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To test power consumption today we are using a Keithley Integra unit and we measure power consumption from the VGA card inputs, not the system wide drain. The best way to get maximum load results is by using Furmark, and even though it is not indicative of a real world situation it shows the limits the card can theoretically demand. The ‘gaming’ results are measured when playing Crysis Warhead and is a more valuable result to take from this.
At idle these cards only consume around 13 watts of power which is fantastic. When gaming this rises to around 52 watts. This is a very efficient board design combining reasonable gaming performance with minimum consumption. Obviously when adding two cards this power consumption doubles. Gaming and Furmark results aren’t exactly 200%, falling slightly shy of each figure by a few watts.
Gotta love these boards. they look just as nice as Sapphires, which is going to piss them off 🙂
Love them, im building a new media pc and I think ill send dabs a few quid tmoorrow.
The heatsink looks quite big on the back of the PCB. would that be an issue for some smaller chassis designs?
@ Jonathan – I wouldnt think it would be a problem. only thing would be on an mini itx board, if the slot was close to the cpu slot and the cpu cooler was a little wider than reference. Tough one to call for all situations, but generally, no.
Need to talk my parents into this for christmas, my old nvidia board is knackered.
Onmly downside with one of these is that in a year it will be not able to power anything. maybe you could pick another up early next year, but im not sold. I like the silent operation and media IQ performance, but for gaming , not a good move imo.
People buying this probably wont even be gaming at 1080p. that is maybe a little misleading, although I apprecaite its good testing for TV resolutions. 720p is this market, and the hardware is fine.
Also this is ideal for media HD playback. blueray, MKV etc. and you get the benefits of AMDs driver options for noise reduction etc. onboard solutions just dont cut it for this. its a better buy than the 5550 which is so weak.
no power connectors and fans. This excites me more than a 5970 :p
Once you go fanless, you never go back.
hm… looks really nice, and with the current price at 65 euro’s, it is impossible to ignore.
and will get one of these asap, as my passive 5450 is starting to die TT_TT.
also, maybe ill zip-tie an 80mm fan at (very) low rpm to keep the card a few degrees cooler, without adding to the sound
So much about these gadgets revolves around style and being
an early-adopter. It is very compact to carry and easy to operate as well.
With this mobile phone you will be able to program it to recognize your own handwriting alone.
It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button!
I’d without a doubt donate to this brilliant blog!
I suppose for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account.
I look forward to brand new updates and will talk about this site with
my Facebook group. Chat soon!