ATI Radeon HD 4000 Series discussion

[Chickenfeed]

Example, if the core is reading say 90 degrees, and a portion of that is due to inefficient heat transfer... and a second card has a core temp of around 55 degrees... Its not a simple comparison as to which is heating the other components more. If the core on the second card is larger, and has very efficient transfer material; it could be dumping more heat into the case then the first card.

Long story short; the core temp doesn't indicate how much heat is being dumped into the case. That being said... The card idles @ too high a frequency IMO.. and as such, that could be fixed, and that would lower heat generation, which would lessen heat being dumped into case.

For sure. Its more down to the TDP of the gpu/pcb than anything. I'm still for dual slot coolers though as they do make a marked difference in both noise and case ambient temp.

Aren't the 4xxx supposed to have a 2D clock as well for idling like the GT200s?


As far as component life time due to overclocking, when done properly the hardware will be WAY obsolete before it ever fails on you so thats a moot point. If the cards don't exceed their rated temperature threshold they'll last a good long time and considering most auto fan profiles and down clocking mechanisms prevent this, it shouldn't ever be an issue.