They never were as brilliant and amazing as marketing materials depicted (and still depict) them. Fans that are supposed to be top-tier for system positions are, at best, average. Well, judge for yourselves. We wouldn’t subscribe to the notion that these are currently aerodynamically attractive fans for PC cases. For the reason that they are not. And we can go straight to the specific reasons and arguments. Read more “Noctua NF-S12A PWM: Example of unfortunate design”
Nitro+ AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT OC is Sapphire’s top-tier 16GB RX 9060 XT model. Alongside powerful cooling and excellent operating characteristics, the manufacturer also bets on stylish looks and prominent ARGB lighting—elements that help it fit right into popular PC design cases. If you’re building a PC for gaming at the lower 1080p and 1440p resolutions and care about aesthetics, it’s certainly worth considering. Read more “Sapphire Nitro+ AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT OC 16GB Review: Stylish”
Manufacturers ship RX 9070 XT cards with GDDR6 memory from either Hynix or Samsung. Clocks are the same, yet performance and thermals can differ slightly—and the same goes for overclocking. Samsung chips tend to reach higher memory clocks, which suggests better performance, but it isn’t that simple. We will compare the practical differences between both variants using the same card: Gigabyte’s Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming OC. Read more “Overclocking RX 9070 XT Memory: Samsung or Hynix — Who Wins?”
Results-wise, it’s an absolute top performer. This holds true even in combination with various obstacles. In other words, the competing Phanteks T30-120 often ends up merely as the “next in line.” And the Mach120 has aesthetic advantages over it as well. The operation of the Sudokoo (Mach120) fan is also characterized by lower vibrations. You also get high maximum airflow along with reliable operation even at low speeds. Read more “Sudokoo Mach120: Maximum (cooling) efficiency”
If black PC builds bore you, you’ll be pleased that the selection of white components is growing. Gigabyte has newly added Radeon RX 9060 XT and RX 9070 XT Gaming OC models in an Ice variant. Their core specs and features match the classic Gaming OC models; the less traditional look combines a white shroud with grey and silver accents. And since they rank among the most affordable models, they’re among the best-value white cards. Read more “Gigabyte Radeon RX 9060 XT Gaming OC Ice 16G Review: Solid White”
Radeon RX 9070 XT cards use GDDR6 from multiple vendors. The biggest differences between Samsung and Hynix appear in temperature and power—Samsung runs notably cooler. Earlier tests with automatic fan control confirmed this. Today I’m adding a temperature comparison at equal fan speeds and, alongside internal sensor data, surface temperatures measured on the chips. That gap is much smaller than expected. Read more “Hynix vs Samsung on RX 9070 XT: in-depth GDDR6 thermal analysis”
An old, yet still-selling aerodynamic design. Despite being attributed with excellent properties, we dare to disagree. It’s not quite the ideal system cooling fan that the NF-S12B-redux impellers were historically famed for either. Yes, it is quiet—but without the “airflow”. By that logic—where low noise carries the utmost weight—one could quickly conclude that the best fan is no fan at all. “Zero” noise, but substantial airflow isn’t happening here either. Read more “NF-S12B redux-700: Noctua’s quietest fan no longer justifiable”
I already compared the clocks, temperatures, and power consumption of two samples of the same model, the Gigabyte AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming OC. They differed in memory—the first had Hynix GDDR6 chips and the second Samsung. However, the two tests were months apart. Now I have both units on hand, so I can test performance under identical conditions. We’ll also look at the impact of enabling the fast memory timing option. Read more “Radeon RX 9070 XT: Samsung or Hynix? GDDR6 performance test”
The Nitro+ Radeon RX 9070 XT sits at the top of Sapphire’s lineup. AMD’s current Radeon generation focuses solely on the upper mid-range segment with intense price competition. As a result, Sapphire’s flagship isn’t a pricey premium model with a massive cooler like the previous-gen Nitro+ RX 7900 XTX. Instead, the designers focus on attractive aesthetics and distinctive features, such as the hidden 12V-2×6 power connector. Read more “Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 9070 XT OC Review: Aesthetics First”
AORUS GeForce RTX 5080 MASTER 16G sits at the top of Gigabyte’s air-cooled RTX 5080 lineup. The side LCD on the cooler shroud stands out, and the box even includes a fourth fan. Build quality is robust and premium, and the stock overclock is higher than you usually see on OC variants. Not everything is perfect, though—the out-of-the-box fan tuning could be better, and those extras do push up the price. Read more “Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 5080 Master Review: Flagship”
When Asus, Noctua, and Nvidia team up, it’s clear the result won’t be a compromise. For those who find the RTX 5090 already too expensive, the GeForce RTX 5080 Noctua OC Edition offers a unique combination of a massive heatsink and three top-tier Noctua NF-A12x25 G2 120 mm fans. An air cooler capable of keeping a powerful 360 W card at low temperatures with the fans spinning at just under 700 RPM is something you rarely encounter. Read more “Asus GeForce RTX 5080 Noctua OC Ed. 16GB Review: Silent Monster”
We recently looked at different profiles in AMD Software, and today we’ll dive deeper into adjusting the fan control settings in more detail. First, we’ll test how fan performance affects the card’s behavior across the entire working range of fan speeds. Then we’ll focus on how fan control behavior differs between automatic and manual fan-speed settings, and on how to set the fan-control curve settings for the card. Read more “Radeon RX 9070 XT: Tuning the Fan Curve in AMD Software”
Last time, we tested a pair of low-profile 140 mm fans on the TUF RTX 5070 Ti. They noticeably reduced noise, but they didn’t offer nearly as much cooling headroom as the stock fans, which can spin at over 3000 RPM. The top-tier Noctua NF-A14x25 G2 fans with the standard 25 mm thickness are much quieter than the originals at the same temperatures, and at full speed they also narrow the temperature gap significantly. Read more “TUF RTX 5070 Ti Deshroud: 2× 140 mm Noctua NF-A14x25 G2”
The TUF GeForce RTX 5070 Ti has a heatsink large enough to mount 140 mm fans. Swapping them is easy: remove a few screws and lift off the shroud with stock fans without breaking the warranty seal. We’ll use that to try a niche option—the low-profile 140 mm Arctic P14 Slim PWM PST. The card gets wider but keeps a reasonable height and, at similar temperatures, runs way quieter. Read more “Asus TUF RTX 5070 Ti Deshroud: Dual 140 mm Arctic P14 Slim Fans”
We’ll look at how the performance-tuning profiles in AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition affect the behavior of Gigabyte’s Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming OC. We’ll show a simple way to overclock the GPU both manually and automatically using the basic presets, how to undervolt it, and how to adjust the power limits for overclocking. We’ll also measure how performance changes when we reduce the card’s power draw by 100 W, and we’ll try VRAM tuning. Read more “Tuning Gigabyte Radeon RX 9070 XT Performance in AMD Software”
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