Temperatures
Now this is where it becomes more relevant. The stock speeds and voltage show that the reference cooler manages to keep the Tahiti XT card under 80°C, and this is considered good for a genuinely premium GPU.
However, the Accelero Xtreme 7970 beats it in both idle and under-load counts. The temperature after 10 minutes of gaming is 16°C lower than the reference's: impressive stuff.
In the second series of graphs the power-draw has increased, as shown on the previous page. Consequently the GPU temperature goes up by 4°C for the Xtreme and 5°C for the reference card.
Dialling up the hurt further, the Accelero Xtreme 7970 beats out the reference heatsink by 18°C. But remember, the temperatures are only half the story; we also need to know what's happening to the noise profile as load is increased. It's no good having solid temps if the fan sounds like a wailing banshee, right?
