Graphics Card (Cooling/VRM) Tier List (Navi Update)

[MrBrightSyde]

On 3/1/2020 at 5:48 PM, WolfClaw72 said:

What about Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC 3X for RTX series cards?

Looks like the Windforce uses slightly smaller fans than the Gaming OC (80mm instead of 82mm) and has a slightly smaller heatsink, so it would still be Tier C since it's temperatures are similar to the Gaming OC.

[rkv_2401]

I have a Zotac 1060 3GB Mini, and I'd like to report the temperatures I've been seeing. In a case with decent airflow(one front fan and one rear), I've set the fan to 70% and O/Ced it to 2.0Ghz(@ 0.993V), and it runs F@H almost all the time. Current temperature is 69c.{I need it around 70 for the O/C curve I've set.)

 

If I set the fan to 80% it'd hover around 65c even with the overclock.

 

And even in a case with no fans or cooling holes at all, it wasn't doing too bad. Although it was running at ~80c until I took a side panel off and set the fan to 90%.

 

I was surprised to see it that low on the tier list, are the bigger cards THAT much better with thermals?

[Vejnemojnen]

6 minutes ago, rkv_2401 said:

I have a Zotac 1060 3GB Mini, and I'd like to report the temperatures I've been seeing. In a case with decent airflow(one front fan and one rear), I've set the fan to 70% and O/Ced it to 2.0Ghz(@ 0.993V), and it runs F@H almost all the time. Current temperature is 69c.{I need it around 70 for the O/C curve I've set.)

 

If I set the fan to 80% it'd hover around 65c even with the overclock.

 

And even in a case with no fans or cooling holes at all, it wasn't doing too bad. Although it was running at ~80c until I took a side panel off and set the fan to 90%.

 

I was surprised to see it that low on the tier list, are the bigger cards THAT much better with thermals?

undervolt it in the first place..

 

Buddy of mine UV-d his 1080 MSI GamingX, temps went from 79 C to 68C under full load, clock speeds remained the same. And got a ~ 25% reduction in power consumption. Definitely try undervolting first, you might be able to drop fan speed-curve, to make it less noisy..  

[rkv_2401]

10 minutes ago, Vejnemojnen said:

undervolt it in the first place..

 

Buddy of mine UV-d his 1080 MSI GamingX, temps went from 79 C to 68C under full load, clock speeds remained the same. And got a ~ 25% reduction in power consumption. Definitely try undervolting first, you might be able to drop fan speed-curve, to make it less noisy..  

Yes, mine is undervolted. The stock voltage curve sets a clock of 1835Mhz at 1.043V, and I've set mine to 2.0Ghz at 0.993V. And yes, it does make a big difference!

 

(Just out of curiosity, are my temperatures considered high?)

[Vejnemojnen]

1 hour ago, rkv_2401 said:

Yes, mine is undervolted. The stock voltage curve sets a clock of 1835Mhz at 1.043V, and I've set mine to 2.0Ghz at 0.993V. And yes, it does make a big difference!

 

(Just out of curiosity, are my temperatures considered high?)

seems fine enough. If you no longer have valid warranty, you might give a shot to re-paste-ing. Excuse my skipping over the 0.993V part, I did not see it first.. : )

[silverera99]

i have the rtx 2060 gigabyte OC model.. this card runs hot at 83-84C 

hat to undervolt to reduce the temps

[frozensun]

This is all just a theory.In practice things are very different.

My friends sell IT equipment and besides graphics card.

I bought Strix model,brand new and as for this tier list this should be preimum cooler.

In just few days you could hear a fan buzzing.

And he sold a lot of Gainward phoenix and Palit jetstream models,never had RMA on them.

So this tier list is useless.I appreciate the work guy did,but theory is one,practice is the other.

 

 

[Kilrah]

The fact you got a dud says absolutely nothing with regard to overall reliability.

[MrBrightSyde]

1 hour ago, frozensun said:

This is all just a theory.In practice things are very different.

My friends sell IT equipment and besides graphics card.

I bought Strix model,brand new and as for this tier list this should be preimum cooler.

In just few days you could hear a fan buzzing.

And he sold a lot of Gainward phoenix and Palit jetstream models,never had RMA on them.

So this tier list is useless.I appreciate the work guy did,but theory is one,practice is the other.

 

 

Anecdotal evidence isn't valid. Any one card could be a dud or have issues. I've had issues with different cards from all manufacturers like EVGA (1050ti/DOA), MSI (970/HDMI port didn't work), ASUS (2080 non-Super/Artifacting), and Gigabyte (2070/Fans stopped working within a month). Of course, these weren't all cards that I purchased myself (family had issues with 970, 2070 was a friend's) but it shows that any card can fail for any reason. The fact that your Strix was a dud was pure chance, same with none of the Gainward's and Palit's not failing.

 

TL;DR One card failing doesn't mean the overall lineup is bad, and the tier list is how effective they are at cooling in normal circumstances compared to others. Whether the card fails or not doesn't matter as long as it isn't a high rate of failure.

