it'd also need to be about half the current TDP. Either the long rumored but still MIA GP108, or the massively cut down to 33/50% of full size GP107 parts used in the recently announced bottom tier Quadro cards.
It certainly looks like NV is done releasing Pascal-based graphics cards. Given that they've finished out the Quadro line with cut down GP107 chips, I don't expect we'll see anything built with lower end specs along the lines of a hypothetical GP108. The niche a lot of us seeking lower TDP cards reside in is probably too small to serve. We may have to make do with iGPUs or break open our piggy banks to spring for a low end Quadro.
The 25-40W market segment's important for mobile though; and since NVidia used butchered K107 chips instead of intact K108's for their previous generation tiny Quadro lineup the current situation's less strongly indicative than I'd assumed yesterday. Especially since the heavily cut down GK107 Quadro cards ran much hotter than the similar performing GK108 Geforces.
I think the time for cards like this has passed. Many modern GPUs turn the fans off entirely at low loads. If it gets to the point where you can hear the fans, that's not a load a passive heatsink could handle anyway.
For me it is useful due to my case. I have the Silverstone ft03 mini. It would either need a blower (super noisy!) or this. Normal fans would risk to keep too much hot air in the case.
The downside of this card is that the fins are not parallel to the flow of air in the case decreasing the efficiency of the cooling. But it will probably still suffice...
If an open air cooler keeps too much heat inside the chassis, how is this passive cooler any better? It keeps the heat exactly where it was generated and waits for slow convection. If your case cooling is strong enough to deal with that, the heat output from an open air cooler would similarly be blown away.
Any passive cooling solution relies on having *some* airflow. Really low power systems can get away with convection, but that's still airflow. Personally I'd rather control the flow with case fans that I have 100% control over than rely on the manufacturer's decisions about fan speed. Of course, I'm in the tiny minority that actually builds systems that are silent under load. I'm buying one of these as soon as it's available in my area.
Could not have said it better myself. The hot air from the heat-sink has to go somewhere. The good thing about this card is that the small noise GPU fans are absent and can be replaced with much larger case fans that cool the entire internals of the PC.
I am thinking the same thing. I was skeptical with passive cooling products before but the good value with them is they mostly have huge heatsinks where a good airflow or large, slow moving fan will work wonders.
You kind of caught my point. Maybe other fanless cards have the same listed requirement and I've just never noticed it. But this one specifically lists a case fan as a requirement, which to me means they believe that no form of passive/convection cooled case will provide enough airflow for this card.
No, it means at least some pure passive setups won't be able to handle it. It's just like speccing PSU recommendations enormously large vs actual need; to avoid warranty claims they need to spec against the worst case.
An ~20W probably can get away with no extra fan all the time even in a very cramped case. 75W OTOH either needs good very good passive/convective ventilation or a decent fan somewhere else in the case.
Yesss! Thumbs-up to Palit for going to this niche, for me this is an excellent product/upgrade. I have an asus strix 960 4GB and while in idle it does turn off the fans, just a little gaming turns them on and I can hear them in idle gaming and it's pissing me off. Keep up the good work, much appreciated!
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phoenix_rizzen - Tuesday, February 7, 2017 - link
Oooohhh, we're getting close to having a replacement to the ancient GT 730. All they need to do now is make it half-height (full-length is fine). :)SaolDan - Tuesday, February 7, 2017 - link
Maybe the 940SaolDan - Tuesday, February 7, 2017 - link
I mean 1040DanNeely - Wednesday, February 8, 2017 - link
it'd also need to be about half the current TDP. Either the long rumored but still MIA GP108, or the massively cut down to 33/50% of full size GP107 parts used in the recently announced bottom tier Quadro cards.BrokenCrayons - Wednesday, February 8, 2017 - link
It certainly looks like NV is done releasing Pascal-based graphics cards. Given that they've finished out the Quadro line with cut down GP107 chips, I don't expect we'll see anything built with lower end specs along the lines of a hypothetical GP108. The niche a lot of us seeking lower TDP cards reside in is probably too small to serve. We may have to make do with iGPUs or break open our piggy banks to spring for a low end Quadro.DanNeely - Wednesday, February 8, 2017 - link
The 25-40W market segment's important for mobile though; and since NVidia used butchered K107 chips instead of intact K108's for their previous generation tiny Quadro lineup the current situation's less strongly indicative than I'd assumed yesterday. Especially since the heavily cut down GK107 Quadro cards ran much hotter than the similar performing GK108 Geforces.jwufohunter - Thursday, February 9, 2017 - link
They have that already. MSI and Galax makes them.alexdi - Tuesday, February 7, 2017 - link
I think the time for cards like this has passed. Many modern GPUs turn the fans off entirely at low loads. If it gets to the point where you can hear the fans, that's not a load a passive heatsink could handle anyway.jospoortvliet - Wednesday, February 8, 2017 - link
For me it is useful due to my case. I have the Silverstone ft03 mini. It would either need a blower (super noisy!) or this. Normal fans would risk to keep too much hot air in the case.The downside of this card is that the fins are not parallel to the flow of air in the case decreasing the efficiency of the cooling. But it will probably still suffice...
