of Radeon HD 4870′s inside." ~ Extremetech

Ironically, a blower design videocard can actually worsen your motherboard and case temperatures in a modern case, as seen in my first post. In addition, a modern case can deal with 500W of GPU heat without much effort, negating any of the "performance benefits" of a blower style GPU cooler. Imo, the main advantages are related to space constraints between PCIe slots that often do not allow 2.5-3 slot after market GPUs to fit easily.

 

[blastingcap]

Ideally you want a combination of both (blower fans AND good case airflow). I don't understand why Antec has a good rep, when they skimp on a lot of their stuff (look at the internal components of even their top end PSUs for instance--Chinese caps. Really!). Antec cases can be good but are overpriced for what they give you. If you can find a Corsair 300R on sale and stick a 120mm fan vertically where the 3 drive bays are (use an external DVD drive if you MUST have an optical drive), and if you use good front, side, and rear fans, that case does fairly well in cooling. Even in stock configuration it does okay:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6055/corsair-carbide-300r-case-review-corsair-for-the-masses/6

 

[BFG10K]

I definitely prefer a blower - the bigger the fan, the better. I also want the shroud to be as sealed as possible so as little heat escapes into the case as possible.

An open design can work but it relies too much on the case to evict the heat. That heats the case up, and makes temperature controlled fans spin faster.

Our PSUs have moved to the bottom of cases, and now have intakes right next to them. Why? So we can isolate their airflow, that’s why.

Why then would you want a 300W GPU dumping its heat into the case?

 

[RussianSensation]

An open design can work but it relies too much on the case to evict the heat. That heats the case up, and makes temperature controlled fans spin faster.

This is not true because modern cases can expel 400-500W of heat with minimal side-effects to noise levels or case temperatures.

You also do not need a case with high rpm spinning fans to achieve great airflow. Thus, the assumption that the case will become loud with 2x GTX680 / 7970 after-market cards dumping the heat back into the case is not accurate. Real world temperature and noise level testing in modern cases disproves this. Further, to achieve good case airflow only 900-1000rpm 140mm/230 fans are sufficient. Even case fans that spin at 1100 rpm such as the Thermalright TY-140 can achieve remarkably low noise levels and strong airflow. Secondly, a card with an after-market cooler is many times quieter than a reference blower, which means if you have quiet case fans, quiet CPU fan and a quiet GPU fan, the noise levels on high-end GPUs (and overall system) will always be superior to a system with a blower reference GPU fan all things being equal (i.e., without noise case insulation kit). Actually modern cases can deal with 400-500W of heat without much negative consequences. In fact, real world testing shows the opposite: that an after-market GPU that dumps the heat into the case runs cooler and quieter, and less heat is trapped in a case with good airflow because the after-market design can expel more heat into the case quicker allowing the case fans to deal with the heat.

You cannot achieve this level of quietness with a blower designed GTX670/680 card @ full load. Combine that with a very quiet Noctua / Thermalright Silver Arrow , etc. CPU cooler, Scythe Gentle Typhoon case fans, Fanless or Hybrid Fanless setting on a Seasonic PSU and you have a near silent and yet extremely fast desktop PC that can run 24/7 @ 99% GPU/CPU load if required with you sleeping in the same room

Our PSUs have moved to the bottom of cases, and now have intakes right next to them. Why? So we can isolate their airflow, that’s why.

Yes, but that doesn't disprove that a blower design has any benefits for reducing GPU or system temperatures in a case with good airflow.

Why then would you want a 300W GPU dumping its heat into the case?

1. Superior noise levels - GTX670/680/7950/7970 blower designs are still way too loud for many people, especially for those who run their GPUs @ full load for hours or days at a time.

2. Superior GPU temperatures

3. Superior overclocking without a massive noise penalty.

In a nutshell: Aftermarket CPU and GPU coolers allow for very high overclocks without adverse noise penalty. This is especially beneficial for videocards and CPUs that can attain 25-40% overclocking headroom. You simply cannot cool an HD7970 or GTX680 @ 1200-1300mhz at quiet noise levels with a reference design blower. In the case of HD7970 series for instance, you are giving up "free" 20-25% speed increase (unless you choose to use headphones). Even if you do not overclock, without a noise reduction kit, it is impossible to build a quiet overclocked (or stock) desktop PC system with a stock AMD / Intel CPU cooler + reference design GPU blower fan without noise cancelling case kit.