[frozensun]

Out of like 50 models of Jetstream and Phoenix guys pruchased none had problems with cooling..

A lot of guys purchase Strix models and in less then a year end up changing fans...

So this list is useless.

[tdkid]

15 hours ago, frozensun said:

This is all just a theory.In practice things are very different.

My friends sell IT equipment and besides graphics card.

I bought Strix model,brand new and as for this tier list this should be preimum cooler.

In just few days you could hear a fan buzzing.

And he sold a lot of Gainward phoenix and Palit jetstream models,never had RMA on them.

So this tier list is useless.I appreciate the work guy did,but theory is one,practice is the other.

 

 

this list mentions the "Gainward: Phoenix (GS)  and the Palit: (Super) Jetstream. there is not much different in name but there is a big difference in what the cards can actually do or be so the Gainward phoenix and Palit Jetstream are not listed here because they more than likely failed this person's test. but just like any list out there its all a matter of personal opinion and open to interpretation.

 

4 hours ago, frozensun said:

Out of like 50 models of Jetstream and Phoenix guys pruchased none had problems with cooling..

A lot of guys purchase Strix models and in less then a year end up changing fans...

So this list is useless.

did you but these cards are full market value or being friends with people in the IT field did you buy them at way below value? did they being in the IT field, did they buy bad cards knowing they could fix the issues that popped up with the cards? several determining factors need to take into account. its one reason why I will never buy a used card or mostly anything used because I know the issues it can cause if you don't know how to fix them.

[Vejnemojnen]

6 hours ago, frozensun said:

Out of like 50 models of Jetstream and Phoenix guys pruchased none had problems with cooling..

A lot of guys purchase Strix models and in less then a year end up changing fans...

So this list is useless.

No, this is a great list to get an overview and idea.

 

The Jetstream&Phenix cards are very good. Popular, and perform outstanding. Much of them are being sold in the classifieds here, and usually they have very efficient cooling with good heatsinks and decent PCB-s. I'd recommend Jetstream&Phenix cards any day (Palit, Gainward). One can't go wrong with them.

 

But please, don't degrade the tier list, it's a very useful resource. If you have anything to add, feel free to make suggestions. BUT don't bash the list, just because it is not agreeing with you.

[TwilightRavens]

Tbh I just got a MSI GTX 1080 ti Armor a few days ago and I did somewhat rectify the cooling on it by repasting the die with Cryonaut and replacing the poor play dough mistakes MSI put on there for some Fujipoly 17W/Mk thermal pads. Is it the best temps in the world? No but with a reasonable fan curve (I have mine to hit 100% at 70C for max boost) it rarely tops 64C, unless I do a looping firestrike in which case it levels out at about 69C. Beforehand it would get up to about 77-80C so it did make a pretty substantial difference. I’d say mine probably has about the temps of a lower clocked Strix. I however don’t recommend going this route if you just wanna get something and run it out of the box and it’d be about the same price to buy a better cooled one.

 

Though at about 88% fan speed it has horrendous coil whine but thankfully I can’t hear it because of my headset, but that is something to keep in mind. Though the card would be awesome with a waterblock or something like an accelero.

[Vejnemojnen]

12 minutes ago, TwilightRavens said:

Tbh I just got a MSI GTX 1080 ti Armor a few days ago and I did somewhat rectify the cooling on it by repasting the die with Cryonaut and replacing the poor play dough mistakes MSI put on there for some Fujipoly 17W/Mk thermal pads. Is it the best temps in the world? No but with a reasonable fan curve (I have mine to hit 100% at 70C for max boost) it rarely tops 64C, unless I do a looping firestrike in which case it levels out at about 69C. Beforehand it would get up to about 77-80C so it did make a pretty substantial difference. I’d say mine probably has about the temps of a lower clocked Strix. I however don’t recommend going this route if you just wanna get something and run it out of the box and it’d be about the same price to buy a better cooled one.

 

Though at about 88% fan speed it has horrendous coil whine but thankfully I can’t hear it because of my headset, but that is something to keep in mind. Though the card would be awesome with a waterblock or something like an accelero.

do you undervolt? An MSI GTX1080 Gaming X dropped a few Celsius by a little gpu-core voltage tweaking. 11 degrees to be exact. 

 

[TwilightRavens]

8 hours ago, Vejnemojnen said:

do you undervolt? An MSI GTX1080 Gaming X dropped a few Celsius by a little gpu-core voltage tweaking. 11 degrees to be exact. 

 

Nah I had it at 0% overvoltage (1.05v max) and just had the power limit raised to 117%, however since the card would really only top out at 2037MHz I raised the overvoltage to 100% and in that case it tops out around 2088MHz. I mean its not the best overclocker but considering the  reputation the cooler has I’m amazed it mostly maintains 2088MHz without going to 70C.

 

Though my 1080 was way more fine tuned than my 1080 ti as it would boost up to 2137MHz if I kept it under 60C, but I also had more time to tune that card lol.

