Power consumption, temperature and noise
If there's a surprise in the offing, power consumption isn't it.
As expected, during a session of Crysis the pre-overclocked Inno3D GTX 460 OC consumes 18W more than a slower reference model, and 16W less than the extreme-clocked KFA2 card.
If running costs are your primary concern, AMD's ATI Radeon HD 5850 seems to be a safer bet.
Despite testing on a hot-and-humid day, the Inno3D cooler manages to keep the card ticking along at a cool 36°C when idle.
Under load, the pre-overclocked card is unsurprisingly warmer than NVIDIA's reference design.
Temperatures during a session of Crysis rose to a reasonable 75°C, and Inno3D's 90mm fan does well to keep the card comfortably under 90°C after a 10-minute Furmark stress test.
A word on noise
The Inno3D GeForce GTX 460 OC 1GB offers better-than-reference performance, finds a middle ground in terms of power consumption, and manages to keep temperatures in check when stressed.
More importantly, it does all that whilst keeping relatively quiet, too. The card is practically inaudible when idle, and can barely be heard over system noise when under load.
We like our GTX 460s to be quiet in use, and Inno3D's design - despite being pre-overclocked - doesn't disappoint.
