Power, temps, and real-world assessment
Interesting, the ZOTAC card, whilst overclocked, draws less power than the reference model.
The FurMark power-consumption figures for NVIDIA cards are a touch lower with the ForceWare 257.15 drivers. Still, the ZOTAC card pulls more than the dual-GPU Radeon HD 5970.
Temps
This where the Zalman cooler comes into its own
The loaded power-draw figure is obtained by running FurMark for 10 minutes and noting the peak figure via an at-wall meter. The numbers represent system-wide power draw.
The 10°C improvement over reference is impressive enough in itself, obviously, yet the fans spin at 'only' 2,000rpm when the card is at full tilt. In fact, in can be termed quiet when under load.
A real-world assessment
Examining the whole noise/heat/power issue in more detail and taking a real-world game into account, we played through Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and noted where system-wide power-draw was highest. The game works the CPU's cores and gives the GPU(s) a good going over. We then left the card rendering the high power-draw scene for 10 minutes and logged the maximum temperature, fan-speed, and power-draw.
The observations were noted with the card(s) installed inside a Corsair Obsidian 700D chassis with side panels on. The 'upper' (hotter) card's temperature and fan-speed are noted if we're evaluating a multi-GPU setup. The table, below, highlights our findings and provides a subjective analysis of the fan noise.
| GPU | Power-draw (maximum) | Temperature (maximum) |
Fan speed (maximum) |
Quietness /10 (higher is better) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GeForce GTX 480 1.5GB ZOTAC | 406W | 71°C | 1,520rpm | 7.5 |
| GeForce GTX 480 1.5GB | 398W | 91°C | 2,600rpm/3,425rpm | 4/2 |
| GeForce GTX 470 1.2GB | 344W | 92°C | 2,300rpm/3,000rpm | 5/3 |
| GeForce GTX 465 1GB | 319W | 90°C | 2,220rpm/2,750rpm | 6/4 |
| Radeon HD 5970 2GB | 386W | 77°C | 2,460rpm | 5 |
| Radeon HD 5970 MATRIX | 325W | 74°C | 1,888rpm | 7 |
| Radeon HD 5870 1GB | 288W | 76°C | 2,350rpm | 6 |
| Radeon HD 5850 1GB | 260W | 68°C | 1,900rpm | 7 |
Let's explain the table. The noise perception is a subjective rating out of ten for the quietness of the card when under gaming load. Simple rpm doesn't always tell the full story. The second figures for the GeForce GTX 400-series represent the noise if the temperature is capped to 80°C.
The BC2 under-load numbers are also a little lower with ForceWare 257.15. Even taking those into account, the AMP!'s cooler is excellent, as the fans spin at 1,500rpm and drop the under-load temp by an incredible 20°C. We ran the numbers several times and checked the GPU-Z log files for confirmation. What's more, the card can be deemed very quiet under load and is, subjectively, the best of the bunch.
