Skinnee Labs - GTX480 Block Round-Up (working thread)

[UrbanSmooth]

With an amazing track record of 9 posts a year on average .

My aching fingers.

Hey, Skinnee, I'm on vacation this coming week, so take your time with those results. I don't plan on getting back to my new build until I get back around next Saturday or so.

To everyone else, please save me at least three of the winning blocks so that I may complete my build until x68.

[Johnny87au]

Your lucky skinnee, Me I just got another GTX295 in a trade for an XP x64 OS CD, So now I've have a dual board and a single board with 3 more single board versions to get, One of these days they'll get water cooled just like the 480 cards in this thread, But without the testing of course.

You sir are very lucky, thats quite rare to do a trade like that lol

[JokerCPoC]

You sir are very lucky, thats quite rare to do a trade like that lol

I'll only be lucky if the card passes with memtestG80 v1.1, Like My current BFG v1 card has, The New one is an EVGA v2, My friend parted with It as It was erroring out doing Work Units in Windows 7 while doing Seti@Home, Which could have been the young drivers at the time or dust or something, If It passes I'll have a newer card, If not a good card for playing PC games with that I could sell. Of course there is no warranty from EVGA as Nvidia stopped all chip production months ago, So EVGA and others can't even replace a card and right now mixing both new cards and an old type is possible, yet that is.

[zeroibis]

My aching fingers.

Hey, Skinnee, I'm on vacation this coming week, so take your time with those results. I don't plan on getting back to my new build until I get back around next Saturday or so.

To everyone else, please save me at least three of the winning blocks so that I may complete my build until x68.

Me too lol hopefully the results will be in 2 weeks from now when I am back so I can start my upgrade.

[Coldon]

i'm getting paid tomorrow, so really want to get the result already i'm about to pull the trigger on a koolance block, just want to make sure i'm not wasting my cash.

[Church]

Judging by blank article placeholder named "Nvidia GTX480 ..." @skinneelabs website, it's gonna be RSN . Though then again in similar way it quickly apeared for CPU-360 for short time, but still few days before publishing finished review article, so who knows

[skinnee]

doh... thats not supposed to be there... and fixed.

Like I said, working feverishly.

[NOFX]

I think, AquagratiX GTX480 is a winner!

[Johnny87au]

you neally done with results mate??

[gmat]

Give the guy some slack ! I dont think you realize the amount of work it requires and he does that for free (although i'd suggest a beerware option) and after all he's already posted the most relevant information imho (mounting process) - slight temperature differences dont do anything to GPUs as long as they are way below the limit. I'd pick whatever is more available, cheap, easy to mount, hassle free... GPU temps are not as critical as CPU temps.

[ell]

you've missed the point, this is xtremesystems. Only the best will do.

[gmat]

you've missed the point, this is xtremesystems. Only the best will do.

The best in what as i said temperatures are not so much relevant there, so "best" would be better flowing, with best mounting, and best looks i guess ?

[skinnee]

Temperatures are always relevant IMO... its the safe operating ranges and card stability that are most important, then comes temps and flow followed by mounting and looks.

Just my $.02.

[wesley]

Temperatures are always relevant IMO... its the safe operating ranges and card stability that are most important, then comes temps and flow followed by mounting and looks.

Just my $.02.

I think what he implied was that most of the modern blocks are so close in performance (~2-7c difference) that it wouldn't matter to most of the users (of course this is XS ). There are some users willing to sacrifice that 2c for bling.

Wes

[skinnee]

Oh yeah... wasn't tossing darts. Each of us rank the 4 (temps, flow, mounting, looks) according to our own preferences. I just called out my personal ranking, I guess it really all depends on the build though.

Damn options.

[wesley]

Oh yeah... wasn't tossing darts. Each of us rank the 4 (temps, flow, mounting, looks) according to our own preferences. I just called out my personal ranking, I guess it really all depends on the build though.

Damn options.