[AshamedGanache]

Under 5700, where is the XFX DD, ASRock Phantom Gaming D? 

[tdkid]

7 hours ago, AshamedGanache said:

Under 5700, where is the XFX DD, ASRock Phantom Gaming D? 

if I had to guess. such bad cards that they weren't worth mentioning.

[AshamedGanache]

14 hours ago, tdkid said:

if I had to guess. such bad cards that they weren't worth mentioning.

Personally, I agree. But, to be helpful with newcomers when they ask what cards to go with. Would be helpful.

I mean, might as well have all cards listed...right?

[tdkid]

1 hour ago, AshamedGanache said:

Personally, I agree. But, to be helpful with newcomers when they ask what cards to go with. Would be helpful.

I mean, might as well have all cards listed...right?

what would be helpful is to actually list the cards as they are. take a look at the lists I provided. both are for RTX to make it easier bit this doesn't say if the cards are a 2060, 2070, 2080 or what. it just says they are X card from X place. these top ones are easy as the EVGA kingpin is a 2080ti but once you get into the tier C and D ones, its very hard to tell if the card is a 20Xx or 16XX series card.

 

Nvidia (RTX 20xx/GTX 16xx)

Tier S The best (used for LN2 overclocking) 
EVGA: K|ngP|n 
Galax: HOF air/water 
KFA2: HOF air/water 
MSI: Lightning Z

 

Nvidia (GTX 10xx)

Tier S The best (used for LN2 overclocking) 
EVGA: K|ngP|n 
Galax: HOF 
KFA2: HOF 
MSI: Lightning X

[Billy_Wellington]

Just out of curiosity.. What business Palit Jetstream 20xx have being in tier C? (or maybe it was placed higher before that?)

As far as i know the latest shipments of such cards are coming with downgraded heatsink with 3 heatpipes instead of 4. The original reviews found on the net are for first batch of card that were quiet decent with 4 heatpipes, now people reporting atrocious temperatures and Palit claims they have done it to "optimize" and this should not affect on performance (lmao).

Spoiler

It's being mentioned in russian retail comment sections and tech forums, but supposedly we get same cards people getting in europe so i wonder if anyone can confirm.

[silverera99]

why is the gigabyte rtx 2060 OC in tier C? i actually own one(REV 1.0) and it gets as hot as 84-85C. there is a known problem with this cards cooling discussed on various forums.

there is a rev 2.0 of this card where they try to fix the temps issue but as far as i've read there is not much of improvement

[tdkid]

50 minutes ago, silverera99 said:

why is the gigabyte rtx 2060 OC in tier C? i actually own one(REV 1.0) and it gets as hot as 84-85C. there is a known problem with this cards cooling discussed on various forums.

there is a rev 2.0 of this card where they try to fix the temps issue but as far as i've read there is not much of improvement

that would be why its in tier C then. its a hot running card.

[silverera99]

19 minutes ago, tdkid said:

that would be why its in tier C then. its a hot running card.

with what cards have you compared to agree it's mid range?it says ''good PCB,mid range cooler' does an rtx reaching 85C seems like a card with good pcb and mid range cooler?not if compared to the rest of the rtx 2060. the cards looks like it has a decent cooler ant that's all, the pcb/heatsink is not good.  it's a bad implemenation, something went wrong with this card. majority of midrange rtx 2060 are running into low 70C https://www.techpowerup.com/review/zotac-geforce-rtx-2060-amp/36.html . the gigabyte rtx 2060 OC performs even worse than the itx version ( min 3:56)

others reporting high temps with this card : https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/rtx-2060-gigabyte-oc-reaches-80-84-degrees.251769/

it performs even worse when compared to gigabyte's rtx 2060 ITX version. just wanted to let ppl. know. this is not a midrange card, it runs HOT.

 

[tdkid]

2 minutes ago, silverera99 said:

it says ''good PCB,mid range cooler' does an rtx reaching 85C seems like a card with good pcb and mid range cooler?not if compared to the rest of the rtx 2060. the cards looks like it has a decent cooler ant that's all, the pcb/radiator is not good.  it's a bad implemenation, something went wrong with this card. majority of midrange rtx 2060 are running into low 70C https://www.techpowerup.com/review/zotac-geforce-rtx-2060-amp/36.html . the gigabyte rtx 2060 OC performs even worse than the itx version ( min 3:56)

others reporting high temps with this card : https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/rtx-2060-gigabyte-oc-reaches-80-84-degrees.251769/

 

it performs even worse when compared to gigabyte's rtx 2060 ITX version. just wanted to let ppl. know. this is not a midrange card, it runs HOT.

 

 

it would depend on if the temps were for the card at idle or gaming but either way 85C is hotter than it should be which is one reason why its at the tier C. plus the list on the first page here doesn't really give accurate names to what the cards actually are. like everyone knows kingpin is a 2080TI but the other companies all have multiple cards using the same name like EVGA has 2060, 2070 and 2080 cards with the FTW3 name.

[Kilrah]

He's not suggesting it should be in a higher tier but in a lower one...