GeForce 8800 GT doesn't like passive cooling

Posted on Thursday, December 06 2007 @ 0:30 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
AnandTech has reviewed the passive GeForce 8800 GT graphics card from Sparkle
The night before our 8800 GT review went live, Derek called me and let me know that Sparkle sent along images of a passively cooled 8800 GT. Said one word: "impossible". I told him that it had to be a Photoshop because there was no way you were going to get an 8800 GT running without a fan, the card was simply too hot.

The 754M transistors that make up G92 were simply switching too fast and dissipating too much heat to be cooled by anything without a fan. Sparkle could’ve lowered the clocks, that would’ve made it possible, but I thought there was just no way at stock speeds. And Sparkle was promising a bone stock 8800 GT, sans fan. I had honestly forgotten about the card until I started work on the 8800 GT roundup, and there it was, in its innocent white box..
Check out the review over here. The card performs just as well as a regular GeForce 8800 GT but gets extremely hot. Idle the card's GPU runs at 76°C like the stock 8800 GT but in load the passive 8800 GT reaches temperatures of up to 111°C which is 17°C more than with the stock cooler. These are the results of a case with limited ventilation, with two 80mm case fans turned on the GPU temperature drops to 106°C.

Most users wouldn't feel comfortable with a card that runs at 111°C but according to the reviewer the card never crashed during any of their stress tests. Overclocking this card may not be a good idea though.



About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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