Performance vs. Noise vs. Heat vs. Power consumption

[tviceman]

Performance is king - to a degree (no pun intended) right? Usually the most balanced cards are the most sought after ones by everyday users. To what degree of performance are you willing to sacrifice to get noticeably quieter operations, lower GPU heat, and/or lower power consumption? It's a big task to juggle for Nvidia and AMD, and I'm curious to see how important each aspect is for everyone when combined into a complete package.

If two cards are being compared, would a 5-10% performance sacrifice be acceptable if noise, heat, and/or power draw were noticeably lower?

What if two cards are of equal performance, but one has a lower power draw while the other has lower operating noise? Which would you rather game with?

 

[Skurge]

Well for me its,

Performance
Noise
Power consumption
Heat (this wouldnt even be on this list, I don't care how hot the GPU runs as long it is within operating limits.)

I would take the 5-10% slower card that quieter everytime. 5-10% can be hard to notice sometimes, but noise always is.

The 2nd option is hard, power here is expensive, so it's a dificult choice. Im not sure which I would choose. I guess I will have to see how much more power or noise it is.

 

[-Slacker-]

For me it depends. I'm only willing to sacrifice performance down to a certain point as far as ergonomy goes.

If both cards in question eat up less than 150w, then I'm going to pick the faster one, regardless if the other one is more economical.

If both cards run cooler than 75c then, again, I'm getting the faster one, unless we're talking about entry level video cards here (I don't see why we would), in which case I'd prefer even lower temperatures. Same goes for power consumption, but I don't suppose entry level gpus are in question here.

Noise ... I have no idea how loud is x amount of db, so I couldn't say, but, to me noise is pretty much irrelevant, since I'm used to loud hardware; I understand the hd 6990 is the loudest video card ever made, with noise thresholds above 70db. I haven't had the fortune to see the card up close, but I'm almost sure I'd be able to deal with the noise.

 

[tviceman]

The 2nd option is hard, power here is expensive, so it's a dificult choice. Im not sure which I would choose. I guess I will have to see how much more power or noise it is.

I'm a little strange in my GPU preferences. I am totally on the same page with you on your performance/noise preferences, but when it comes to power consumption I'm odd. I'm not a tree hugger, but yet I just got a new car a few months ago with high MPG being the #1 priority, I made it a point last year to replace every possible light bulb in my house with CFL's, and when I had to replace my hot water heater a few months ago I spent extra to get the more efficient one.

But when it comes to my computer, I guess I just don't care. I overclock my CPU to whatever max it will run stable at and I also overclock my GPU in the same fashion (with respect to keeping noise levels low).

 

[Idontcare]

I'm not interested in the noise, or the elevated local temps near my computer. Yeah I've got central A/C for the whole house but the heat doesn't equilibrate instantly. Even with an open-floor style house I am noticably warmer sitting next to my computer than when I sit in the family room with my laptop.

Noise-wise I was willing to give up whatever OC'ing headroom my GTX460 has when the fanspeed is raised above 80% for rpms. Yes I could get more performance out of them but 80% was the threshold of noise tolerance for me. (nets me a clockspeed of 854MHz at 1.087V)

 

[Cogman]

Honestly, you can have high performance, low noise, and low heat. The question is, are you willing to pay for it? Cost is always a factor for me.

 

[Arkadrel]

For me it goes like this:

price/performance > power effciency > noise > temps

Im a cheap ah heck, and I want good value, but I also dont want crazy electric bills.
Noise > temps for me, idle noise is very important, usually when gameing it doesnt matter to much if its abit noisy... but high idle will drive you nuts.

 

[tincart]

Price/performance @ a given budget (usually around $200). It may be the case that a $1000 card somehow offers the best price/performance but that doesn't mean I'll buy it.

Power draw. Specifically, will I have to upgrade my power supply if I get this card? I've been happy with my 550W BFG supply for a couple upgrades now. If one new card means I have to replace that PS and the other doesn't, then it will change the price/performance metric significantly.

Noise. Don't care, I game with headphones. Idle noise for $200 cards is generally not a problem.

