Blower style cooler vs open air coolers

[JoshPC]

Just wondering what's the difference between the two different GPU coolers and in what situations would each cooler be better for. I'm asking this question because I'm thinking of going with the Asus turbo GTX 960 which has a blower type cooler.

[Aytex]

If your SLI/Crossfire

Which is why asus even made the turbo in the first place

 

I'd just go with a EVGA, gigabyte or MSI card 

[Jacktastic-Mofo]

Just wondering what's the difference between the two different GPU coolers and in what situations would each cooler be better for. I'm asking this question because I'm thinking of going with the Asus turbo GTX 960 which has a blower type cooler.

If you have a small case or a case with something right beneath / infront of the GPU you'd want to go with a blower style cooler, however if you have an open case with good airflow and nothing beneath the card than an internal exhaust card would be fine. I do believe most internal exhaust cards do perform better and stay quieter than blower style cards, but don't quote me on that.

[comicsansms]

A blower style cooler is fine, but most often than not an open cooler would be better.

 

*Insert rant about GTX 960 being shit*

[Atmos]

Blower style coolers

• CAN be better in small cases with poor airflow
• Cheaper -not by much
• SLI means MARGINALLY better temps
• Runs far, far hotter than open coolers
• Runs far, far louder than open coolers

Open Coolers

• Marginally more expensive
• SLI CAN run hotter with dual open air
• Runs far quieter
• Runs far cooler
• Far more available skews for overclocking, silence, or temperature.

[JoshPC]

Blower style coolers

• CAN be better in small cases with poor airflow
• Cheaper -not by much
• SLI means MARGINALLY better temps
• Runs far, far hotter than open coolers
• Runs far, far louder than open coolers

Open Coolers

• Marginally more expensive
• SLI CAN run hotter with dual open air
• Runs far quieter
• Runs far cooler
• Far more available skews for overclocking, silence, or temperature.

Thanks for the information will take it on board. I'm thinking of SLI in the future, yeas I know people will hate because your better off with one more powerful card then two weaker ones, but the GTX 970 is like $350+ in my country. So would I be better off with the blower type for SLI as you've pointed out.

[JoshPC]

I won't be overclocking, my card that much, just a little, so temps won't really be a huge issue for me

[z123killer]

A blower-style cooler- hotter inside the gpu b/c hot air only escapes from one little opening outside the case

 

open-air cooler- hotter inside the case because all the hot air is exhausted into the case

[EllieThePurpleFuzzy]

Well usually open air coolers tend to perform better with lower temps and higher OCing ability, or even could be better for silence purposes.

 

Blowers I would not recommend for cards that tend to run hotter such as a GTX 480 of old and the 290/290X/390/390X of now, and possibly for the titan X (i'd probably stick a 980Ti cooler or a Waterblock on such) But for something such as a GTX 960 or an R9 280/380 i'm sure the Blower would do totally fine.

 

Advantages with a blower Cooler would be that it'd probably be a better option for 3-4 Way SLI (maybe 4) (Personally i'd just hook it to a custom loop) and if you got a Case with poorer Airflow Such as a OEM case like a HP Pavilion or a Dell one for example, then a blower style card would probably work better for that.

 

But if your case is of decent airflow and you may wanna do a little OCing or maybe want something like the fanless mode that some cards come with. then a custom cooler would probably be the way to go.

[Atmos]

Thanks for the information will take it on board. I'm thinking of SLI in the future, yeas I know people will hate because your better off with one more powerful card then two weaker ones, but the GTX 970 is like $350+ in my country. So would I be better off with the blower type for SLI as you've pointed out.

 

If they are in the two slits adjacent to each other, or very very close to each other... then the blower style will offer better cooling but will still be louder.

The open air coolers will run hotter, but usually quieter, and are perfectly fine if there's a pcie slot or a couple inches between the top of the bottom card, and the bottom of the top card.