Do the Nvidia GTX GPUs actually need a 3-fan cooling system?

[Nicolas Balog]

I'm thinking of getting a GTX 960 and not sure how many fans should I get for it. I've seen versions with 1, 2 and 3 fans, but I'm not sure the extra fans are really necessary for optimal temperature.
Suggestions?

 

[Brillis Wuce]

Depends.

If you have a case with zero ventilation, 3 fans would be a good idea. If your PC case already has 3+ fans, then no, definitely overkill.

More fans usually results in more power consumption, so that's also a factor.

 

[corndog1836]

Not all the time. Reference version hss one fan...evga acx has 2 and msi has 2 abd gigabyte hss three.. if you are not going to overclock the reference is fine. If you buy one that is factory overclocked it will have more fans cause it gets hotter and needs better cooling are they usually are quietest

 

[jldevoy]

If you have a case with no ventilation you're actually better with a 1 fan gpu with a shroud so it can gather the heat and exhaust it from the back of the pc; if your case has good ventilation then 2 and 3 fan cards generally exhaust the heat into the case, which requires much less effort from the fans and allows them to be run very slowly which makes them very quiet.

 

[corndog1836]

Is your question answered? Can we help furthur?