Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 2GB ITX Graphics Card Review

Noise, Power Consumption and Temperatures

Noise

Noise can be the deciding factor for some users. Some may want the graphics card to be icy cold (figuratively); so won’t mind the fans being cranked up, others would want dead silence, where only low end passive cards, or extremely quiet fans can keep the card cool enough to be silent. Gigabyte have revamped their Windforce x3 cooler for the G1 Gaming Edition. The main feature changes being adapted fans and a metal shroud. However, The GTX 960 range brings an Ace to the table, let’s find out shall we?

Sadly, because of the compromised heat sink size on this card; they had to leave the fan running all of the time to keep temperatures in check. The fan used is very similar to that used by Gigabyte across the range and provides high air pressure with low noise.

Power Consumption

With electricity becoming increasingly expensive across most parts of the world the need for computer components to become power efficient has never been more relevant. Graphics cards are often the most power hungry components inside a desktop system so having an efficient graphics card is very important to keeping power bills under control. Power is often correlated to heat and so lower power consumption means a graphics card is likely to run slightly cooler and put out less heat into your system meaning your other components will run cooler with improved longevity. AMD and Nvidia have both made power consumption an integral part of the way graphics cards dynamically overclock so the need for graphics card vendors to use efficient VRM and PCB designs is becoming important to maximise performance. We take power readings after 5 minutes of two different load scenarios: desktop idle and Unigine Heaven load.

The lower clock speeds result in lower power requirements.

Temperatures

Along with noise, temperatures are what some users go by. Some won’t mind higher temperatures during a review due to the intent to overclock, but some would be very particular. They may have a computer stashed in a cupboard somewhere with poor air flow and require a decent cooling solution to take the extra strain.

The lower clock speeds and reduced power requirement; result in lower temperatures produced. It almost matches the unique Gainward Phantom GTX 960 cooling design.