Temps. Depends on overclocking headroom of the card relative to heat.

 

[bryanW1995]

Well for me its,

Performance
Noise
Power consumption
Heat (this wouldnt even be on this list, I don't care how hot the GPU runs as long it is within operating limits.)

I would take the 5-10% slower card that quieter everytime. 5-10% can be hard to notice sometimes, but noise always is.

The 2nd option is hard, power here is expensive, so it's a dificult choice. Im not sure which I would choose. I guess I will have to see how much more power or noise it is.

1. performance
2. noise
3. heat
4. power

it's tough to separate 2,3, and 4 however, b/c they so often go together. sure, sometimes one camp or the other builds a great cooler than can quietly dissipate tons of heat (or joules for that matter...), but generally speaking as the power and heat go up the noise goes up right along with it. and for me, the performance is important up to a point, then noise is also important up to a point, but heat is always a factor b/c I have two modern rigs in one room running DC 24/7. And my backup/kids rig has 2 gpus. Power is no issue, I have an XFX 750w psu just taking up space in my closet because I don't need it (yet).

 

[Arkadrel]

I guess it depends on a few things:

How far do you sit from your pc? the futher away the less noisy. Do you use headphones when gameing? Did you use noise absorbtion materials to dampen noise of your cabin?

Heat, do you use A/C to compensate for it? how much does that add to the electric bill?
Say if you live in europe and its cold, your gpu giveing a little warmth is hardly a issue.

Poweruseage> Do you need a new PSU to go with your card? extra costs if you do.
How cheap is electisity where you live? If you live in texas USA its probably not as expensive as if you lived in a european country again.


Im surprised people can put power at the buttom of the list.... but again I guess, where your from and power costs colour your perceptions of whats good qualities in a card.

 

[nikkai]

Performance
Noise
Power consumption
Heat

Maybe it's my time spent on SPCR forums, but lately I've been attached to bringing noise down - heck I'm stilling running a passive 8800gt.

So, considering those factors, out of curiosity how does the MSI GTX 570 measure according to those factors? I'd like to play a current gen game every once in a while =P

 

[tviceman]

Performance
Noise
Power consumption
Heat

Maybe it's my time spent on SPCR forums, but lately I've been attached to bringing noise down - heck I'm stilling running a passive 8800gt.

So, considering those factors, out of curiosity how does the MSI GTX 570 measure according to those factors? I'd like to play a current gen game every once in a while =P

An MSI twin frozr II can run the fan speeds at 30% when stock clocked and still keep the card very, very cool. 30% fan speed is ground noise - it's not audible until you put your ear up to it.

 

[nikkai]

^ *nod* That seems to be the consensus. Thanks

 

[Juncar]

For me, it'll be

noise
performance
heat
power

Idle noise is the top priority for me since I game and use my computer for work. Currently, I have a Radeon 4770, I keep the fan speed fixed at 34%. Anything above and I would hear it over my case fan which is not acceptable for me.

 

[fuzzymath10]

Once I set a minimum baseline for performance, I will choose the lowest noise level at additional cost up to a limit. There's no point in getting a radeon hd 5450 just because on an absolute scale it uses almost no power, comes passively cooled, and is available in low profile.

I invested a total of about $175 for a low profile radeon hd 5750 with passive cooling modded on when the cheapest models with the same GPU were maybe $105-110. This was completely worth it in my opinion; when the only alternatives are as following:

1) cheap, with fan, not low profile
2) expensive, with fan, low profile
3) expensive, no fan, not low profile

what I got: expensive, no fan, low profile

generally more power comes with more noise and heat so I indirectly look for decent power usage. This is why I also prefer intel over amd since performance per watt is higher and this translates into a more pleasant user experience which offsets the better performance per dollar of most amd processors.

 

[Skurge]

Price/performance @ a given budget (usually around $200). It may be the case that a $1000 card somehow offers the best price/performance but that doesn't mean I'll buy it.

Power draw. Specifically, will I have to upgrade my power supply if I get this card? I've been happy with my 550W BF supply for a couple upgrades now. If one new card means I have to replace that PS and the other doesn't, then it will change the price/performance metric significantly.

