Temps, power-draw, overclocking
Temperature musings
We perform our testing on an open test bed with a 120mm fan simulating case airflow.
| Graphics cards | NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+, 512Mib | BFG GeForce 9800 GTX, 512MiB | BFG GeForce GTX 280 OC, 1,024MiB | XFX GeForce GTX 260, 896MiB | Sapphire Radeon HD 4870, 512MiB | Sapphire Radeon HD 4850, 512MiB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ambient temperature | 23.5°C | 21.5°C | 21.5°C | 24°C | 25°C | 21°C |
| Idle temperature | 53°C | 52.5°C | 47°C | 48°C | 71°C | 71°C |
| Load temperature | 67°C | 67°C | 74°C | 72°C | 83°C | 81°C |
| Ambient-to-load delta | 44°C | 45.5°C | 52.5°C | 48°C | 58°C | 60°C |
We know that NVIDIA hasn't changed the TDP limits on the 55nm-based GeForce 9800 GTX, as compared to the 65nm GTX, and that's manifested in practically identical temperature readings.
Power-draw
Power-draw was measured with the systems at idle and then with them running 3DMark 06's Canyon test at 1,920x1,200 4xAA, 16xAF.| Graphics cards | NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX+, 512Mib | BFG GeForce 9800 GTX, 512MiB | BFG GeForce GTX 280 OC, 1,024MiB | XFX GeForce GTX 260, 896MiB | Sapphire Radeon HD 4870, 512MiB | Sapphire Radeon HD 4850, 512MiB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| System wattage, idle | 128W | 141W | 127W | N/A | 149W | 123W |
| System wattage, load | 204W | 223W | 279W | N/A | 229W | 203W |
Somewhat contradicting the information provided by NVIDIA, the reference GeForce 9800 GTX+ pulls around 20W less than a regular GeForce 9800 GTX, matching the figures of a Radeon HD 4850.
Overclocking
Pushing the reference card provided significant benefits. We managed an overall speed of 805MHz core, 1,997MHz shaders, and 2,670MHz memory - the latter frequency, in particular, being impressive, and around 300MHz higher than seen on overclocked GTXs.Looking back at the ET:QW test at 1,920x1,200 we see that the stock-clocked card scored at average 55.1fps. This rose to 62.7fps (14 per cent increase) when re-run with the 805MHz/1,997MHz/2,670MHz clocks.
