Alongside our previous tests of premium 92 mm Noctua fans, we’re adding something for value-focused users. For the more affordable Prime-series card, these are a better match. We’ll measure how much quieter the card gets after swapping the stock fans for budget 92 mm Arctic P9 PWM PST models with sleeve bearings, and compare the noise to the Arctic P9 PWM PST CO variant with dual ball bearings for continuous operation. Read more “Asus Prime GeForce RTX 5070 with 3× Arctic P9 PWM PST Deshroud”
Most mid-range Asus card models allow easy removal of the shroud. We have already tried classic 120mm fans on the card, which do not fit very well on a narrow and long card. With them, the card becomes significantly wider and they do not cover the heatsink along its entire length. A trio of smaller 92mm fans fits a 30cm card better. After testing the low-profile NF-A9x14, we will try how the NF-A9 with the standard 25mm height performs. Read more “Asus Prime GeForce RTX 5070 with 3× Noctua NF-A9 Deshroud”
The Ventus 2X OC model with 8 GB of memory is the most affordable GeForce RTX 5060 variant from MSI. It features a compact dual-slot cooler with a length of 20 cm, making it suitable even for small-form-factor cases. The cooler is slightly louder than average due to overly high fan speeds, but it has sufficient headroom for manual fan speed reduction. But with 8 GB of memory, compromises are necessary in the most demanding games. Read more “MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ventus 2x OC 8 GB review: A Solid Baseline”
When the RX 9070 launched, nearly all reviews focused on pricier, factory-overclocked 245 W versions. Cards with reference clocks are far less common. We’re examining one of them—the basic Sapphire Pulse RX 9070—with stock specs: a 2520 MHz boost and a reduced 220 W power limit. In practice, though, at reference clocks the card seems to ends up a little slower in tests than it should be. Read more “Sapphire Pulse AMD Radeon RX 9070 16GB Review: Better Pay More”
On most mid-range Asus graphics cards, the shroud is easy to remove. We already tried classic 120 mm fans on this card, but they do not suit its narrow, long PCB: they make the card much wider and still fail to cover the heatsink along its full length. A trio of 92 mm Noctua fans fits better on the 30 cm card, and the range includes the low-profile NF-A9x14 for noticeably quieter cooling at lower speeds overall. Read more “Asus Prime GeForce RTX 5070 With 3× Noctua NF-A9x14 Deshroud”
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?”
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”
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”
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