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TEST RESULT
Baseline, with Integrated Graphics: First, here are the results of
our baseline results of the system with just its integrated graphics, without
a discrete video card. We'll also need the power consumption reading during
CPUBurn to estimate the actual power draw of discrete card later.
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VGA Test Bed: Baseline Results
(no discrete graphics card installed)
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System State
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CPU Temp
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System Power
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AC
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DC (Est.)
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Idle
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22°C
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73W
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Unknown
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CPUBurn
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39°C
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144W
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115W
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Ambient temperature: 21°C
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Dimaond Radeon HD 4850:
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HD 4850 installed.
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All testing was conducted using the Catalyst 8.5 beta drivers included on the
support CD. There were no official ATI Catalyst drivers for the HD 4xxx series
at time of testing, and the 8.6 hotfix drivers available via ATI's website proved to be
unstable during video playback, and did not pick up ATI's HDMI audio device.
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VGA Test Bed: Diamond Radeon HD 4850
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System State
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Fan Speed
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System Noise
@1m
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GPU
Temp
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CPU
Temp
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System Power
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AC
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DC (Est.)
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Idle
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~21%
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18 dBA
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80°C
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26°C
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130W
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103W
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CPUBurn
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~24%
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18 dBA
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81°C
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48°C
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203W
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165W
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CPUBurn + ATITool
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~44%
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27 dBA
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89°C
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51°C
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264W
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216W
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Ambient temperature: 21°C, ambient noise level:
14 dBA @1m.
System noise level without graphics card installed: 17 dBA @1m.
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When we first installed the card, we were surprised by how quiet it was, after
all it's supposed to be a more powerful card than the HD 3850, yet it uses more
or less the same cooler. The trade-off is very high
idle temperature. According to GPU-Z, the core was a blazing 80°C sitting
idle at the Windows desktop. Our test system is thermally challenging, but 80°C
is still quite high when the card isn't even being pushed. On the plus side,
the noise level was only 1 dBA higher than our test system without a graphics
card — we could just barely tell it was there at all. Close up, the fan
generated a very faint, low-pitched hum with a slight clicking.
After the card was put under load, the fan speed reacted immediately. It was
very sensitive to temperature and increased in stages every 1-2°C above
80°C; in other words, the fan speed has a linear, direct relationship to temperature, with no hysteresis. As the GPU temperature never stays the same for more than 30 seconds
or so, this can be fairly annoying, as the fan is constantly, audibly, changing speed. After fifteen minutes of stress-testing,
the temperature finally settled at just under 90°C. By comparison, the HD
3850 achieved the same load temperature without the fan speeding up at all.
No artifacts or other anamolies were detected.
During testing, the card produced a regular high-pitched electrical beeping
when ATITool's artifact scanner was in use, and a rhythmic whining during 3DView.
Unfortunately, this is a common problem on high-end graphics cards (HD
3850/3870, Geforce 8800/9600, etc.). Forturnately, this isn't a huge issue as
it is easily masked during game play by the in-game sound blaring out of your
speakers and any fan that increases in speed during load. (Editor's note: It's also not clear that 3D demands in gameplay have the constant load of ATITool which causes the electrical noise.)
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