You ranked them. Freudian?

Anyhoo, mounting's a big thing for me (and whether the thermal pads are nicely cut up). Eg, the HK GTX295 block doesn't exactly have the best instructions on how tight to screw. I damaged some of the plastic washers that way. Funny thing is that the HK L1366 block was the easiest block to mount ever, even compared to TR air coolers. Solid instructions, felt that they were done by 2 different companies.

It's temps, mounting, flow, looks in my book. I couldn't care less if it looked terribad, WC is an exercise in pure utility for me.

Wes

[Biffa]

Temps, looks, mounting, flow for me. Unless the mounting is so terribad that it breaks something on the card, although I've seen more popped/cracked/chipped capacitors from removing the original cooler than anything else. For me 7°C (upper end of your example) is pretty substantial a difference, enough to make me not buy a block no matter how pretty or easy to fit it was.

[Systemlord]

Temps, looks, mounting, flow for me. Unless the mounting is so terribad that it breaks something on the card, although I've seen more popped/cracked/chipped capacitors from removing the original cooler than anything else. For me 7°C (upper end of your example) is pretty substantial a difference, enough to make me not buy a block no matter how pretty or easy to fit it was.

I'll agree with you on all of the above, 7C on water cooling is a big deal at least to me. You add another graphics card and now you have a 14C increase in temps, go for TRI SLI and you are now 21C difference! I have the money to buy but I'm going to wait patiently. I expect the EK block to perform close to Danger Den block, but not in price though!

- Systemlord

[skinnee]

Well... there will be no more testing of the GTX480...



A GTX480 has been sacrificed in the pursuit of data.

[SWTOR]

The GTX 480 is dead - long live the GTX 480...the bonus is that since there can be no more testing, all that's left to do is working on posting the results. YEAH!!!!

[Blacky]

how that happened ?

[Vapor]

The GTX 480 is dead - long live the GTX 480...the bonus is that since there can be no more testing, all that's left to do is working on posting the results. YEAH!!!!

Card blew idling after a run on stock cooling--all the data on he wanted to collect from the waterblocks has been collected and he was on the second to last planned run on the card (again, on stock cooling, for comparison's sake)

This might move the results up a day or so though

[wesley]

I'll agree with you on all of the above, 7C on water cooling is a big deal at least to me. You add another graphics card and now you have a 14C increase in temps, go for TRI SLI and you are now 21C difference! I have the money to buy but I'm going to wait patiently. I expect the EK block to perform close to Danger Den block, but not in price though!

- Systemlord

Hey there,

It doesn't add up that way. If it's a 7c thing on 1 card, it's 7c difference on all 3 cards. Btw, the ~2-7c is just an approximation. Please don't take it as gospel.

Wes

[gmat]

Yep it doesnt add up that way, and the temperature differences are much tighter on GPU's... and it doesnt grand much more OC at all (if not at all) anyway. For me it's flow mounting looks temps, as long as temps remain withing decent ranges under full load at full OC... For CPU it's different (since my i7 reaches thermal limit) the order of priorites change completely. But i wouldnt dismiss a full cover GPU block because it's doing 1C worse than another one. Granted, if VRMs start burning like that poor 480 it's an immediate dismiss

[Systemlord]

Well... there will be no more testing of the GTX480...

A GTX480 has been sacrificed in the pursuit of data.

I'm leaning towards the EK nickle + acrylic top, it looks so sexy! This way I can monitor how clean and if there are deposit build up around the block. I'm truly sorry for your loss, but it will be remembered for it's sacrifice! Which of the two chips are the VRMs? You really cooked all six of those chips, dam! I wonder how many layers of PCB got toasted...?

- Systemlord

Hey there,

It doesn't add up that way. If it's a 7c thing on 1 card, it's 7c difference on all 3 cards. Btw, the ~2-7c is just an approximation. Please don't take it as gospel.

Wes

Boy do I feel ~

- Systemlord