As the data shows, an after-market GPU with a strong cooler allows the GPU to run much cooler and quieter without any material adverse side-effects to CPU, motherboard or case temperatures. An after-market CPU tower cooler similarly expels 150W of heat from the overclocked Core i5/i7 CPU. Together it ensures the most quiet and coolest system possible without going water or exotic cooling. However, even if you insulate the case, the reference designed CPU and GPU coolers cannot cope with the added power consumption necessary to achieve 25-40% CPU or GPU overclocks.

Something like a Core i5 3570k @ 4.5ghz cooled by Noctua NH-D14 + 1290mhz GPU Boosted Asus DirectCUII GTX680 would run much cooler and quieter than a stock Core i5 3570k system with reference CPU / GTX680 blower. Reduced noise levels and reduced temperatures are major reasons why people want to get after-market CPU coolers and GPUs with after-market coolers.

 

[BFG10K]

This is not true.

Of course it’s true. Any fan that’s temperature controlled will spin faster at higher temperatures. That’s the definition of “temperature controlled”.

That’s why we isolate the PSU on the bottom, so it gets cold air direct from the outside and doesn’t impact the case elsewhere. A direct cooling path will always be better than an indirect path.

Why do you think the Raven is such a good case for cooling? Because it positions the components in such a way that adheres to this principle as much as possible. A GPU blower in a Raven basically has a direct path through the case, which is ideal.

In fact, real world testing shows the opposite: that an after-market GPU that dumps the heat into the cases runs cooler and quieter and less heat is trapped in a case with good airflow because the after-market design can expel more heat into the case quicker.

Your testing doesn’t show that at all. Aftermarket coolers change other things like heatsink mass, materials, fan design & position, and even thermal compound, so you’re not just testing blower vs open anymore.

To do a real test you’d need to use identical components, changing only the GPU cooler from blower to open. By that I mean slicing off the side panel off its stock blower.

Showing the difference between a stock blower and a bigger aftermarket cooler doesn’t really prove anything, other than that a beefier cooler is better than a smaller cooler, which we already knew.

Yes, but that doesn't disprove that a blower design has any benefits for reducing GPU or system temperatures in a case with good airflow.

Why don’t you look up the ATX design guidelines for cooling? One of the guides is to avoid re-using air that’s already cooled something, as much as possible.

Dumping GPU heat into the case violates that principle because it should have a direct path out of the case instead.

1. Superior noise levels
2. Superior GPU temperatures
3. Allows for very high overclocks without adverse noise penalty.

Again, unproven unless you change nothing else except slicing open the blower to make it open, then test for differences.

Even if you get an advantage for the GPU, the rest of your case components increase in heat which makes their respective fans spin faster. Thus you pay for it with extra noise and heat in the rest of the system.

This was made even worse when PSUs used to be mounted at the top of the system, so you can see how superior their bottom mounted direct path is.

I don’t need to guess here; I’ve tested this for years and I always keep coming back to blower coolers, even in this Antec 902 which is capable of massive airflow.

GPU temperatures and noise levels are slightly higher than comparable open designs, but the rest of the system stays quieter and has lower temperatures, so overall a blower is superior.

As a result I always have very slow spinning and CPU, PSU and case fans (even under load), and very low temperatures.

 

[RussianSensation]

GPU temperatures and noise levels are slightly higher than comparable open designs, but the rest of the system stays quieter and has lower temperatures, so overall a blower is superior.
As a result I always have very slow spinning and CPU, PSU and case fans (even under load), and very low temperatures.

