Video card physical properties and heat management

[Rascali]

Just thinking out loud and visually here...lets look at two 8800 GT's


Single slot -- EVGA GeForce 8800 GT - Superclocked Edition
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3548332&CatId=3670

Pro: only physically occupies one expansion slot // Con: heat disapates inside the case


Dual slot - EVGA GeForce 8800 GT Akimbo SC
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3680415&CatId=3670

Pro: heat is routed out of the case through the rear exhaust port // Con: physically occupies two expansion slots.

The dual slott'er (with the extra room) must have better/bigger heat sync? With a single and adequate case ventilation - no big deal? Thoughts?

 

[cjl]

I'd always tend to go with the dual - I prefer to have all of the hot air eliminated from the case, and I'm always a fan of extra cooling. Of course, I'd take a 4850 over either of those right now.

 

[B-Unit]

8800GT with the single slot cooler runs notoriously hot, get the dual slot cooler.

 

[Rascali]

Good to know & thanks - I was just using the 8800 GT as an example; it would not be my prefered card atm.

 

[zenmaster]

One more Note about about Single vs Dual Slot Coolers.

If you have a Single Slot Cooler on your GPU that does not exhaust the heat out of your case, your case itself will need better cooling to compensate for all of the heat being placed directly back into the case.