Hello,
As of now, you GPU reviews are more about power usage (you actually show a comparison chart) than noise so I thought of something today that you guys could probably implement in your future GPU reviews and it has to do with noise and temps.
Currently you only state the idle, which is fine, and ATITool/FurMark load results but that doesn't really represent a normal usage scenario. So what I would like to see is something like how fast does the fan spin and what is the SPL while running e.g. 3DMark06 or Vantage. I know, not a realistic usage scenario. Another option would be some game (like Far Cry 2, though your Pentium D isn't up for it) which has a built-in benchmark for repeatable results. You could also run some video benchmark but I don't see the GPU reacting to such low load. And show the temps as well so we'd know how good of a job the heatsink/fan is doing. You could even compare passively cooled samples by their temperatures.
Of course for these results to have some value, the rest of the fans in the system have to remain at the same level and I'm not convinced that the fan in the Seasonic PSU, that you utilize in GPU reviews, doesn't ramp up under load. Well at least full load comparing to idle. Adding this to the previously mentioned Pentium D in your test system, I'd really like to see an overhaul of the whole system. This could even be a good time to do so as we have new CPU generation and more importantly, new GPU generation that just came out in form of the Radeon 5000 series.
Would be nice to see something of the above implemented and some previously tested cards if you still have them for comparison.
Lots of Love,
Scoop
Suggestion/request regarding GPU reviews
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