Weird thing about XFX HD 5870, stock cooler diffrences

bastyn99

Distinguished
Jul 7, 2010
70
0
18,630
Hey so I was looking at GPUs, and saw the XFX HD 5870 and one thing about them seems weird to me. The different fans/layout on the cards. Some have an exposed fan in the middle and some have like a hidden fan in the back like this:
585757.jpg

XFX-Radeon-HD-5870-XXX-CrossFireX-1GB-GDDR5-PCI-E-2.0-2xDVI.jpg

Whats the difference if there even is any ? Better cooling or performance on one of them or something like that ? Or is it just the looks that are different ?
 

wiinippongamer

Distinguished
the one with the smaller fan is the reference model, and has voltage control through software, which allows for much higher overclock.

the other one, better cooling penformance... not really. not sure if it allows for voltage control but that shouldnt matter if youre not going to overclock. the fan is probably quieter though
 

bastyn99

Distinguished
Jul 7, 2010
70
0
18,630


"the one with the smaller fan" is the one on the lower pic ye ?
 
the one with the fan in the middle "supposedly" runs cooler but tests show that they run at more or less the same temp. In this case the reference version (fan at the end) does indeed have voltage control and the non-reference has it locked. Most would say the reference version would be a better buy since you get more bang for buck, problem is they are hard to find on most websites.
 

bastyn99

Distinguished
Jul 7, 2010
70
0
18,630
gonna be using an Asus Crosshair IV formulia. and btw dont worry about the price, unless its several 100$ more, I dont like to set a budget and be limited by that, id rather find the best I can get, and buy it when I have the money.
 

bastyn99

Distinguished
Jul 7, 2010
70
0
18,630


Hey I was comparing the Asus Matrix with the other non reference Asus card and the only real plus I see that the Matrix has is the 2 GB memory. all that extra tech it has, I dont need that, so I wont get the Matrix card. 80$ more for 1 more GB memory and 2 maybe 3 more FPS, im not gonna do that. I think im gonna get another Asus card, but thanks for the input anyway :)
 
Whatever you do, get one with the enclosed schroud, like the pics. THese exhaust hot air out the back of the PC case.

Others have egg-shaped coolers, and don't directly vent out of the case, but are still double PCI slotted/finned.

Get a "reference" card whenever possible. For reason listed above.
 

bastyn99

Distinguished
Jul 7, 2010
70
0
18,630


That depends what you mean by "nice". To me, 450ish is pretty nice. And what do you mean, get another if needed. Of course it will be needed, I wont have the fastest GPU setup I can possibly have :p
 


I guess what I meant was id prefer dual 5850's at 650.00$ as opposed to dual 5870's at 900.00$ since the 5870's are only going to be about 5-6% faster and IMO that is not worth the extra 250.00$

Example :

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/Radeon_HD_5870_CrossFire/7.html

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/Radeon_HD_5870_CrossFire/24.html
 

bastyn99

Distinguished
Jul 7, 2010
70
0
18,630


gaah, you're completely ruining my pc build plan! I thought I had finally got it all right, and along comes you :p
 

Timop

Distinguished

-Single- paper weight, regardless of what happens, he could always use one of the GTX460s. XD
 


well we can look at it that way :D , on the other hand it would leave the OP asking himself why he went NV instead of AMD.. I don't think the OP will need anything over dual 5850's, when overclocked they are faster than a single 5970.
 

Timop

Distinguished

Dual 5850s even on stock isn't far from a 5970...:)

On a side note, I really hope the mid-high end HD6000 part would have sideport and perform like a 5830, just cant get over that darn stigma of the 5830 being gimped.