Non-Reference cooler design

[azeem40]

I am considering a 7870 non-reference card, but idk which one is the best balance between ocing headroom, quietness, and efficient cooling. Anyone know which one is a good balance of all the above? Thanks.

 

[ViRGE]

If it's a reference card, wouldn't they all be the same?

 

[azeem40]

Oops, misleading title rofl. I meant non-reference.

 

[Jocelyn84]

Happy to see you finally decided on something and as ViRGE pointed out, they'll all be the same. Luck of the draw kinda thing.

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[azeem40]

Fixed OP.

 

[ViRGE]

For overclocking headroom all the current batch of cards should be the same. They're all using the same reference PCB, so aside from some mild binning (Factory overclocked products should have a bit more headroom) they all rather identical.

Anyhow, as far as cooling goes there are several different options. AnandTech took a look at HIS's 7870 IceQ, which as far as cooling goes features a stupidly powerful cooler that's probably the best one on the market right now.