Do you prefer Open or Closed design GPU's?

[RussianSensation]

So.. 30% people prefer closed design cards because they blow the air straight outside, it of course results in a more quiet computer because you have no need as much fans to keep the air flow trough the case, this also results in less dust being collected into the PC.

This is false. This is a myth that continues to this day and scientific testing does not support this view. Open air designs result in a quieter computer if you have a well ventilated modern case than a blower reference design. The noise levels and high temperatures of blower design are only exacerbated further with overvoltage and overclocking, making such designs even more inferior for overclockers on air. It is also not a necessary condition to have high rpm spinning case fans to create good case airflow as plenty of quiet case fans are available for purchase. Also, there are plenty of modern cases with quiet fans. There have been few exceptions to excellent reference blower cards such as 8800GTS 320mb but for the most part 99% of blower reference coolers are louder than the best after-market cards.

For example, Asus DirectCUII 670 card is extremely quiet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmv8sigAd-w&feature=player_embedded

There is a lot more information in this thread with actual data. The OP in that thread actually went out and bought a new case instead of listening to the reference blower myth.

Rambusted - "Thanks for all the replies, RS thanks for the really detailed posts big thumbs up! I was having trouble keeping my XFX 6870 at reasonable temps, it was flying into the 80's during Serious Sam 3 and Tribes ascend. I assumed the open design on the card was to blame and was considering a blower style card. After reading through this thread I went out today and bought an Antec Nine Hundred Two and scrapped my tiny generic case. I took a lot of time with cable management, utilizing the space behind the right panel. Needless to say the temps have dropped considerably, gpuz reporting 62c in games that normally went as high 85c. It is also quiet, my sons 4870 ref blower that sits about 5 feet away from me sounds like a hairdryer compared to the 7 fans churning away in my pc."

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2269142&highlight=blower+design

Get an after-market case with good airflow and you will have lower GPU temperatures and sometimes even lower case temperatures and a quieter computer with an after-market design. Reference blower designs work well in very cramped cases that do not have good airflow (with 1-2 fans) or in situations where you need to have 2-4 GPUs in CF/SLI and using 2-2.5 slot after-market cards would not work.

A modern case will have no trouble dissipating even 500W of heat being dumped into the case assuming there is sufficient airflow.

Again, scientific data does not support the view that an after-market card results in a louder and a much hotter computer in a well ventilated case compared to a blower reference design. The data often shows the exact opposite. This is why this myth continues to persist since in the past people have used poorly designed cases such as Antec 180/182/183 and in those conditions an after-market card dumping 250W of heat would result in much higher case temperatures. In modern cases, this is almost a non-issue, but you instantly benefit from a much quieter and cooler GPU.

 

[AnandThenMan]

Closed, i like the warm air to be blown out in winter, helps heat the room

Unless you vent the case heat to the outdoors, the heat going into the room will be the same.

 

[fffblackmage]

There needs to be an "I don't care" option in the poll. Price is often the first thing I consider.

Most often, "closed" designs have been the loudest for me. My X1950XT, 4890, and 5870 have been "closed" designs and are quite loud when I'm gaming. They're practically silent when idle though. The only exception in this case is the new HIS IceQ 7870 I just bought.

On the other hand, the MSI 4830 512MB I had was an "open" design. It produced a barely noticeable hum regardless of whether I was gaming or it was sitting idle (rpm was constant). Cooling wasn't especially awesome, but I guess that's the trade-off for decently quiet.

 

[wbynum]

+1 on the price comment. That is why I am running Diamond reference 7970's as opposed to ~$400 non-reference designs.

 

[Shmee]

I will go for whatever is a good price, and gives good OC/OV results. Keep in mind, some custom coolers may be good designs, but the custom design may also come with a custom PCB which could lock out voltage control, use cheaper, less OC friendly parts, or in the case of some HD 6950s, prevent unlocking or resetting bios.

 

[3DVagabond]

This has to be taken as a "Which one is more true" question. I chose open design because that is generally the type I would choose with what is available. If someone made a closed design though that was as quiet and effective as an open design I would choose that. All else being equal I would want the heat exhausted out of the case.

 

[Yukicore]

There needs to be an "I don't care" option in the poll. Price is often the first thing I consider.

Most often, "closed" designs have been the loudest for me. My X1950XT, 4890, and 5870 have been "closed" designs and are quite loud when I'm gaming. They're practically silent when idle though. The only exception in this case is the new HIS IceQ 7870 I just bought.