Not in a modern case. Only in theory, not in practice. Even if your 680 runs at 50% fan speed, it's louder than an after-market Asus DirectCUII 680 at 100% fan speed. Why do you think all the best enthusiast high-end GPUs have after-market cooling? This isn't a coincidence. There are major benefits to an after-market cooled GPU. So much so that after-market cooled 680/7970 cards are the only way to go for overclockers not gaming with headphones or using water or case insulation or actually wanting a quiet system. You cannot have a quiet high-end system with blower reference GPU fans and a stock Intel heatsink. A system with highly rated after-market GPU (i.e., Asus DCUII) cooler and an after-market CPU cooler (Noctua NH-D14/Silver Arrow, etc.) will always outperform a system with a stock Intel/AMD CPU heatsink and an NV or AMD GPU reference blower videocard in noise levels and temperatures @ a similar level of performance. There isn't even any debate on this topic. I can take a fanless Thermalright HR-02/Scythe Orochi and put it on top of your Core i5 2500K and negate the need for a stock Intel CPU cooler. Take a Thermalright TY-140 case fan and slap it on top and force it at 600 rpm and in comparison your Intel Core i5 2500k heatsink is not even on the map in terms of noise levels or temperatures. With a superior cooler, you can force lower fan speeds as well while still maintain good temps.

Your 680 sounds louder and runs hotter than any of the top after-market 680 cards and the overall noise levels of your system are thus far louder. Even with something like an Asus DCUII 670 @ 100% fan speed, it will be many times quieter than a reference GTX680 card.

Your assumption that a case will need to become louder to expel 200-500W of heat is unproven. This is because you are assuming that you need very high rpm spinning case fans to achieve this goal. This is false. You do not need buzzing Vantec Stelth or Tornado case fans to expel that much heat. Even real world testing shows that to be false. A reference blower 7970 cards gets annihilated by MSI Lightning 7970 in noise levels, GPU temperatures and overall case temperatures. The same will be the case with a reference GTX680 vs. Asus DCUII 680.

I know you didn't watch the Asus DirectCUII 670 video I linked because 1 such card runs quieter than any fan in your entire system. Throw in a fanless PSU, quiet case fans and it will cream your system in overall noise levels, temperatures and overclocked speeds.

Here is a reference 680 on an open test @ 7:26 mark - this is not quiet, not even close.
vs.
GTX670 DirectCUII @ full load.

You cannot use opinion to dismiss real world data when we can clearly hear how loud reference cards are. Not to mention a general statement that "a blower design is superior" is too broad in itself since cards such as HD4890, GTX480, HD7970 and GTX670 do not have quiet reference blowers.

Again, real world data shows that Reference blowers are:

1) Louder;
2) Hotter;
3) Limit overclocking @ reasonable noise levels;
4) Do not tangibly improve system temperatures in a quiet modern case with good airflow.

Their main benefit is for gamers going SLI/CF with 2-3 GPUs, where PCIe space constraints do not allow you to use after-market cooled GPUs and if you have a case that won't fit an after-market card, or a case with almost non-existent airflow.

If you choose not to overclock at all, then you choose to give up 25-40% CPU and GPU speed increase. The alternative then is spending $1000 on Core i7 3960X and buying a much more expensive GPU setup (for example $900 HD7970 @ 1200mhz CF is within 10% of $2000 GTX690 SLI in multi-monitor gaming). Many people overclock to save $ and this is possible with amazing noise levels using after-market air cooling (or water of course).

For example, the level of CPU speed you have on a stock i5 2500K was achievable 3-4 years ago on a Core i7 920 @ 4.0ghz with an uber quiet Noctua NH-D14 / Thermalright Silver Arrow. People were enjoying that level of CPU performance using a quiet air cooler. This simply could not have been done on the stock i7 920 heatsink @ reasonable noise levels. The same applies for GPU cooling + overclocking + quiet noise levels without going water.

Furthermore, after-market cooling allows gamers to save $. You can buy an HD7950 Vapor-X for example and overclock it to outperform your videocard, saving $170 in the process and still end up with a quieter GPU. That's why after-market cooled videocards offer tremendous advantages price/performance, noise level and temperature advantages for enthusiasts.

The whole point of higher quality cooling is that you can force your fans to run at lower RPMs. Go ahead and set your Intel heatsink and GTX680 fans to 700-1200rpm and see what happens @ full load.

