Sapphire 5770 VaporX vs. Asus 5770 CuCore + questions

[terranox]

I just got an Asus EAH5770 CUCore. I originally wanted a Sapphire HD5770 Vapor-X card, but they were sold out and so I bought the Asus one...
So I got like 3 more days to figure out if I like the card or turn it in for a Vapor-X (if they get some by then...)

Sapphire 5770 VaporX vs. Asus 5770 CuCore

My Pros:
Pretty quiet - but don't know how it compares to Vapor-X since I have no way of measuring dB...
Works on my 400W PSU - but probably so does the Vapor-X.
I don't have to get back to the store to change it...
15Euro cheaper then Vapor-X.

My Cons:
takes more space the most 5770 cards.
missing Eyefinity (not that I plan to buy 3 screens any time soon)
missing 1 DVI

Would like someone else Pros and Cons to help me decide.


By what I've tested, my Asus 5770 CuCore while idle stays at 40-41°C with the fan at 30%, and while fully loaded I've seen the temp reach 75°C and the cooler speed up to only 56%. Seen a review that showed that the normal temp for this GPUs at full load it's about 60°-63°C... but I do have only 1x90mm fan.
What temps are normal?
While the cooler it's at 56% you can't really say it's annoying but you can hear it pretty clear, it kinda makes like a continues whispering noise.
Also I've manually putted the fan at 56% to see how low the temp will go, and it never went below 40°C...

So, I would like to know the same things about the Vapor-X.
What are the temp and fan speed for when idle and for full load?
What % speed does the fan have when you first notice it?


Also noticed that newer version of PhysX work worst then older versions of PhysX.
Any tips on this matter?
How can you play games that have PhysX whit out it?
How can you improve PhysX for ATI?

 

[shadow187]

You need better ventilation in your case, tbh.

The CuCore edition is for Overclockers. VAPOR-X is for silent operation.


IIRC, 196.5 is the newest version of PhysX you can use. nVidia disabled PhysX with ATI cards in the newer revisions.
Just disable PhysX to turn it off, should be in the game's options.
You can SLI an nVidia card with an ATI card (9600GT or something).

 

[OvrClkr]

The CuCore is by far superior to the vapor-x. 3 Year warranty vs. Sapp's 2 year. Over-volt option offered with the CuCore, the vapor-x has no voltage control whatsoever.

Asus support on their 5 series line is second to none.

The 5770's run cold, especially the vapor-x and CuCore so if you have high temps its either your case/fan/cable-management/ambient and if that's not the case then you have a faulty card.

 

[kadaz]

MSI R5770 HAWK

 

[RazberyBandit]

Stick with what you've got, and consider adding another intake fan to your case, or replacing your current fan with something more powerful.

As for your PhysX related questions... You own an ATI card, so PhysX is a no-go because it's a "feature" only nVidia cards are capable of. That is, unless you're running Windows XP (or Windows 7 and feel like jumping through hoops) and choose to add an additional nVidia video card to your system to enable it. Considering you should use at least a 9600GT or better card for PhysX, adding it to the system to do so really isn't worth the hassle considering you'd probably need a new PSU to power it. Not to mention you'd need a motherboard with an unused PCIe x16 (or open-ended x4) slot.

Games that feature PhysX still run on ATI cards without PhysX, and they'll still look good doing it, too.