MrSpadge - Wednesday, February 8, 2017 - link
If an open air cooler keeps too much heat inside the chassis, how is this passive cooler any better? It keeps the heat exactly where it was generated and waits for slow convection. If your case cooling is strong enough to deal with that, the heat output from an open air cooler would similarly be blown away.Ro_Ja - Sunday, February 12, 2017 - link
True but you'd want a passive heatsink all over the graphics card if you're gonna cool this thing down.cygnus1 - Tuesday, February 7, 2017 - link
Not really passive if the requirements include a case fan.hojnikb - Wednesday, February 8, 2017 - link
Exactly. What good is a PASSIVE card, if it needs a goor airflow. Might as well put a 12cm fan on it and call it a day.torp - Wednesday, February 8, 2017 - link
Any passive cooling solution relies on having *some* airflow. Really low power systems can get away with convection, but that's still airflow. Personally I'd rather control the flow with case fans that I have 100% control over than rely on the manufacturer's decisions about fan speed.Of course, I'm in the tiny minority that actually builds systems that are silent under load. I'm buying one of these as soon as it's available in my area.
SharpEars - Wednesday, February 8, 2017 - link
Could not have said it better myself. The hot air from the heat-sink has to go somewhere. The good thing about this card is that the small noise GPU fans are absent and can be replaced with much larger case fans that cool the entire internals of the PC.zodiacfml - Saturday, February 11, 2017 - link
I am thinking the same thing. I was skeptical with passive cooling products before but the good value with them is they mostly have huge heatsinks where a good airflow or large, slow moving fan will work wonders.cygnus1 - Wednesday, February 8, 2017 - link
You kind of caught my point. Maybe other fanless cards have the same listed requirement and I've just never noticed it. But this one specifically lists a case fan as a requirement, which to me means they believe that no form of passive/convection cooled case will provide enough airflow for this card.DanNeely - Wednesday, February 8, 2017 - link
No, it means at least some pure passive setups won't be able to handle it. It's just like speccing PSU recommendations enormously large vs actual need; to avoid warranty claims they need to spec against the worst case.An ~20W probably can get away with no extra fan all the time even in a very cramped case. 75W OTOH either needs good very good passive/convective ventilation or a decent fan somewhere else in the case.
sonicmerlin - Sunday, February 12, 2017 - link
What about this? http://www.anandtech.com/show/10925/calyos-nsg-cub...eldakka - Wednesday, February 8, 2017 - link
"Palit has quietly launched a passively-cooled graphics card..."I see what you did there.
mobutu - Wednesday, February 8, 2017 - link
Yesss! Thumbs-up to Palit for going to this niche, for me this is an excellent product/upgrade.I have an asus strix 960 4GB and while in idle it does turn off the fans, just a little gaming turns them on and I can hear them in idle gaming and it's pissing me off.
Keep up the good work, much appreciated!
block2 - Wednesday, February 8, 2017 - link
Hooray, I was hoping someone would do this! The tiniest bit of airflow cools a lot. Increasing airflow by 2x does not cool anything down 2x more.mobutu - Wednesday, February 8, 2017 - link
german review: https://www.computerbase.de/2017-02/palit-geforce-...polish review: http://ithardware.pl/testyirecenzje/test_palit_gef...
Ro_Ja - Sunday, February 12, 2017 - link
A silent gaming card, just the way I wanted.