Noise. Don't care, I game with headphones. Idle noise for $200 cards is generally not a problem.

Temps. Depends on overclocking headroom of the card relative to heat.

Yeah, PSUs here are disprportionatly expensive compared to other componants. So I stuck with a 460w and refused to upgrade it, and just bought cards that would work with it.

 

[Necc]

2 years ago when iwas living with the family idid care less about power consumption, noise, heat. performance was number 1, but since last year started living alone, work on my system and game, bills were on the high side, so was the noise, so started selling my i7 parts and downgraded to the good old 775 (stock E8400, with 4GB RAM, 300W, and an HD5670) saved my self lot of cash, and anyways idont game that often anymore. as isee it now its like:

1. Power Consumption
2. Noise
3. Performance
4. and heat.

Ican play most games with good frame rates without eyecandy or AA in 1080p, mostly Valve games that dont require high-end video cards.

 

[nemesismk2]

1. Performance
2. Noise
3. Heat (usually has an impact on Noise)
4. Power Consumption

 

[Madcatatlas]

Noise and then performance with power consumption being a last.

Heat is not relevant aslong as the hardware can take the..heat and not selfdestruct like the g80 cards from Nvidia did after 2 years.

 

[apoppin]

Yeah, PSUs here are disprportionatly expensive compared to other componants. So I stuck with a 460w and refused to upgrade it, and just bought cards that would work with it.

Have you considered using a second PSU together with your 460W unit?
--They are quite easy to set up together. Whenever i use Tri-Fired HD69x0-X3 or GTX 480 or GTX 580 SLI, i use two 775W PSUs. No issues if you have the room inside your case.

i don't care about power usage as long it is somewhat proportionate to the increase in performance. i adjusted my lifestyle to NOT drive 20,000 miles a year and i now work exclusively from my house. i'd say i've overcompensated for increasing my electricity usage at home by my not driving to work any longer.
()

As to noise; GTX 480 was tolerable - but not SLI'd 480s. HD 6990 is barely tolerable in ASUM mode - but Trifire is annoying as hell.
:'(

OK, i have some overclocking and benching to do (i had to reboot; it's back up and i'm back to "work" ..... Very interesting, so far - SO interesting that i haven't even set up 3D vision or 5760x1080 Surround yet.
:sneaky:

As to heat - i live where it is overall cooler than it is warmer. Since i use evaporative cooling, Summer is cheap and Winter is expensive for me; i welcome SLI and TriFire doing double-duty as a space heater.

 

[Phynaz]

1. Power / Heat
2. Noise
3. Performance.

 

[MrK6]

Just go water cooling and none of it matters .

That said, the highest performance I can obtain under very quiet conditions. Therefore,

1. Noise
2. Power
3. Performance

Power consumption doesn't matter as much except in comparison to other parts. I'll usually take the more efficient high-end card. The good thing is, a lot of times you can have your cake and eat it too with today's graphics cards. Also, heat is just a derivative of power consumption and therefore is already considered.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

1. Performance
(large gap)
2. Power consumption
3. Heat
(larger gap)
4. Noise

My video cards are watercooled, so noise isn't an issue.

 

[MrK6]

1. Performance
(large gap)
2. Power consumption
3. Heat
(larger gap)
4. Noise

My video cards are watercooled, so noise isn't an issue.

Interesting take. :thumbsup: The noise of a part is irrelevant under watercooling. So although noise is important to me, I've already established alternative cooling so that I don't even consider a card's noise when I'm buying it either.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Interesting take. :thumbsup: The noise of a part is irrelevant under watercooling. So although noise is important to me, I've already established alternative cooling so that I don't even consider a card's noise when I'm buying it either.

Power consumption is moderately important. I don't pay for electricity in my lease, however if I ran a space heater, computer, and other junk full tilt landlord would probably get pissed, so I try to be considerate.

Heat production is only important when it comes to keeping my room cool come spring and summer. Watercooling doesn't make heat go away, it just disperses it A LOT better than air coolers. The same amount of waste heat is being dumped into my room, just a lot more quietly.