 

[toyota]

I loved my gtx260 with reference blower. it was very quiet while also keeping the card cool. I like the thought of pushing all the heat out the back of the card as it makes my feel the rest of my system will stay cooler too.

my non reference Galaxy gtx570 was not really a blower type but it still pushed most of the hot air out the back. some of the heat did pour out the side though and I was always paranoid about that. my sound card which was directly above it, got VERY hot during gaming.

the reference gtx680 blower cooler which was on my gtx670 ftw card felt like a cheap flimsy pos compared to my gtx260. it obviously did do a good job of pushing the hot air out the back but it was very noisy if you wanted to keep temps below 70.

 

[RussianSensation]

Reference blowers on modern GPUs tested @ AT are loud - only the 6950 runs below 50 dB. An overclocked Sapphire Dual-X card smashes them all in noise levels,

and temperatures:

The Sapphire DX cooler is not even the quietest on the market - Asus DCUII and PCS+ are even better!

There is no comparison. Take a GTX680 and overclock it to 1200-1250mhz on the reference blower and it's loud enough that you can't sleep in the same room and let the GPU do any rendering, distributing computing or any type of GPU intensive work overnight. Put 2 or 3 reference blower cards in your system and you'll be having 'eargasms' after dropping waterblocks on them just to shut them up. It might not matter in games with loud music and gunshots, but in a quiet room, a reference blower is very annoying @ full load.

Even if we take a very efficient GTX660Ti, a reference cooler on it (the same as on the 670) still fails to keep the card under 70*C @ quiet noise levels. That means the after-market cards come with much higher GPU Boosts while still working < 70*C while with the blower design you lose out on performance as it's not hitting the top GPU Boost bins; and you suffer from louder noise levels.

The reference 660Ti hit only 1058mhz GPU Boost, while the best after-market 660Ti hit 1280mhz.

That means there is a triple penalty for a blower design - inferior GPU temperatures, performance and noise levels:

I loved my gtx260 with reference blower. it was very quiet while also keeping the card cool. I like the thought of pushing all the heat out the back of the card as it makes my feel the rest of my system will stay cooler too.

That's the thing. It's natural and logical to think this is what happens because that's what people keep repeating. We take it as gospel. But this is not what actually happens in real world testing in terms of case temperatures in a modern case with good airflow. For years and years people have ignored how integral a case is to the overall noise levels and airflow of a modern desktop PC.

Take a look at how amazing the performance of a SilverStone Temjin TJ11 is @ minimum fans speeds and how dramatic the difference in CPU and GPU temperatures can be by only changing the case:

CPU: Intel Core i7-870 CPU overclocked to 3.4GHz
Graphics card: ATI Radeon HD 5870 2GB Eyefinity 6
Motherboard: Biostar TPower I55
RAM: 2 x 2GB OCZ 1,866MHz DDR3
Hard drive: 160GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.9
Heatsink: Gelid Tranquillo with a Noctua NF-S12B ULN fan
Power supply: Seasonic M12D SS-850EM

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/07/26/bitfenix-shinobi-xl-review/3

You are looking at a 20*C delta for CPU and 20*C delta for GPU between the worst and the best case in that review. If you have a modern case with great airflow, you are unlikely to get any benefits from a blower GPU design; and yet you are guaranteed to get increased GPU noise levels, GPU temperatures and reduced performance/overclocking headroom @ reasonable noise levels vs. an after-market solution. This is even more true with Kepler cards that clamp GPU Boost beyond 70*C. Having a good cooling solution now directly impacts even your out of the box stock performance. If you cannot fit 2 after-market air ooled 670/680/7970 cards in a case due to space constraints, then the blower fan is the only solution by necessity without going water.

 

[hokies83]

None of my gpus break 55c in a stress test... Gaming the top one is in the mid 40s the lower one may touch 50c here and there.. notice case air flow and 3 slots between the cards..

 

[Silverforce11]

I probably have the most cramped case here.

When I had a blower type 5850, even OC everything ran cool, although not very quiet, but i applied good TIM on the gpu so the fanspeed wasn't above 40% (approaching the noisy mark).

I then threw in a 7850 twin fan from Sapphire, OC to 1.25ghz and the card ran cool and quiet, but i can feel the exhaust air from the case was hotter (1 x 120mm intake on the antec h2o cooler positive pressure).

