Does the gtx 1070 FE need to be water-cooled?

[Guest]

I am getting a gtx 1070 Founder's Edition but I don't want to get into water-cooling, would the 1070 be ok without?

Thanks

 

[krells]

No, you don't need to water cool the reference cards.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Simply put, buying an FE is a mistake, buying any reference card is a mistake. Buying a reference 480 is a bigger mistake due to exceedance of PCI Slot and 6 pin cable specs. Buying a non-reference board would eliminate any cooling concerns.

The card will not destroy itself ... but it will thermally throttle. IOW, it will reduce its performance to prevent damage to the card

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_1070/28.html

Idle temperatures are excellent, which is no wonder since the fans don't stop in idle. During gaming, the card goes above 82°C, which results in lower clocks due to Boost 3.0.

Here's what that means to you .. picture and quotes below from 1080 FE

http://videocardz.com/60838/msi-geforce-gtx-1080-gaming-x-is-much-better-than-founders-edition

NVIDIA’s own reference design suffers from severe throttling just after few minutes. It probably wouldn’t be that bad if not the frequency spikes. While average clock is somewhere around officially stated boost clock, those spikes cause micro-stuttering, which negatively affects gaming experience.

"Founders Edition suffers from a horrendous amount of throttling and it runs +- 150 MHz lower all the time."

Meanwhile, MSI GTX 1080 GAMING X generates almost a straight line for GPU frequency (~1910 MHz), with no spikes and rather constant sub-70 C temperature. This should mean that the gaming experience will be much better, and card should theoretically generate better results in most tests. Also according to H.I. this is also the best custom design they so far tested.

Here's an image of what's happening...

Orange Line (FE) - 1670 - 1790 Mhz w/ stuttering
Blue Line (non-reference) - solid 1910 Mhz, no stuttering

You want 1910 and no stuttering or as much as 13% less performance w/ stuttering ?

nVidia has a reported fix in the works which will increase fans speeds and noise) and / or reduce clock speeds.

 

[photonboy]

Do NOT get a Founder Edition.

If you have issues requiring a BLOWER style then wait for a liquid-cooled model from EVGA or MSI. Otherwise stick with something like the Asus Strix or other 2/3-fan solutions.

The FOUNDERS can and will throttle the GPU at times due to temperature. It's also NOISIER than other 3rd party cards so there's no good reason usually to even consider this card.

 

[Quixit]

The non-founders edition cards are a lot better if you're sticking to stock cooling and a lot of them are cheaper too. Founders edition cards are just overpriced reference cards.

 

[Math Geek]

the liquid cooled cards from them are actually based on the FE pcb. i have not seen one yet that is not. so your saying don't watercool an FE, but buy a custom card with a waterblock on an FE card?? seems a bit contradictory.

you don't need to watercool an FE card but it will run a bit hot if you oc it. if you want a blower style card like the FE, numerous brands make FE based cards with their own blower fans. they do a bit better than the stock FE cooler and are generally rather cheap. here is a list of all the cards, with specs and links to reviews if available. the FE blower style cards are clearly marked in the list. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3047729/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1000-series-megathread-faq-resources.html#17902598