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Quality and Setup of the eVGA e-GeForce4 Ti4600
w/ACS² |
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Looking Good... |
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Quality:
As a whole,
the eVGA e-GeForce4 Ti4600 is a standard reference design,
very similar to other cards we've already reviewed.
At the heart of the eVGA e-GeForce4 Ti4600 is a GeForce4 GPU running at 300MHz. backed by 128MB of Samsung 325MHz. RAM
(650MHz. DDR). The DDR RAM uses the newer
semiconductor packaging called BGA or "Ball Grid Array."
This is a more advanced process of mounting the chip which
allows for a smaller form factor. In turn, the newer
RAM can perform more efficiently while running cooler than
other "leaded" chips, maintaining better over all signal
integrity. The card provides both VGA and DVI outputs
as well as a S-Video output for TV-Out purposes. What truly
sets the eVGA e-GeForce4 Ti4600 apart from other Ti4600
cards is the custom tailored cooling package they've applied
to the card. Dubbed the Asymmetric Cooling System²
(ACS²), the cooling unit is designed to be a superior
solution for efficiently removing heat from the
card. We've seen a number of these "unique" cooling
designs from other manufacturers in the past, but this one
really caught our eye, making us want to delve a bit deeper
into how this unit functions.
Click To
Enlarge
The ACS² is a 2 piece cooling
unit that utilizes a liquid filled copper heat-pipe to
channel heat away from the RAM as well as an oversized
heat-sink for keeping the GPU cool. Actually, the
theory is pretty standard, warm water will normally move
toward cooler water as will warmer air to cooler air.
So with the liquid filled heat-pipe, the coolest portion of
the liquid should be at the fins located at the end of the
pipe, at the fan's exhaust. Through natural
attraction, the warm liquid over the RAM should be drawn to
the fins, effectively removing the heat from the system.
On the reverse side of the card, the system is less
efficient, utilizing finned RAM sinks that rely more on
ambient airflow from the CPU and chassis fans rather than
the GPU fan. Thermal pads are mounted over the RAM
chips to help conduct their heat to the ACS², however, we
think that maybe the point of contact could have been
slightly concave to allow the use of a thermal paste
instead. Over all, the system looked like the ACS² had
a lot of thought behind it, that is until we started to take
it apart.
After releasing the two spring-loaded pins that hold the
assembly in place, we were quite surprised by what we found.
Although the ACS² system appeared to by a superior design on
the outside, once we exposed the core, we saw that something
wasn't right. It turns out that the heat-sink doesn't completely cover the GPU.
Our first thought was that this can't be good. With that said, we decided to run
a few tests to see how well the ACS² performed at
dissipating heat.
Thermal Test:
After seeing how the ACS² didn't
cover the GPU fully and taking into account that it is an
extra feature that adds $50 to the cost of the card,
we decided to run a few quick tests to see how efficient the
ACS² actually was. To start things off, we cleaned off the ACS² and applied a fresh dab of Arctic
Silver II to the GPU and then remounted the ACS² to the card.
Before reapplying the back-plate of the cooling package, we
adhered a temperature probe from a
Thermaltake HardCano II to the back of the GPU.
We then reinserted the card into our test system and applied a
barrier between the back of the card and the CPU of the test
system so there was no interference in the accuracy of the
test from its exhaust. Once
Windows was loaded, we let the system run for a few minutes to let
the temperature of the card equalize, determining a baseline
idle temperature. After determining the idle
temperature, we applied load to the card with 3 runs of
Comanche4 at 1600x1200x32 with 4X AA enabled in the video
drivers. At the end of the 3rd test we averaged the
peak temperature recorded during each test, establishing an
average maximum temperature under load.
After the test was completed, we installed a reference cooler
from a Gainward Ti4600 video card and ran the same tests
under the same conditions.
Instead of being surprised by
how well the ACS² system cooled the GPU of the Ti4600, we
were doubly surprised at how poorly it performed over the
nVidia reference cooling design. The ACS² ran an idle
temperature that exceeded the reference cooler under load!
Perhaps if the ACS² covered the entire surface of the GPU
instead of leaving a good portion of it exposed, the scores
may have been better. It is unfortunate to think that many users may pay an
extra $50 for something that will, in fact, make there new
video card run hotter and potentially shorten the life of
their very expensive video card. Of
course we've only scratched the surface of this issue,
however, if you are interested in a more complete
examination of the ACS²'s performance, head on over to
HardOCP where Steve Lynch did a terrific job at testing
the ability of the ACS² versus a standard nVidia reference cooler.
OK, before we move on to
actually benchmarking the eVGA e-GeForce4 Ti4600, we thought
we'd throw a little eye-candy your way and show the visual
capability of the card.
A Few Pics,
Overclocking and 3DMark2001SE
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