On the other hand, the MSI 4830 512MB I had was an "open" design. It produced a barely noticeable hum regardless of whether I was gaming or it was sitting idle (rpm was constant). Cooling wasn't especially awesome, but I guess that's the trade-off for decently quiet.

This poll isn't about the prices. Sure, you might choose closed design, because it's cheaper, but if the price would be the same as open design card with better cooling, would you still prefer the closed design card?

I wanted an opinion of which you think is the best and why, and which one of these types do people prefer the most.

 

[Yukicore]

This has to be taken as a "Which one is more true" question. I chose open design because that is generally the type I would choose with what is available. If someone made a closed design though that was as quiet and effective as an open design I would choose that. All else being equal I would want the heat exhausted out of the case.

But the heat travels trough the card for closed design, and letting it get even hotter. While open design cards blow it out immediately, so the closed designs have to have a cooler which is more powerful, also making it louder. And it can use only a single fan, and it's just not possible to get it as cool as open design card. So... in your dreams, pal. : /

sorry for dp.

 

[3DVagabond]

But the heat travels trough the card for closed design, and letting it get even hotter. While open design cards blow it out immediately, so the closed designs have to have a cooler which is more powerful, also making it louder. And it can use only a single fan, and it's just not possible to get it as cool as open design card. So... in your dreams, pal. : /

sorry for dp.

I guess you've never seen the HIS design?

It's an excellent cooler. So, it's possible. There are just many more good open designs to choose from.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Really wish the AIBs (or aftermarket heatsink companies) designed a blower type cooler that has bigger heatsink/bigger fan or even triple slot. Im sure this type of cooler design could be improved alot yet we see only a couple from HIS.

 

[blastingcap]

But the heat travels trough the card for closed design, and letting it get even hotter. While open design cards blow it out immediately, so the closed designs have to have a cooler which is more powerful, also making it louder. And it can use only a single fan, and it's just not possible to get it as cool as open design card. So... in your dreams, pal. : /

sorry for dp.

What the heck?? The heat traveling through smooths out hot spots; that is a plus, not a minus. Dead spots on the other hand are much bigger issues. For instance, compare the heat signatures of the reference blower design of the 7970 radial to the XFX Double D axial fans: http://www.hardware.fr/articles/853...950-asus-his-msi-powercolor-sapphire-xfx.html (Note that even the DirectCUII leaves something to be desired when it comes to hotspots)

That is, the problem with axial fans is that there will be dead spots on the PCB that don't get as much air. The air blowing against the PCB is not evenly distributed.

So if you're going axial, be careful to select cards that don't leave hotspots in bad areas. Check out the overclocked results of the XFX DD... 107.6C! (scroll down to the bottom of http://www.hardware.fr/articles/853-13/xfx-radeon-hd-7970-double-dissipation-test.html and mouse over overclocked results) That is 11.7C (21 degrees F) worse than reference overclocked.

 

[MustangSVT]

doesnt matter, I put my accelero on it at the end

 

[lehtv]

The OP is misleading because it is not an either/or. There are some "open" (technically, axial) designs that cool WORSE than reference/closed designs, such as the XFX DD :
http://www.hardware.fr/articles/853...950-asus-his-msi-powercolor-sapphire-xfx.html

The OP is not misleading. It asks which type of cooler we prefer, reference cooler or a more internally exhausting non-reference cooler. It IS clearly an either/or. It is irrelevant whether there are open design or other coolers that perform worse than reference coolers.

There is also a long history of non-reference cards using better or worse hardware than reference. Some custom cards are better than reference, while others skimp and use cheaper, worse parts, whether heatsinks or capacitors or worse voltage regulation or whatever.

This has nothing to do with heatsinks, capacitors, voltage regulation or whatever. This poll is about open design vs closed design coolers, other factors are irrelevant.

If watercooling or crossfire, closed is often better (the former because reference is standardized; and crossfire with two open cards next to each other may be problematic depending on the spacing), else many open designs may be quieter or cooler depending on the design.

Modern SLI boards almost always have the PCIe x8 slots three slots apart unless it's a microATX SLI board.

I also object to the "open" vs "closed" terminology. It is axial vs radial fans, not "open" or "closed."

Axial vs. radial is just confusing. The open vs closed terminology refers to how much air is exhausted externally vs. internally, and is conceptually much more intuitive.

 

[HeXen]

lol scientific data

 

[AdamK47]

Modern SLI boards almost always have the PCIe x8 slots three slots apart unless it's a microATX SLI board.

What about triple or quad SLI / CrossFire?