With the 7950 PCS+ the gpu itself is also very cool and quiet but the rest of the system got hotter (this Asrock Z68 is really shitty, it can't sustain 4.3ghz+ unless the VRMs run cool, i even have custom copper vrm sinks on them, it was throttling down to 4ghz). I recently modded the case to have the antec cooler exhaust hot air out from above, and another 120mm fan to provide 86 cfm positive pressure intake from the front. Now the entire system runs cool and quiet (and no throttling cpu OC).

As to blower types, they ARE inherently more noisier, its simple physics. All that airflow is pushed through tiny exhaust vents, its going to make a lot of noise just from airflow if not from high RPM to sustain the CFM required to cool the card. To argue this is to deny physics and self defeating. Their only advantage is in cases with poor airflow, they contribute to better temps and system stability. So if your case is well ventilated, open design with big fans (92mm) as GPU cooler offer the best perf/noise.

 

[AnandThenMan]

As to blower types, they ARE inherently more noisier, its simple physics. All that airflow is pushed through tiny exhaust vents, its going to make a lot of noise just from airflow if not from high RPM to sustain the CFM required to cool the card. To argue this is to deny physics and self defeating. Their only advantage is in cases with poor airflow, they contribute to better temps and system stability. So if your case is well ventilated, open design with big fans (92mm) as GPU cooler offer the best perf/noise.

100% agreed. A blower fan design is really made to be as compact as possible, so it has to spin faster to move enough air. Such a design CAN be silent and pleasant to the ear, but not in a relatively tiny form factor like a video card. Panasonic makes bathroom exhaust fans that are basically a blower style, they are 110CFM rated or higher but very quiet. Try getting the same airflow in a blower fan video card, you could but the fan would probably cause hearing loss. And that's the key, an open design allows for larger fan blades/greater area.

 

[3DVagabond]

There are always compromises in any design. It comes down to how you balance those compromises. There is no rule of physics that automatically makes an open design performance superior to a blower design.

The HIS IceQ Turbo has no difficulty performing alongside the dual fan open designs.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Both have their merits imo. Blower designs are compact and designed in away that they dont affect the temperatures of surrounding components (with some exceptions of course e.g GTX480).

Where as the aftermarket coolers are open based meaning they can cool the videocard much better at the expense of increasing the ambient case temperature. This of course can be compensated somewhat with good airflow in the case although Ive experienced that the surrounding components do get somewhat affected. Noise is also a big win thanks to the fan design and having the ability to spin alot slower although I think the GTX680 reference coolers are the quietest ive dealt with in a long time although Im feeling that the GTX480 that I previous had is a major contributor to this.

However I think its important to not forget that if the aftermarket coolers are designed with the same size/BOM restrictions/limitations along with it being dictated by the bare minimum TDP, it would perform considerable worse than what we see now in the form of Twin frozr III/Artic Xtreme etc coolers.

On a second note.. Id love to see if triple slot blower designs are possible, or an aftermarket solution that can upgrade the existing blower design with a larger fan/better heatsink e.g. a pop in upgrade of the current stock heatsink to a compatible vapor chamber heatsink for the GTX680.

 

[krumme]

Man just used 4 hours on the net to find the best blower for my low noise rig. I had settled for the evga 670 fwd lol. And then to learn open is best from this thread. I can save 100-150 usd in dk to take a asus dc2 7950 instead of the 670 variant.

You expert. Hos is this asus with a corsair 550d and a seasonic x560? What else is needed for silent cooling? I will oc cpu and gpu. Will have ib 4core k model. One ssd and 8gb no mechanical hd and dvd

Rs just makes some excellent post here

 

[tviceman]

Ive had a Hd4850, a HD6950, a GTX 480, a GTX 580 and now a HD7970 video card...And stock coolers for all of them have been loud and cooling wise, sucked balls. Unless you have actual temperature benchmarks to back up what your saying Ill say you are wrong. The 480 and 580 Ive had in particular were insanely loud cards, louder than the 7970 easily.

I was refering mostly to this generation (i.e. cards that are most often bought and sold today) of cards. Nvidia also had superior blowers with their 500 series vs. AMD's 6000 series. In both cases Nvidia wins hands down.