Testing (continued):
GPU Temperature:
The range of temperatures that the GPU cores operated in was tested by running CPUID's HWMonitor (64-Bit) within Windows Vista Home Premium (64-Bit). The idle condition was established by recording the temperature after letting the system sit at the Window's desktop for at least 30 minutes with only HWMonitor running. The load condition was established by running 3DMark Vantage two times back-to-back, and then about 20 minutes of ATI Tool for good measure. HWMonitor logs current, minimum, and maximum temperature, so once both rounds of testing were completed, the maximum temperature was recorded. All testing was completed on an open testbed with relatively still air in a room with an ambient temperature of 21C.
The HD4850 X2 idled at an extremely low temperature, and even under a load things didn't get particularly hot. The noise was a different matter, as this was the noisiest card of the bunch, and even with the fan speed manually adjusted to the minimum it was still audible. It should be noted that the Toxic HD4870's BIOS was flashed to reduce fan speed, so the temperatures were higher than when it was new, but the noise was much less.
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